Research Shows Too Much Homework Counter Productive

I just love when research proves what you’ve been thinking all along. As you know, I am on a campaign against homework.  We seem to have some North American obsession. Parents tell me the teachers want it. Teachers tell me the parents demand it. This post in PhysOrg.com cites some pretty interesting research about homework and scholastic achievement internationally:

Their findings indicated a frequent lack of positive correlation between the average amount of homework assigned in a nation and corresponding level of academic achievement. For example, many countries with the highest scoring students, such as Japan, the Czech Republic and Denmark, have teachers who give little homework. “At the other end of the spectrum, countries with very low average scores — Thailand, Greece, Iran — have teachers who assign a great deal of homework,” Baker noted.

“The United States is among the most homework-intensive countries in the world for seventh- and eighth-grade math classes. U.S. math teachers on average assigned more than two hours of mathematics homework per week in 1994-95,” said LeTendre. “Contrary to our expectations, one of the lowest levels was recorded in Japan — about one hour a week. These figures challenge previous stereotypes about the lackadaisical American teenager and his diligent peer in Japan.”

Check out the rest of the article for more interesting findings and please take a moment to post your thoughts on homework in the comment section too. I’d be interested to know how others feel about their kids work load in the evening.