Importance of Homework Essay Example
The debate over how children should spend their time has been continuous since the rise of education. HSAS students should receive three hours of homework a night. This is because homework, assigned smartly by the teachers, substantially increases academic achievement. Three hours is the optimal amount because HSAS is a high performing school, and therefore requires a daily, significant extension of learning time, but not an excessive amount.
Homework has been proven, in general, to increase academic achievement in students. A large-scale analysis found that many, if not most studies examined found a correlation between the amount of time spent on homework and academic achievement growth, even if some correlations are minimal. This evidence proves that homework is successful because it summarizes years of peer-reviewed research that reaches the conclusion that students who spend time on homework do well academically. Analyzing as much data as possible, this meta-analysis, done by a preeminent researcher found that homework is helpful, and this is important because it supports the idea that homework, in the correct amounts, is beneficial for the student.
The correlation was proven by other sources as well, and with other measures of academic achievement. For example, it was found that students with a high GPA did more homework than students with a low GPA and students with an average GPA. This shows, with standardized test data, that students who do homework have high GPAs because those who did more work, at home, did better. That statement leads one to the conclusion that Cooper et al came to as well, which is that there is a positive correlation between homework and a measurement of academic achievement.
Being an HSAS Student
HSAS students require three hours of homework a night, due to the nature of the school and the detriment that too much homework can bring. Looking at a synthesis by Harris Cooper, the Lam (1993) study pertaining to homework amounts finds that, in all subjects, 13-20 hours a week was the optimal amount, and that students doing 20+ hours had a lower amount of achievement. This synthesis of the study proves that homework time follows the law of diminishing return after a point, and that three hours falls in the best range for homework amount. By this logic, 3 hours is the best amount because it takes this study into consideration as well as common knowledge such as a long commute to HSAS and the extra work that a specialized school brings. Some extra work include elite classes, such as AP or honors, which assign more homework than non-elite classes.
Many HSAS students are required or choose to take AP/Honors classes to impress colleges, leading to three hours a night, purely due to the classes curriculum. This proves that students at HSAS in particular require more than Cooper’s minimum of 2 hours because HSAS students take elite classes and should put in the required effort to get the full amount of information from their classes. To be successful and have the classes that colleges look for, HSAS students require three hours of homework. HSAS students and teachers strive to learn as much as possible, and homework extends the learning time, especially when utilized correctly, so that students can be exposed to 100 extra 50-minute periods worth of content.
This added time leads to better use of time in-class, and HSAS therefore requires 3 hours of homework so that all the classes, especially the advanced ones, can utilize the extra learning time to the fullest extent and provide students with the content the curriculum requires, in an advanced level of detail. HSAS is a high achieving school, and its students are high achievers too. It draws in students from all over the city due to its intensity, and the homework load needs to reflect both the foremost research in the topic, as well as the distinct nature of this specialized high school.
The general consensus among researchers is that homework is a good thing, and helps students learn. There is no consensus, however, on the amount of time a student should receive a night, and no research done specifically on HSAS currently. This paper argues, given the research and factoring in issues specifically pertaining to HSAS, that three hours is the optimal amount of homework for HSAS students to receive.
Bibliography
Cooper, Harris, Jorgianne Civey Robinson, and Erika A. Patall. "Does Homework Improve
Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987-2003." Review of Educational
Research 76, no. 1 (2006): 1-62.
Clemmitt, Marcia, Nancy Kalish, and Harris Cooper. “Students Under Stress.” CQ Researcher
17, no. 25 (July 2007): 577-600.
Kalenkoski, Charlene Marie, and Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia. "Does High School Homework
Increase Academic Achievement?" Education Economics 25, no. 1 (2017): 45-59.
Maltese, Adam V., Robert H. Tai, and Xitao Fan. "When Is Homework Worth the Time?:
Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School
Science and Math." High School Journal 96, no. 1 (2012): 52-72.
