HOMEWORK

1. HOMEWORK Donald SneadDepartment of Educational Leadership dsnead@mtsu.edu Kathleen BurrissDepartment of Elementary and Special Education kburriss@mtsu.edu

2. Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding the Motivation and Effectiveness of Homework

3. 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)

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

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

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

7. 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

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

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

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

11. Homework is Instructional/Non-Instructional • Instructional • Complete school assignments • Drill/practice • Review • Test preparation • Non-instructional: • Community involvement • Political & personal development • Communication

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

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

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

15. 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?

16. 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?

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

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

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

20. 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)

21. 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)

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

23. Study Results

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

25. 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

26. 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 limit 1.67 Teacher B lower limit 1.33 hours to upper limit 1.33

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

28. Question 5: How do you assess homework? • Analysis teased out five sub-categories • Teacher— sole grader • Student— sole grader • 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 Response— teacher did not indicate procedure

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

30. Question 7: Additional thoughts on homework • Most teachers did not respond • Subcategories included: • Responsibility • Reinforcement • Standard • Parents • Practice • Not finished in school • Relevant reading • On homework given

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

32. 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%<) • Second grade teacher assigning more than two hours per week, did not include in overall grade

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

34. 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

35. HOMEWORK Donald SneadDepartment of Educational Leadership dsnead@mtsu.edu Kathleen BurrissDepartment of Elementary and Special Education kburriss@mtsu.edu 35