Appropriate homework and well-designed student practice will increase student learning. Research suggests that homework designed to practice skills are valuable to students.
Mastery of subject matter requires focused practice over days or weeks. After only four practice sessions students reach a halfway point to mastery. It takes more than 24 additional practice sessions before students reach 80 percent mastery. This practice must occur over a span of days or weeks, and cannot be rushed (Anderson, 1995; Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981).
The impact of homework on achievement increases as students move through the grades (Cooper, 1989, a, b). At the high school level, for every 30 additional minutes of homework completed daily, a student's GPA can increase up to half a point (Keith, 1992).
Homework helps elementary school students establish good learning and study habits (Cooper, 1989; Cooper, Lindsay, Nye, & Greathouse, 1998; Gorges & Elliot, 1999).
For all grades, homework plays a long-term role in the development of children's achievement motivation: a collection of beliefs, attitudes, and emotions that influence students' performance in school. Through homework, students learn the value of effort, the ability to cope with mistakes and difficulty, responsibility, planning and time management skills (Bempechat, 2004).
Homework increases immediate achievement and learning, places an emphasis on long term academics, encourages nonacademic self-discipline and inquisitiveness, and facilitates greater parental appreciation of and involvement in schooling (Cooper, 1994).
