The Early Career Framework states that teachers should learn that homework can improve pupil outcomes, particularly for older pupils, but it is likely that the quality of homework and its relevance to main class teaching is more important than the amount set.
Homework can be defined as any task assigned by schoolteachers intended for students to carry out during non-school hours (Cooper, 1989). This definition explicitly excludes (a) in-school guided study; (b) home study courses delivered through any means; and (c) extracurricular activities such as sports and participation in clubs. The phrase “intended for students to carry out during non-school hours” is used because students may complete homework assignments during study club, library time, or even during subsequent classes.
Homework activities vary significantly, particularly between younger and older pupils, including but not limited to home reading activities, longer projects or essays and more directed and focused work such as revision for tests.
Research by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) found that The average impact of homework is positive across both primary and secondary school. There is, however variation behind this average with homework set in primary school having a smaller impact on average.
The quality of the task set appears to be more important than the quantity of work required from the pupil. There is some evidence that the impact of homework diminishes as the amount of time pupils spend on it increases. The studies reviewed with the highest impacts set homework twice a week in a particular subject.
Evidence also suggests that how homework relates to learning during normal school time is important. In the most effective examples homework was an integral part of learning, rather than an add-on. To maximise impact, it also appears to be important that students are provided with high quality feedback on their work.
When we look at the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) Teaching and Learning Toolkit evidence summary for secondary homework then we will find that homework is much more effective with older children. It states: “The evidence shows that the impact of homework, on average, is five months’ additional progress.
MacBeath and Turner (1990) suggest a number of sensible and reasonable ideas:
Homework should be clearly related to on-going classroom work.
There should be a clear pattern to class work and homework.
Homework should be varied.
Homework should be manageable.
Homework should be challenging but not too difficult.
Homework should allow for individual initiative and creativity.
Homework should promote self-confidence and understanding.
There should be recognition or reward for work done.
There should be guidance and support.
Vatterott has also identified five fundamental characteristics of good homework: purpose, efficiency, ownership, competence, and aesthetic appeal (Vatterott, 2010).
Purpose: All homework assignments are meaningful and students must also understand the purpose of the assignment and why it is important in the context of their academic experience.
Efficiency: Homework should not take a disproportionate amount of time and needs to involve some hard thinking.
Ownership: Students who feel connected to the content learn more and are more motivated. Providing students with choice in their assignments is one way to create ownership.
Competence: Students should feel competent in completing homework and so we need to abandon the one-size-fits-all model. Homework that students cannot do without help is not good homework.
Inspiring: A well-considered and clearly designed resource and task impacts positively upon student motivation.
Homework can promote academic learning by
increasing the amount of time students spend studying
providing opportunities for practice, preparation, and extension work
assisting in the development of a range of intellectual skills
Homework can assist in the development of generic skills by
providing opportunities for individualised work
fostering initiative and independence
developing skills in using libraries and other learning resources
training pupils in planning and organising time
developing good habits and self-discipline
encouraging ownership and responsibility for learning
Homework can be beneficial to schools through
easing time constraints on the curriculum and allowing examination demands to be met
allowing assessment of pupils’ progress and mastery of work
exploiting resources not available in school
fulfilling the expectations of parents, pupils, politicians and the public
enabling accountability to external inspection agencies
Homework can promote home-school liaison by
encouraging the involvement of parents
developing links and opportunities for dialogue between parents and the school
encourages parents and children to work together
Derived from Cowan and Hallam (1999)
Homework: its uses and abuses by Professor Susan Hallam, Institute of Education, University of London provides interesting reading on the topic
Further information & research
Homework: Its uses and abuses, Hallam, Institute of Education, UCL, 2006: http://bit.ly/31xXo0u
The End of Homework: How homework disrupts families, overburdens children, and limits learning, Kralovec & Buell, Beacon Press, 2000.
The Homework Myth: Why our kids get too much of a bad thing, Kohn, De Capo Books, 2006: www.alfiekohn.org/homework-myth/
Homework Myths, Vatterott, The Homework Lady, February 2008: http://bit.ly/2H34wua
Homework (Secondary) Evidence Summary, Teaching and Learning Toolkit, Education Endowment Foundation: http://bit.ly/2YGEGa5
“Homework in primary school has an effect of zero”, John Hattie interview, BBC Radio 4, August 2014: https://bbc.in/2yWgcdK
Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses on achievement, Professor John Hattie, 2009: https://visible-learning.org
Why teaching will never be a research based profession, Dylan Wiliam presentation, ResearchEd, 2017: http://bit.ly/2MdFeO1
How to shift a school towards better homework, Kelleher, The Learning Scientists, June 2017: http://bit.ly/3016QJA
The case for and against homework, Marzano & Pickering, Educational Leadership, March 2007: http://bit.ly/2KK3unz
Speaking with: John Hattie on how to improve the quality of education in Australian schools, The Conversation, May 2016: http://bit.ly/2H3SzUG
Rethinking Homework: Best practices that support diverse needs, Vatterott, ASCD, 2018.
Five hallmarks of good homework, Vatterott, Educational Leadership, September 2010: http://bit.ly/2MfnodE
Unhomework: How to get the most out of homework, without really setting it, Mark Creasy, Independent Thinking Press, 2014.
Why students should set and mark their own homework, Mark Creasy, Guardian, April 2014: http://bit.ly/2KwP5MM
Takeaway Homework, Tarr’s Toolbox, Tarr, 2015: www.classtools.net/blog/takeaway-homework
Effective primary teaching practice, Teaching Schools Council, 2016: http://bit.ly/2TrXOCC
The Early Career Framework Further Reading
[Further reading recommendations are indicated with an asterisk.]
Alexander R.J. (2020) A Dialogic Teaching Companion, London: Routledge.
*Coe, R., Aloisi, C., Higgins, S., & Major, L. E. (2014) What makes great teaching. Review of the underpinning research. Durham University: UK. Available at: http://bit.ly/2OvmvKO
Donker, A. S., de Boer, H., Kostons, D., Dignath van Ewijk, C. C., & van der Werf, M. P. C. (2014) Effectiveness of learning strategy instruction on academic performance: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 11, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2013.11.002.
Donovan, M. S., & Bransford, J. D. (2005) How students learn: Mathematics in the classroom. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013) Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Supplement, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266.
Education Endowment Foundation (2016) Improving Literacy in Key Stage One Guidance Report. [Online] Accessible from:https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/ [retrieved 10 October 2018].
Education Endowment Foundation (2017) Improving Mathematics in Key Stages Two and Three Guidance Report. [Online] Accessible from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/ [retrieved 10 October 2018].
Education Endowment Foundation (2017) Metacognition and Self-regulated learning Guidance Report. [Online] Accessible from:https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/ [retrieved 10 October 2018].
Education Endowment Foundation (2018) Improving Secondary Science Guidance Report. [Online] Accessible from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/ [retrieved 10 October 2018].
*Education Endowment Foundation (2018) Sutton Trust-Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Accessible from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/ [retrieved 10 October 2018].
Elleman, A. M., Lindo, E. J., Morphy, P., & Compton, D. L. (2009) The Impact of Vocabulary Instruction on Passage-Level Comprehension of School-Age Children: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345740802539200.
Hodgen, J., Foster, C., Marks, R. & Brown, M. (2018) Improving Mathematics in Key Stages Two and Three: Evidence Review. [Online] Accessible from https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/evidence-reviews/improvingmathematics-in-key-stages-two-and-three/ [retrieved 22 October 2018], 149-157.
Institute of Education Sciences. (2009) Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention for Elementary and Middle Schools. Accessible from: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/rti_math_pg_042109.pdf.
Jay, T., Willis, B., Thomas, P., Taylor, R., Moore, N., Burnett, C., Merchant, G., Stevens, A. (2017) Dialogic Teaching: Evaluation Report. [Online] Accessible from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and evaluation/projects/dialogicteaching [retrieved 10 October 2018].
Kalyuga, S. (2007) Expertise reversal effect and its implications for learner-tailored instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 19(4), 509-539.
Kirschner, P., Sweller, J., Kirschner, F. & Zambrano, J. (2018) From cognitive load theory to collaborative cognitive load theory. In International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 13(2), 213-233.
Leung, K. C. (2015) Pre liminary Empirical Model of Crucial Determinants of Best Practice for Peer Tutoring on Academic Achievement Preliminary Empirical Model of Crucial Determinants of Best Practice for Peer Tutoring on Academic Achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(2), 558–579. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037698 .
Muijs, D., & Reynolds, D. (2017) Effective teaching: Evidence and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pan, S. C., & Rickard, T. C. (2018) Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 144(7), 710–756. http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fbul0000151 .
*Rosenshine, B. (2012) Principles of Instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00507.x
Sweller, J. (2016). Working Memory, Long-term Memory, and Instructional Design. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 5(4), 360–367. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2015.12.002.
Tereshchenko, A., Francis, B., Archer, L., Hodgen, J., Mazenod, A., Taylor, B., Travers, M. C. (2018) Learners’ attitudes to mixed-attainment grouping: examining the views of students of high, middle and low attainment. Research Papers in Education, 1522, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2018.1452962 .
Van de Pol, J., Volman, M., Oort, F., & Beishuizen, J. (2015) The effects of scaffolding in the classroom: support contingency and student independent working time in relation to student achievement, task effort and appreciation of support. Instructional Science, 43(5), 615-641.
Wittwer, J., & Renkl, A. (2010) How Effective are Instructional Explanations in Example-Based Learning? A Meta-Analytic Review. Educational Psychology Review, 22(4), 393–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-91365 .
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002) Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview, Theory Into Practice. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1477457?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.