by Sylvia Harrison

Created on: April 14, 2010

Does homework actually improve academic achievement?

Homework can improve academic achievement.  However, this statement must be qualified.  If a student is being given a grade on homework it could actually prove to be a detriment to achievement instead of an improvement.

Homework may have it's niche.  It might be helpful, if a student already understands the basics of an issue, to reinforce that learning with practice utilizing homework.  If, on the other hand, a student does not understand the basics of what the homework is about, it is a waste of time, energy, and self-confidence.  At that point it becomes detrimental.

It is a myth of highest degree to presume that every student has the assistance of someone at home who can understand and aid in homework assignments.  Many do and that's wonderful.  Many do not.  For those students, (and often-times their parents!), homework becomes not a help, but a hindrance.  It is unfair to the students and their families to give homework as a source of another grade or to expect that the student will benefit from the work if it is not understood.

Along with this lack of understanding comes the pressure on the student to "get the work done".  His, and his family's home lives are disrupted continually by an ongoing battle.  Instead of spending quality time with their children, many parents are forced to spend time overseeing the completion of homework they, themselves, may not completely understand.  

Schools were begun with the teaching of basics to children by "teachers" who, supposedly, knew more about math, reading, writing, etc. than some parents did and had more time to teach those things to our youth.  Schools in this day and age take much more into consideration.  Teachers often try to go beyond the basics of education.  This is not always the fault of the teacher.  Government officials, too, seems to believe that they know more about what our children should be learning than we, as parents, do.

Teachers are being paid to teach.  We, the parents, are the ones paying them.  A little homework with good solidly taught skills behind it can be a good thing.  On the other side of the coin, homework, especially if graded, can cause more harm than good. If a struggling student, with minimal help from siblings or parents, does not understand his school work and is graded on how he does on that work, his self confidence, self esteem, and drive to continue are thwarted.  We are doing him no favors by telling him he gets a grade of "F" on work that should be being taught at school.  Basically he is getting that "F" because he does not know how to teach himself and no one at home understands how to help him learn that material.

In this world of modern technology, homework as we knew it, should be termed as obsolete.  There are cases where more practice can truly make a difference.  Grading the practice efforts or expecting those practice efforts to teach without a teacher present is, in this day and age, a bit far reaching.

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