Homework: How Much is Too Much?

One study puts homework times to the test.

We all know homework is about quality, not quantity. But it may take teachers some time to figure out their homework-giving sweet spot. Just how many worksheets can you fit in that weekly homework packet so kids truly reap the benefits (and before parents get peeved)?

Research published in the Journal of Educational Psychology may have some answers.

According to the Spanish study of nearly 8,000 students (average age 13.78) in math and science, the optimum duration was one hour a day.

Researchers found assigning too much homework sometimes resulted in poor performance, and “the homework variables with most impact on the test are student autonomy and frequency of homework assignment by teacher,” researchers stated.

According to the National Education Association, most U.S. students do approximately less than an hour of homework every day — a number that’s held strong for about 50 years.

How much homework do you assign your students? Has their success improved with homework tweaks over the years?