Trends in Elementary and Secondary Education - Why So Much Homework?

Too much homework? Most kids would say yes. The media report that in the race to keep up with the world's highest academic achievers, kids are overloaded with homework and are in danger of burning out. But the numbers don't show a remarkable increase in the amount of homework assigned or done over a 20-year period. In 1984, an average of 73% of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds reported being assigned homework; by 1999, the figure had risen by only 1.5%.

The chart also shows that teachers are assigning a little more homework, but students aren't spending any more time doing it. There was little change in the amount of time students reported spending on homework. How much time should they be spending? The National PTA recommends 10-20 minutes per day for grades K-2, 30-60 minutes for grades 3-6, and an amount that will vary by subject for junior and senior high school students.

The following table shows the breakdown of homework data by age. Among 13-year-olds, there was little change in the percentage who were assigned homework, and there was a decrease in the percentage of 17-year-olds assigned any homework. Only 9-year-olds got more homework. Other studies also have shown that the heaviest burden of homework seems to fall on the youngest students. A study by the University of Michigan, discussed in NEA Today, found that of 3,600 young children surveyed, 9-year-olds spent 217 minutes studying each week in 1997, compared to 169 minutes in 1981. Homework-time by 6-to 8-year-olds nearly tripled during that period, from 44 to 123 minutes.

Percentage of 17-, 13-, and 9-year olds, by amount of time spent each day on homework, 1984 and 1999

Year	Age	Any homework assigned	Didn't do homework	Less than 1 hour	1 to 2 hours	More than 2 hours
1984	17	77.5	11.4	26.2	26.8	13.2
1999	17	73.6	13.1	26.4	22.6	11.5
1984	13	77.4	3.7	35.9	29.2	8.6
1999	13	75.9	4.5	37.2	26.3	7.9
1984	9	64.4	4.2	41.5	12.7	6.1
1999	9	74.2	3.8	53.1	12.4	4.9

In 1999, more 13-and 17-year-olds were skipping homework. Fewer spent time on it when they did do it. NCES reports that in 1999 more than half of all students spent less than five hours a week to homework. What were they doing instead? Watching TV, playing electronic games, working on computers, or working.

Does it make any difference how much time children spend on homework? NCES says: "Homework may have a positive effect on older students' achievement, but no discernible effect on the achievement of younger students." Professor Harris Cooper of the University of Missouri, Columbia, who has researched the homework question, claims there is a 15-year cycle to the homework issue. Every 15 years there is a call to abolish it, followed 15 years later by a call for more of it.

How do American kids stack up against kids in other countries? The table below comes from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), considered one of the most comprehensive and rigorous such tests ever conducted. 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders took the exam and completed a survey about their homework and other habits. The table shows average time spent on homework by 12th-grade test-takers in 19 countries compared to the United States. We've included 12th-graders' average test scores in mathematics general knowledge.

Average hours spent by 12th-grade test-takers on homework each day and average scores in mathematics general knowledge and achievement

Country	Average hours of homework	Average test score
United States	1.7	461
International	2.6	500

American 4th-graders scored above average in math and near the top in science. American 8th-graders were about average in both. By 12th grade, American students scored below the international average and ranked nearly at the bottom. Newspaper headlines called the American scores "dismal" and American performance "mediocre." Next we look at another trend in educational reform: a long school year.

Sources: Chart and Table 1. National Center for Education Statistics. NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1984 and 1999 Long-Term Trend Assessment, in The Condition of Education 2001, Indicator 22. Online. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/. March 18, 2002. Table 2: "Responses to Selected Student Questionnaire Items: Responses of Students Participating in Mathematics and Science General Knowledge Assessments," Pursuing Excellence: A Study of U.S. Twelfth Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in International Context, NCES 98-049. Online. Available: http://nces.ed.gov March 18, 2002 and Mathematics & Science Achievement in the Final Year of Secondary School. Mullis, Ina V. et al., cited in Congressional Digest, August-September 1999, p. 205. "Homework: Time To Turn It In? NEA Today, April 1999, p. 21. National PTA. Online. Available: http://www.pta.org. February 20, 2002. Hellmich, Nancy. "Author argues amount of homework adds pressure on kids." Detroit News, 12 October 2000. Online. Available: http://detnews.com. February 20, 2002.