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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, eec/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..

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Deni/on
Homework is typically dened 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 1940s. Back en vogue due to fears of lack of
rigor in the 1950s 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.

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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 1940s. Back en vogue due to
fears of lack of rigor in the 1950s 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.

Page 4

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 signicant.
Therefore we think it would not be imprudent based on the
evidence in hand to conclude that doing homework causes
improvement in academic achievement.
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However
The Gains in Scores are Grade specic: There is not clear-cut
consensus on the benets of homework at lower grade levels.
Cooper found li`le eect 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

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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.

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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 be`er, more completed work IS be`er
Small amounts of well-structured homework is be`er than large
amounts of busywork

Our results suggest that the benets of homework for young children may not
be immediately evident but exist nonetheless. To the extent that homework
helps young students develop eec/ve study habits, our results suggest that
homework in the early grades can have a long-term developmental eect when
the student moves into secondary school.
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For Older Students

For older students, homework can have a posi/ve
correla/on with improvement in scores in standardized
tests
This eect is subject to several qualita/ve factors:
Time on task
Structure of Homework
Parent Involvement

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Factors that Impact the Success of

Homework Time on Task
There is much guess work
Too much homework may diminish its eec/veness and even
have detrimental eects 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.

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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

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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

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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
Page 13

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.

Page 14

Recommended Homework Structures and

Ideas
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.

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Recommended Homework Structures and

Ideas
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 dierent
students working on dierent 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.
Page 16

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 Prole 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
Page 17

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

Page 18

Implementa/on Steps
The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano.
Five Steps to More Eec/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 Nikkis 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 voorhees@dowling.edu.

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