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This study investigated differences in teachers’ and parents’ perceptions about homework and their correlations with children’s achievement in Grade 4 – the end grade for primary school in Lithuania. Data were collected at the end of Grade 4 (February–March 2024). Teachers (n = 39) answered online questionnaires on homework frequency and expected homework time; parents (n = 525) completed paper questionnaires about homework frequency, time, and help. Children (n = 576) completed tests measuring literacy and math skills, and school administrations provided children’s Grade 4 grades and results from national standardized testing. Most parents and teachers reported that homework was assigned daily. Teachers reported that children should spend around one hour daily on homework; parents reported children spending on average one hour and ten minutes daily on homework and a great variation in the amount of weekly homework help children received. Compared to teachers, parents reported more frequent homework and more homework time. Only parental reports of time spent and help received for homework significantly correlated to children’s academic performance measures, albeit negatively. Overall, parents and teachers perceived homework time differently. Additionally, the less well Grade 4 students did academically, the more time they spent on homework, and the more help they required from family.

This study investigated differences in teachers’ and parents’ perceptions about homework and their correlations with children’s achievement in Grade 4 – the end grade for primary school in Lithuania. Data were collected at the end of Grade 4 (February–March 2024). Teachers (n = 39) answered online questionnaires on homework frequency and expected homework time; parents (n = 525) completed paper questionnaires about homework frequency, time, and help. Children (n = 576) completed tests measuring literacy and math skills, and school administrations provided children’s Grade 4 grades and results from national standardized testing. Most parents and teachers reported that homework was assigned daily. Teachers reported that children should spend around one hour daily on homework; parents reported children spending on average one hour and ten minutes daily on homework and a great variation in the amount of weekly homework help children received. Compared to teachers, parents reported more frequent homework and more homework time. Only parental reports of time spent and help received for homework significantly correlated to children’s academic performance measures, albeit negatively. Overall, parents and teachers perceived homework time differently. Additionally, the less well Grade 4 students did academically, the more time they spent on homework, and the more help they required from family.

Previous research has shown that math homework help of higher-math-anxious parents impedes children’s math learning and facilitates the development of math anxiety. In the present study, we explored a possible explanation for this phenomenon by examining the relations between parents’ math anxiety, their math homework-helping styles (i.e., autonomy- and controlling-supportive), and their child’s math achievement. Parents of children ages 11 to 14 completed an online survey. Using path analysis, we examined the relations among parental factors (i.e., math anxiety, math ability, and homework-helping styles) and child math achievement. Parents’ math anxiety was positively related to both autonomy-supportive and controlling-supportive math homework-helping styles. Notably, controlling-supportive style partially mediated the relation between parents’ math anxiety and their children’s math achievement. Thus, it is possible that the use of a controlling-supportive math homework-helping style may explain why the homework help offered by higher-math-anxious parents is detrimental to their children’s math learning. Identifying negative relations between parent factors and children’s math outcomes is crucial for developing evidence-based math learning interventions.

In the current study, we used a multi-method approach to understand the quality of math homework-helping interactions between parents and their children and how parents’ and children’s own math achievement and math anxiety relate to the quality of the interaction. Forty Canadian parents and their children (ages 10–12 years; grades 5 to 7) completed self-report measures of math and general anxiety. Parents and children completed standardized assessments of math achievement and were then recorded as they engaged in a simulated math homework interaction. Coders assessed parent–child interaction quality during the interaction. Parent–child dyads generally performed well on the simulated math homework task. Nevertheless, task performance was correlated with the quality of the interaction, with high-quality interactions associated with high accuracy on the math task. Furthermore, the variability in the quality of the interaction was associated with parents’ and children’s math achievement and with the math anxiety of the children, but not the parents. Identifying the elements that influence parent–child interactions in math-related situations is essential to developing effective interventions to scaffold children’s math learning and attitudes.

The present study investigated the differences between parent- and child-reported perceptions of parental homework practices and their associations with children’s achievement in Lithuania across grades three and four. A total of 446 parent-child dyads participated in the study. In grade 3, parents completed questionnaires on the frequency of their homework help and autonomy support, while children completed questionnaires about their perceptions of the frequency with which their parents provided homework help and autonomy support. Children’s achievement was measured using literacy and math tests in grade 3. In grade 4, children’s scores on the national standardized exam in literacy and math were obtained from school records. Hierarchical regressions were used to predict children’s achievement (national standardized scores in literacy and math), after controlling for the autoregressors (literacy or math skills), child’s gender, and the highest education level in the family. Children reported receiving more help and less autonomy support than was reported by parents. Additionally, parent-reported help negatively and parent-reported autonomy support positively predicted children’s achievement in literacy and math. As for children’s perceptions, only child-reported help negatively predicted math achievement. These findings indicate that parents and children may differently perceive parental homework practices: children feel more controlled than parents believe they are, and less autonomy supported than parents believe themselves to be. El presente estudio investigó las diferencias entre las percepciones informadas por progenitores y sus descendientes sobre las prácticas parentales relacionadas con las tareas escolares y su asociación con el rendimiento académico de escolares lituanos, en tercero y cuarto curso de educación primaria. Un total de 446 díadas filo-parentales participaron en el estudio. En tercer curso, los progenitores completaron cuestionarios sobre la frecuencia con la que ofrecían ayuda con las tareas y apoyo a la autonomía, mientras que los escolares respondieron sobre su percepción de la frecuencia con la que sus progenitores ofrecían ayuda con las tareas y apoyo a su autonomía. El rendimiento académico se evaluó mediante pruebas de lecto-escritura y matemáticas. En cuarto curso, se obtuvieron las puntuaciones en el examen nacional estandarizado de lecto-escritura y matemáticas. Se realizaron regresiones jerárquicas para predecir el rendimiento académico (puntuaciones nacionales estandarizadas en lectura y matemáticas), controlando las variables autorregresivas (habilidades en lectura o matemáticas), género y nivel educativo más alto en la familia. Los escolares informaron recibir más ayuda y menos apoyo a la autonomía que sus progenitores. La ayuda informada por los progenitores predijo negativamente, y el apoyo a la autonomía positivamente, el rendimiento en lectura y matemáticas. Solo la ayuda informada por los escolares predijo negativamente el rendimiento matemático. Estos hallazgos indican que progenitores y sus descendientes pueden percibir de manera diferente las prácticas parentales respecto a la tarea escolar: los escolares se sienten más controlados y menos apoyados en su autonomía de lo que los progenitores perciben.

Previous analyses of large national datasets have tended to report a negative relationship between parental homework help and student achievement. Yet these studies have not examined heterogeneity in this relationship based on the propensity for a parent to provide homework help. By using a propensity score–based approach, this study investigates the relationship between daily parental homework help in first grade and student achievement in third grade with nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class. Results indicated that low prior achievement, socioeconomic disadvantage, and minority status were associated with a high propensity to provide daily homework help. Daily parental homework help was also associated with improved achievement for children whose parents had a high propensity to provide daily homework help. These patterns suggest that complex factors induce daily parental homework help and that these factors are related to heterogeneity in the relationship between daily parental homework help and achievement.

As heated as the controversy is and has been, most opponents of homework actually support at least a modest amount of \"independent study,\" and the most ardent advocates are likely to emphasize moderation in the amount of homework and emphasis on the quality of independent assignments. In this article, the author focuses on this troublesome issue not because of any particular expertise he has but because, in 45 years as a teacher and teacher educator, he learned a lot about how to approach troublesome issues in the profession. He reflects on his own experience with homework and on what researchers and critics have written about homework.

Two high school English teachers report on their survey of over 180 students and personal interviews with many teachers about homework. They share their results and make suggestions for revising homework assignment practices.

For several decades, teachers and researchers have argued the value of homework. There have been research reviews suggesting that homework is beneficial, such as the meta-analyses done by Harris Cooper, Jorgianne C. Robinson, and Erika A. Patall. However, critics of homework argue that it is not effective and interrupts family interactions and fosters a competitive environment that values work over social interactions. In this article, the authors describe how their work with high school students has allowed them to clarify their understanding of how classroom instruction and homework can complement one another to result in deeper understanding and improved skills. The authors describe instructional methods for designing homework that enables student learning by ensuring that students are thoroughly prepared for and responsible for the tasks assigned. (Contains 2 figures and 1 note.)