HOMEWORK Donald Snead Department of Educational Leadership Kathleen Burriss Department of Elementary and Special Education 1

Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding the Motivation and Effectiveness of Homework 2

Definition of Homework  A historical component of children’s learning and teachers’ instruction  Defined as any task assigned by to complete out- of-school (Cooper, 1989) (Cooper, 1989) 3

Questions about Homework  How assign?  How use grades? 4

Scheduling Homework  Administrator mandate  Parents’ expectations  Family schedules full  Children need help 5

Past Research Inconsistencies  Yes, positive relationship between homework & academic achievement  But inconsistencies exist for children, parents, and teachers (Cooper, Robinson, Patall, 2006) (Cooper, Robinson, Patall, 2006) 6

Contemporary Family Issues  Single family households/two working parents  Additional extracurricular activities  More hours in school  Increases in rates of childhood obesity levels  Increases in media addictions  Increases in restaurant eating 7

The Research Problem  Lack of naturalistic data in literature  Finding the teacher voice 8

Literature Review  No consensus  Administrators (test scores, school policy)  Parents’ expectations  Form of communication/involvement  Improve students’ understanding (Van Voorhis, 2003) (Van Voorhis, 2003) 9

Contradictions in Literature  Cooper, et. al (2006) homework influences academic achievement homework influences academic achievement  Kralovec & Buell (2000) homework/waste of time homework/waste of time quality of professional development/after-school programs quality of professional development/after-school programs 10

Homework is Instructional/Non- Instructional  Instructional Complete school assignmentsComplete school assignments Drill/practiceDrill/practice ReviewReview Test preparationTest preparation  Non-instructional: Community involvementCommunity involvement Political & personal developmentPolitical & personal development CommunicationCommunication 11

Homework as Dilemma  One-size fits all  Differentiate assignments  Parents’ ability to help  Students’ ability to interpret and transfer learning  Appropriate timing 12

Past Homework Literature  A snapshot of what has already been learned  Most studies quantitative  Few qualitative studies from perceptional standpoint  Teacher voice data limited 13

Theoretical Framework  Informational Processing Learning as transferring information Learning as transferring information Cognitive control processes Cognitive control processes Adequate student understanding necessary for transfer Adequate student understanding necessary for transfer (Atkinson & Shiffin, 1968) (Atkinson & Shiffin, 1968) 14

Research Questions  What are the reasons elementary school teachers assign homework?  Are there any differences between early childhood and elementary teachers’ perceptions regarding homework?  How do teachers use homework in the overall evaluation process of their students? 15

Research Questions  To what degree does homework involve the use of technology or specific tools that are not provided by the school?  To what degree does a district implement homework policy when such is mandated by administrators?

About the Study  Participants - 90 Volunteer Teachers: 2 nd and 4 th grade teachers (47 and 43 respectively) 2 nd and 4 th grade teachers (47 and 43 respectively)  Instrument: Seven item open- ended questionnaire Seven item open- ended questionnaire Analysis Analysis Compare/Contrast Compare/Contrast 17

Homework Survey  Open-Ended Survey: Why do you give homework? Why do you give homework? If homework is mandated, who requires it? If homework is mandated, who requires it? How much time do you anticipate students spending on homework per week? How much time do you anticipate students spending on homework per week? Do you assign homework that requires technology (internet, word processing, spreadsheets)? Do you assign homework that requires technology (internet, word processing, spreadsheets)? 18

Homework Survey  Open-Ended Survey: How do you assess homework? How do you assess homework? To what degree (percentage) is homework included in the overall grades? To what degree (percentage) is homework included in the overall grades? Additional thoughts on homework. Additional thoughts on homework.

Study Validity  Piloted the survey with a group previous to the onset of the study.  Two researchers and a graduate assistant analyzed the participants’ responses.  Constant comparison process determined each of the three independent coding efforts elicited the same categories for each question. (Le Compte & Preissle, 1993; McMillan, & Wergin, 2006) (Le Compte & Preissle, 1993; McMillan, & Wergin, 2006) 20

Study Validity  Two researchers provided text examples to justify category labels.  Theoretical validity is affirmed through earlier discussions of informational processing and developmentally appropriate practices. (Le Compte & Preissle, 1993; McMillan, & Wergin, 2006) (Le Compte & Preissle, 1993; McMillan, & Wergin, 2006)

Five Layers of Analysis  Constant Comparison Analysis: Layers one, two and three Layers one, two and three Two researchers Two researchers One graduate student One graduate student Fourth layer Fourth layer Two researchers provided text examples to justify category labelsTwo researchers provided text examples to justify category labels Fifth layer Fifth layer Researchers looked for consistent/inconsistency patterns within individual teacher responsesResearchers looked for consistent/inconsistency patterns within individual teacher responses 22

Study Results

Question 1: Why do you give homework?  Several instructional/non-instructional reasons: Practice Practice Reinforcement Reinforcement Review Review Communication Communication Responsibility Responsibility Multiples of the aforementioned categories Multiples of the aforementioned categories 24

Question 2: If homework is mandated who requires it?  Administrators  Parents  District  Other  Not assign  Collapsed “other”, “Multiples”, & “Not assigned”  65 of 90 reported homework as a teacher choice 25

Question 3: How much time do you anticipate students spending on homework per week?  Most teachers reported a range; therefore, a spreadsheet displays the lower and upper limits time required. Example: Teacher A lower limit 1.25 hours to upper Example: Teacher A lower limit 1.25 hours to upper limit 1.67 limit 1.67 Teacher B lower limit 1.33 hours to upper Teacher B lower limit 1.33 hours to upper limit 1.33 limit

Question 4: Do you assign homework that requires technology?  Overwhelmingly teachers reported they do not 27

Question 5: How do you assess homework?  Analysis teased out five sub-categories Teacher— sole grader Teacher— sole grader Student— sole grader Student— sole grader Teacher and student— teacher provide answers while students checked work or teacher just checked/looked over with student Teacher and student— teacher provide answers while students checked work or teacher just checked/looked over with student No graded— teacher did not check homework No graded— teacher did not check homework No Response— teacher did not indicate procedure No Response— teacher did not indicate procedure 28

Question 6: To what degree is homework included in the overall grades?  Analysis teased out six categories Not counted or 0% Not counted or 0% 1% > 10% 1% > 10% 11% > 15% 11% > 15% 16% > 20% 16% > 20% 21% > 25% 21% > 25% Other amounts Other amounts 29

Question 7: Additional thoughts on homework  Most teachers did not respond Subcategories included: Subcategories included: ResponsibilityResponsibility ReinforcementReinforcement StandardStandard ParentsParents PracticePractice Not finished in schoolNot finished in school Relevant readingRelevant reading On homework givenOn homework given 30

Conclusions about Homework  Variety of reasons for assigning homework Confusion Confusion Teacher inconsistency Teacher inconsistency Purpose not well defined Purpose not well defined (Findings concur will Banks, 2007)(Findings concur will Banks, 2007) 31

Conclusions about Homework  Time spent/week  Second graders.33 to 3.5 hours  Fourth graders.05 to 7.0 hours  No second/two fourth grade teachers indicated “no homework.”  Graded Fourth grade teachers who did not grade homework and required more than two hours per week, included the grade considerably more in over all (10%<) Fourth grade teachers who did not grade homework and required more than two hours per week, included the grade considerably more in over all (10%<) Second grade teacher assigning more than two hours per week, did not include in overall grade Second grade teacher assigning more than two hours per week, did not include in overall grade 32

The Data State…  Greatest number of responses indicated skill as reasons for homework. “More is better” “More is better” Differentiated learning may be lost Differentiated learning may be lost Teachers inconsistent with respect to grade, time, & goal Teachers inconsistent with respect to grade, time, & goal 33

Implications of Study  Process & product of homework may be inconsistent  Historical, but not as effective  Differentiation not evidenced  Teachers’ inconsistency undermine process  Homework did not extend learning

HOMEWORK Donald Snead Department of Educational Leadership Kathleen Burriss Department of Elementary and Special Education 35