The Importance of Homework

Research into the value of homework and what makes it worthwhile

Homework is a concept that has been around for years and today is an expected requirement for schools.
In order for a school to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted teachers must, under the descriptors for the quality
of teaching, learning and assessment as stated in the School Inspection Handbook (2015) ‘set challenging
homework, in line with the school’s policy as appropriate for the age and stage of pupils, that consolidates
learning, deepens understanding and prepares pupils very well for work to come.’ Homework is viewed highly
by many, with Epstein & Van Voorhis stating that it not only reflects on the success of the student, but also the
success of the school (2001). In spite of this, attitudes towards homework are constantly changing, culminating
in the age old homework debate.

Attitudes towards the value and purpose of homework are usually reflective of the current societal stance and
mood. For example, in the 20th century the mind was seen as a muscle that would benefit from memorisation,
and since this could be done at home, homework was perceived as valuable. However, come the 1940’s, where
emphasis shifted from drill to problem solving, people started to view homework negatively (Cooper, 1989).

Yet fast forward to when Russia launched Sputnik, society became concerned that our students were not ready
for the advanced technologies that were evolving and started to favour homework again. Although, reflective of
the attitudes in the 1960s homework fell out of favour with the belief that it put too much pressure on students
(Cooper, 1989). This is why we find ourselves in a continuing circle of ups and downs in attitudes towards
homework which most likely, will continue.

“ Homework at secondary level can add We believe that homework plays an important role
in both a student’s education and the performance
on an additional 5 months’ progress “ of the school. Here we look at academic research,
onto a child’s learning (EEF, 2016) but also take into account the opinion of leading
educators who give weight to the stance that
homework serves a purpose that penetrates far deeper than improving a student’s general understanding of a
subject.

The purpose of homework can be grouped into ten strands as stated by Epstein & Van Voorhis (1988, 2001,
p.181) ‘practice, participation, preparation, personal development, parent-child relations, parent-teacher
communication, peer interactions, policy, public relations and punishment.’ This suggests that homework affects
more areas than just a student’s academic ability.

However, when we look at the research that focuses on the link between homework and academic achievement
we see that homework does in fact have a positive impact on students’ grades. Sharp (2002) states there
is a direct link between students spending time on homework and their achievement in secondary school.
Furthermore, Cooper similarly found that students who completed homework had better report cards and test
results than those who did not complete it (1989 cited by Epstein & Van Voorhis 2001). In a report conducted by
the EEF, they also found that the completion of homework at secondary level can add on an additional 5 months’

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progress onto a child’s learning, with minimal cost incurred by the school (EEF, 2016).

In addition to the academic findings, teachers themselves have commented on the purpose they believe
homework provides to students and schools. Epstein (1988, 2001, p.181) found that teachers recognised
‘practice, preparation and personal development’ to contribute to the overall purpose of homework. Tom
Sherrington, a Headteacher at a UK secondary school and influential education blogger, has expressed his
personal views on the value of homework: ‘Students who are successful at A Level and at GCSE are those who
have highly developed independent learning skills, have the capacity to lead the learning process through their
questions and ideas’ (Sherrington 2012a).

This suggests that even those who do not see an immediate impact from homework, believe that it will help
students’ personal development but also prepare them for the next stages of education and beyond. This
is further supported by Sharp (2002) who recognised that, despite homework not having a direct link to
achievement in younger children, it did promote independent learning and prepare them for secondary school.

“
A second UK teacher and education blogger, Rachel
Jones, commented on what she believes to be the
A key purpose of homework is to
purpose of homework and found that it had a positive ‘establish communication between
impact on both retention of knowledge and hand-in rates
when the homework set, was assigned with the intention
parent and child’ (Acock & Demo, 1994 “
to ‘develop learners knowledge and allow them more cited by Cooper et al, 2016, p.2
choice in how they express their work’ (Jones 2013).

In addition to the correlation between completing homework and improved achievement, homework plays
a fundamental role in both home-school involvement and students’ relationships with their parents. A key
purpose of homework outside of ‘enhancing instruction’ is to ‘establish communication between parent and
child’ (Acock & Demo, 1994 cited by Cooper et al, 20016, p.2).

Homework acts as a bridge between school and home, and the ability to engage parents in school life has a
positive impact on teachers - when teachers feel as though there is more parental involvement in school they
feel more positive about teaching (Epstein & Dauber, 1991, Hoover-Dempsey et al, 1987 cited by Epstein &
Van Voorhis, 2001). Acock and Demo (1994, cited by Epstein & Van Voorhis 2001, p.182) have even stated that
homework can help to improve relationships between parents, bringing them ‘closer together to enjoy learning
and exchange ideas’, cementing the idea that homework has greater repercussions than just raising academic
achievements within school.

“ Purposeful homework is intrinsically “ In addition to this, a purpose of homework valued by

both parents and teachers, is the idea that homework
linked to quality homework completed regularly by students helps to promote
‘a sense of responsibility’ (Warton 1997, p.213).
Moreover, Sherrington (2012b) comments on his stance as both an educator and a parent, saying that he firmly
believes that homework has a fundamental part to play in the learning process ‘and paving the way to students
becoming independent learners’.

Although, in order for homework to really show the benefits expressed here it must be purposeful. Students
have expressed their opinion on the value of homework, deeming it to be an important part of the learning
experience (Sharp 2002). Yet, they do express concerns regarding how homework is set relating to ‘conflicting

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deadlines, and tasks that make little contribution to learning’ (Sharp 2002, p.3). In order to combat these
concerns, schools should be vetting the quality of homework set, and teachers should be communicating with
one another in reference to deadlines.

The idea of setting purposeful homework is further supported by Epstein & Van Voorhis (2001, p.19) who
reports that those who set homework ‘to meet specific purposes and goals, more students complete their
homework and benefit from the results’. Additionally, the idea of setting homework with a clear purpose further
encourages parental involvement within the child’s education.

“ It’s important to consider the

Purposeful homework is intrinsically linked to quality
homework, and when teachers are setting homework
the emphasis should be on this as opposed to the
implications of setting too much
quantity. In order for homework to be regarded as high homework and the detrimental effects
quality, the instruction provided must be clear and
detailed (Frey & Fisher, 2011), and the tasks that are
it can have on students, such as stress
being set are ‘authentic and engaging’ (Darling-Hammond fatigue and loss of interest in studies “
& Ifill-Lynch 2006, p.1) providing students with a real
reason to complete them.
(Cooper, 2010)

This is further supported by Dettmers et al (2010) who found that when students identified homework as being
well thought out and relevant, they were more motivated to complete it. Frey & Fisher (2011) identified quality
homework types to include ‘fluency practice, application, spiral review and extension’ and denounced the value
of homework that asks students to complete work that was not covered in class as unvaluable as they have no
peer or teacher support and are unfamiliar with the topic.

It is also important to consider the implications of focusing on the amount of homework set - setting too much
homework can have detrimental effects on students, such as stress, fatigue and loss of interest in studies
(Cooper, 2010). From this we can gather that fewer pieces of well thought out homework will have more of a
positive impact on students’ learning. It is important for schools to monitor the amount of homework that is set,
what is being set and when, so as to avoid over-working students.

From this we can conclude, that homework does indeed serve a purpose, with studies providing a link between
homework and higher secondary school attainment. Yet despite the effects not always being apparent in
primary school and younger years, homework helps to prepare them for secondary school and encourages
them to become independent learners. Homework reaps benefits outside of just achievement with an
improvement in home-school involvement and parent-child relationships having positive impacts from
homework. Although, it must be taken into consideration that in order to see these benefits, homework being
set should have a clear goal and purpose, so as to encourage student completion of the work and for it to be
truly worthwhile.

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References
Cooper, H., 1989. Synthesis of Research on Homework. Effective Schools Research Abstracts [online], 4 (1), 85-91

Cooper, H., 2010. Homework’s Diminishing Returns. The New York Times [online], 12 December 2010. Available
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Cooper, H. and Robinson, J.C. and Patall, E.A., 2006. Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A
synthesis of Research, 1987-2003. Review of Education Research [online], 76 (1), 1-62

Darling-Hammond, L. and Ifill-Lynch, O., 2006. If They’d Only Do Their Work! Educational Leadership [online]
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Frey, N. and Fisher, D., 2011. High-Quality Homework [online] USA: Principal Leadership. Available from: http://
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GOV.UK, 2015. School Inspection Handbook from 2015 [online]. England: The National Archives. Available from:
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Jones, R., 2013. DESTROY Homework. Create Innovate Explore [online] 12 August 2013. Available from: http://
createinnovateexplore.com/destroy-homework/ [Accessed May 2016]
Sharp, C., 2002. Should Schools set Homework? National Foundation for Educational Research [online], 27 (1),
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Warton, P.M. 1997. Learning about responsibility: Lessons from homework. British Journal of Educational
Psychology [online], 67(2), pp. 213–221

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