In past centuries, homework was a cause of academic failure: when school attendance was optional, students would drop out of school entirely if they were unable to keep up with the homework assigned. However, school teachers commonly assign less homework to the students who need it most, and more homework to the students who are performing well.

Low-achieving students receive more benefit from doing homework than high-achieving students. Students who are assigned homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but the students who have more than 90 minutes of homework a day in middle school or more than two hours in high school score worse. Large amounts of homework cause students' academic performance to worsen, even among older students. Īmong teenagers, students who spend more time on homework generally have higher grades, and higher test scores than students who spend less time on homework. No research has ever been conducted to determine whether this claim has any merit. Essentially, they advocate for doing potentially unnecessary homework from approximately age five to ten as a way of practicing for doing necessary homework from age 10 to 15. Proponents claim that assigning homework to young children helps them learn good study habits. Homework has not been shown to improve academic achievements for grade school students.

Younger students who spend more time on homework generally have slightly worse, or the same academic performance, as those who spend less time on homework. Results of homework studies vary based on multiple factors, such as the age group of those studied and the measure of academic performance. However, no consensus exists on the general effectiveness on homework. Homework research dates back to the early 1900s.

Working on homework