For many adults, homework may conjure memories of endless rows of math problems, perhaps multiplication or long division, and the prospect of a long night at the kitchen table. Or a worksheet of vocabulary terms or history concepts. Data, however, suggest that practices around homework may be changing for some schools and some teachers, sparking a debate over whether today’s students get too much homework or not enough, and how much is too much.
Last fall, Education Week conducted an “unscientific” (by their own admission) social media poll of teachers asking whether they thought homework was necessary for student learning. Some 42% said yes, but with 37% saying no and 21% saying sometimes. Earlier this year, the publication conducted an online survey of teachers, asking them whether they were assigning more, less, or about the same amount of homework compared to two years ago. Four in ten (40%) said the amount of homework they assigned had decreased, with nearly a quarter (24%) saying they don’t assign homework at all.
Their findings track with other data, including data from the Nation’s Report Card, which asks students about how much math homework their teacher assigns per day. Among fourth graders, 26% reported their teacher did not assign them any math homework in 2024, over six times as many compared to just a few years before (2015, 4%). In those years, the share of fourth graders not meeting NAEP’s Basic level in mathematics rose from 18% in 2015 to 24% in 2024. Among eighth graders, the share reporting no math homework jumped from 4% in 2015 to 22% in 2024. Between 2015 and 2024, the share of eighth graders considered below Basic rose by 10 points, going from 29% to 39%.
Proponents of a lighter homework load, or no homework at all, argue that homework creates unnecessary burdens on families, not all of whom are equally able to help their children after school, and that students need time to relax after the school day. Others argue that practicing a skill the wrong way after school can take even more effort to correct than simply revisiting the skill in class again the next day. But with large portions of our fourth and eighth graders not able to meet the Basic threshold of the NAEP math assessment, it is clear that many students need further understanding of the material, which in some cases could be aided by additional practice.
For more Winston Group analysis:
UC San Diego Reports Steep Rise In Students Taking Remedial Math
Remedial Math Report: A Clear Picture of Inadequate Mathematics Preparation
