Customer Reviews

The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents

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I bought this book while working on my master's thesis. Harris Cooper is the leader in homework research. He discusses research, pros & cons, common problems & troubleshooting and does it all in a way that is easy to read. Every other book or article I've read about homework had some reference to, or quote from, Harris Cooper. He is funny & intelligent-an enjoyable, quick read. I have loaned my books to other teachers, the principal, and parents. All who borrowed books raved about them. If you are researching homework or struggling with homework issues at school or home-you need this book. A+

My initial thoughts after reading the first chapter was that granted, the book seems to be written very succinctly and leaves many statements open for further reading and discussion; however, many of the statements he makes on the "con" side of the debate are just preposterous. It's not that they aren't valid statements, scientifically speaking--many of them are--but they just don't provide enough justification (or common sense) either alone or taken together.

For example, when he summarizes the negative effects of homework, among them he lists that "home study can increase differences between high- and low-achieving students, especially when the achievement difference is associated with economic differences... high achievers from well-to-do homes will have greater parental support for home study... more likely to have quiet, well-lit places in which to do assignments and better resources..." Aside from the obvious devil's advocate question of this not being valid in an economically homogeneous environment, there's the sheer absurdity of the implied suggestion that we should disadvantage the more privileged children and stunt their development by eliminating homework so as to level the playing field!

Another example is when he mentions the "satiation effect", where students are, basically, overloaded with the subject matter. What does that have to do with homework? Every student will get "satiated" at different points--some after 30 minutes of homework, some after 5 minutes of homework... and some after 20 minutes of classroom instruction. So, why would it occur to anyone to draw the line after x minutes of schoolwork and before any minutes of homework? With that logic, maybe some schools should cut down on the school day to accommodate those who are satiated even before the school day is over!

Upon finishing the book, though, I'm slightly less cynical about his agenda itself (only because he qualifies almost every statement with a disclaimer, rendering most of the book to mere conjecture and unproven or conflicting hypotheses), but just as cynical about the research out there on both sides. In fact, if you took out every statement that came with a waffling caveat, you could reduce the book from 82 pages to 2. (That's not to say that the other 80 pages or so aren't interesting or somewhat useful as a source of ideas.)

Here's just one example of the many, many examples of inconclusiveness and even contradictions:

In one part of the book he writes: "I found that subject matter influenced the outcome of comparisons a bit and in a somewhat unexpected manner. Comparisons involving mathematics revealed the smallest effect of homework; those involving science and social studies revealed the largest effect; and those involving reading and English fell in the middle." In a later chapter, he writes: "Mathematics produced the strongest average correlation (r = +.22), followed by reading (r = +.20) and English (r = +.20). Science (r = +.13) and social studies (r = +.10) produced the weakest average correlations." (Note: higher r values means stronger correlation between more homework and higher test scores).

This is a perfect example of how there are so many tests out there, all showing different results... and, yet, not enough conclusiveness for any one assertion. In fact, almost every section comes with a disclaimer or two mentioning how there is either a lack of data to adequately support the premise, or how there are differing conclusions based on different studies. In fact, in yet another later chapter, he refers back to this very contradiction, by writing: "Taken together then, the two experimental studies lend no support to the notion that longer homework assignments lead to higher achievement, at least in mathematics. This result is especially interesting because math generated the largest estimate of relation among the correlational studies described previously. However firm conclusions cannot be drawn from two small experiments, especially when they appear to contradict another set of studies that involve many more students. What is clear is that we cannot rule out the likelihood that at least some of the relationship between time on homework and achievement found in surveys is due to higher achievement causing more time on homework."

In fact, overall, I think the entire book can be summed up in one sentence, as follows: "It's likely that homework, when given in reasonable small-but-frequent doses and within meaningful assignments, can help improve students' test scores; however, this has not been definitively proven nor refuted, nor has it been significantly tested using any measurement other than test scores--so don't expect this book to do anything more than just speculate and sum up the motley collection of studies."

Here's another section representative of this frustrating inconclusiveness:

"What Can Happen When Parents Become Involved in Homework? Recall that educators have suggested the impact of parent involvement on the effectiveness of homework could be either positive or negative. First, educators say that parent involvement in home study could be used to accelerate children's learning. But, involvement might also interfere with learning. This could happen if parents are uncomfortable or unable to take on the role of teacher or if parents use instructional techniques different from those being used at school. Second, educators suggest that parent involvement might improve communication between the school and family. Alternatively, direct involvement of parents in homework could lead to excessive pressure on children to complete assignments and do well. This can happen if parents hold expectations for students that are inconsistent with their capabilities. Finally, educators point out that although monitoring and assisting with homework by parents should be beneficial to students, overly involved parents might give assistance beyond tutoring, perhaps by simply giving correct answers or completing assignments themselves. Complicating the picture further, families differ in the resources of time, space, and materials available to them. This suggests that requests for involvement might be more difficult for families of limited economic means or families in which there is a single parent or multiple children. The results of our survey supported the claim that, although parents report positive experiences with homework most of the time, negative forms of parent involvement in homework occur at least some of the time in most families."

I just want to make one distinction, though: while it seems that I'm criticizing Cooper himself, I'm really only criticizing how inconclusive the subject matter itself is. Because of the nature of the field of research in this subject, it's easy to say that this book teaches us nothing or that Cooper isn't very good at what he does. However, if we take a step back from the trees and look at the forest, I believe that he is very well-versed on the subject and that his research is extremely exhaustive and, as such, he teaches one thing and one thing only, and that is:

***Research has shown that there is no conclusive data to be had on homework--no one-size-fits-all policy that would satisfy all schools and all situations.***

As a high school administrator, I must present instructional options founded in research. Dr. Cooper provides a near, meta-analysis of research data on homework that answers essential questions of teachers, administrators, parents, and students. I have had teachers complain about the voluminous amount of homework given by peers, as well as the lack of homework required by others. With this book, I can share the research on not only appropriate quantity, but more importantly the quality of homework.

The book provides excellent resources to pursue more in-depth research. The examples of site and district homework policies were useful in creating our own homework policy. Our staff has used the book for professional learning community discussions. It has provided a beneficial source of productive discussion.

The book is an easy read with practical applications in the classroom.

This is an easy read and a balanced perspective on whether children should be doing homework and how much is enough. I'm recommending it to all my collegues at school.

This is a great resource for teachers looking to perfect their homework program.