Homework Success Tips

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Homework Report

January 9, 2012 Nelyda Miguel

Review of Research §  Mul/tude of studies and opposing results and posi/ons §  Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is cofounder and CEO of Marzano Research

Laboratory in Englewood, Colorado. A leading researcher in educa/on, he is a speaker, trainer, and author of more than 30 books and 150 ar/cles on topics such as instruc/on, assessment, wri/ng and implemen/ng standards, cogni/on, effec/ve leadership, and school interven/on.

§  His books include Designing & Teaching Learning Goals & Objec5ves, The Highly Engaged Classroom, Forma5ve Assessment & Standards-‐Based Grading, On Excellence in Teaching, District Leadership That Works, and The Art and Science of Teaching.

§  His prac/cal transla/ons of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are interna/onally known and widely prac/ced by both teachers and administrators..

Defini/on

Homework is typically defined as any teacher-‐assigned task intended for students to perform outside school hours (Cooper, 1989a). Cooper, Robinson and Patall (2006) describe the history of homework, from the belief that it helped create a disciplined mind in the 19th century, to the reac/on against its intrusion into family life in the 1940’s. Back en vogue due to fears of lack of rigor in the 1950’s when the Soviets launched Sputnik and again trending against in 1970 with the belief that homework was detrimental to students’ health. Since then there have been two passionate camps pro and against and many studies.

History

Cooper, Robinson and Patall (2006) describe the history of homework, from the belief that it helped create a disciplined mind in the 19th century, to the reac/on against its intrusion into family life in the 1940’s. Back en vogue due to fears of lack of rigor in the 1950’s when the Soviets launched Sputnik and again trending against in 1970 with the belief that homework was detrimental to students’ health. Since then there have been two passionate camps pro and against and many studies.

Research Summary

§  The most robust research has been done by Cooper (1989a) and by Cooper, Robinson and Patall (2006).

§  Conclusion:

“….with only rare excep/ons the rela/onship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement

outcomes was found to be posi/ve and sta/s/cally significant. Therefore we think it would not be imprudent based on the evidence in hand to conclude that doing homework causes

improvement in academic achievement.”

However………

The Gains in Scores are Grade specific: There is not clear-‐cut consensus on the benefits of homework at lower grade levels. Cooper found li`le effect for homework at the elementary level. §  Grades 4-‐6 Percen/le gain = 6 §  Grades 7-‐9 Percen/le gain = 12 §  Grades 10 – 12 Percen/le gain = 24

S/ll……..

§  Cooper recommends homework for elementary students, with a caveat:

“….It should not be expected to improve scores. Instead, homework for young children should help them develop good study habits, foster posi/ve aetudes toward school and communicate to students the idea that learning takes work at

home as well as school. “

Factors that Impact the Success of Homework at Elementary Level

§  The factor that most moderates the rela/onship between homework at the lower levels and achievement is not the amount of homework assigned but the amount of homework actually completed

§  More /me is not beèr, more completed work IS beèr §  Small amounts of well-‐structured homework is beèr than large

amounts of busywork “…Our results suggest that the benefits of homework for young children may not be immediately evident but exist nonetheless. To the extent that homework helps young students develop effec/ve study habits, our results suggest that

homework in the early grades can have a long-‐term developmental effect when the student moves into secondary school.”

For Older Students

§  For older students, homework can have a posi/ve correla/on with improvement in scores in standardized tests

§  This effect is subject to several qualita/ve factors: §  Time on task §  Structure of Homework §  Parent Involvement

Factors that Impact the Success of Homework – Time on Task

§  There is much guess work §  Too much homework may diminish its effec/veness and even

have detrimental effects on grades. §  Generally, research recommends 10 minutes per grade level. 10

minutes in grade 1, 20 in grade 2, etc. No more than 1.5 – 2 hours for high-‐school.

Factors that Impact the Success of Homework – Structure of Homework

§  Students should be able to read the text and have enough prior knowledge/schema/vocabulary to understand the assignment

§  Students should understand the purpose of the assignment. §  Homework should come ajer high-‐quality teacher modeling of

the thinking and procedures required §  Homework should come ajer students have had a chance to

prac/ce with their peers in produc/ve group seengs, explain their thinking, and hear the thinking of their peers

Factors that Impact the Success of Homework – Structure of Homework

§  Homework should come ajer teachers have checked for understanding with ques/ons, prompts, and cues and given students correc/ve feedback

In other words, homework should be a chance for students to prac5ce something they know how to do. It is not the 5me to

introduce new material

Factors that Impact the Success of Homework – Parent Involvement

§  Parents should have clear guidelines §  Parents should not be expected to become teachers but may

ask clarifying ques/ons and ques/ons that help student summarize their learning

§  Parents should inform teachers when the student is confused or lost

§  Parents should share with teachers if they assist a student with an assignment – in detail

§  Homework should not impact family life nega/vely §  Homework should not be misery – if it is, parents should ask the

teacher to modify homework

Recommended Homework Structures and Ideas

§  Good and Brophy (2003): “…homework that asks students to discuss with parents (and

summarize), homework that asks students to explain their work and products to parents and get their reac/on, homework that

asks students to interview their parents and other family members to become engaged in conversa/ons that relate to the academic

curriculum.”


§  Fluency prac5ce: Students prac/ce one or two skills they already know how to do in order to improve – for example, reading every night from books at their reading level builds reading power as well as vocabulary and background knowledge or prac/cing math facts

§  Applica5on – Students apply something they have learned to a new situa/on, which can involve inquiry and inves/ga/on – for example, students might be asked to write about what would have happened if the Civil War had been fought in 1920.


§  Spiral review – Students do problems and ques/ons that reach back to curriculum areas covered before the current unit. This keeps memories sharp, relates current to earlier content, and reduces the need for weeks of review before high-‐stakes tests.

§  Extension – Students are asked to extend what they already know into new domains, which opens the door for different students working on different things – for example, some students in a biology class are reading press ar/cles about gene/cs, others are having a discussion with the teacher ajer school, and others are working on independent research projects.

Recommenda/ons for Whitby

§  ALEKS quick facts or pie (if the student can do the pie segment independently)

§  Extensions to discuss with parents/elders, for example: What is a personal hero of yours and what Learner Profile traits did they exhibit (this makes for great dinner conversa/on, parents will thank you) -‐ with some accountability such as a checklist or paragraph.

§  Video such as Discovery Educa/on with checklist or ques/ons to respond to (not all kids should have the same number of ques/ons, some are quick producers, some are not)

§  Con/nua/on of a class experience that the student can do independently

§  Reading independently and/or with parent

Implementa/on Steps

§  Present research to Faculty Leadership §  Discuss research with faculty – Where is our school? -‐feedback §  Share research with parents -‐ feedback §  Develop ac/on plan of changes in homework policy §  Implement changes 2012 -‐ 2013

Implementa/on Steps

§  “The Art and Science of Teaching” by Robert Marzano. §  “Five Steps to More Effec/ve Homework” by Cathy Va`ero` in

Middle Ground, August 2010 (Vol. 14, #1, p. 29-‐31), no e-‐link available; the author is at va`ero`@umsl.edu

§  “Why the Dog Eats Nikki’s Homework: Making Informed Assignment Decisions” by Susan Voorhees in The Reading Teacher, February 2011 (Vol. 64, #5, p. 363-‐367), no e-‐link available; Voorhees can be reached at [email protected].

Homework Success Tips

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