Is homework good or bad?

A growing minority of researchers and educators in the United States are calling for an end to homework, explaining that vigorous scrutiny of studies “failed to demonstrate tangible benefits” of homework, particularly for elementary pupils.

According to a report published in the Sacramento Bee, a major newspaper in Northern California, a teacher at Palo Alto’s Gunn High School has gone heretic, refusing to assign homework, leaving students anxious and parents aghast, at least initially.

Phil Lyons, who teaches world history and advanced-placement economics, has reportedly preempted his new policy shift by explaining to parents why homework is a failed approach and why their kids will actually learn more without it.

Some researchers contend that what homework has done is rob children of childhood, play havoc with family life and asphyxiate their natural curiosity. Learning is said to have become a mind-numbing grind rather than engaging venture.

But others remain unconvinced, pointing out that an era of rigorous academic standards and vertebra-straining backpacks, more American schools seem to be assigning more homework in earlier grades. For two decades, experts were said to have propelled this trend with dire warning that students in nations such as Japan are besting Americans because they diligently do more homework.

In the same report, an international comparison by two Penn State professors has concluded that junior high school students who scored highest in Math tended to come from countries where teachers assign tons of homework, such as Iran, Thailand and Greece.

It begs the question: “Has homework become too much of a bad thing?” brought forth opposing views, citing the strengths and weaknesses of homework as an instructional technique. Debates on the merits of homework rage on.

To stress their point, proponents cite evidence suggesting that homework instills responsibility and they note that learning would proceed at a sluggish pace if class time were consumed with students reading novels, memorizing vocabulary or writing research papers – assignments better accomplished at home.

Opponents, on the other hand, counter with evidence that homework’s dictatorial nature undercuts responsibility, generates family conflict, and takes away time from creative play and natural learning.

The most widely regarded analysis of the effect of homework has been that of Harris Cooper of Duke University, who synthesized dozens of studies over time. The studies deemed most reliable, which compared similar students who were assigned homework with those assigned no homework, found out that in the short term, homework boosted scores on unit tests of materials, whether it was second-graders learning number placement or high school seniors studying Shakespeare.

Much of the debates over existence or quality of homework ignores the obvious: Quality. Not all assignments are created equal – some are busy work, others are inspiring.

Cooper reportedly took a more cautious stand when he said: “We’re waiting for the absolute perfect study in which kids are randomly assigned to do or not do homework for their entire academic careers, and then we’ll see for sure who did best.”

MAX BALLESTEROS taught for eight years at the Jones Rural School in Isabela province. He is now a freelance journalist.