APS Revised Its Homework Policy: What You Need to Know
APS revised its Homework Policy and PIP last spring, halving nightly regular homework per class in middle and high school, excluding AP, IB, and DE courses.
The PIP now states for high school: Grades 9-12: maximum of a total of 60 minutes per week per course; an additional 30 minutes of independent, choice reading each night is recommended. Previously it was “maximum of 30 minutes a night for each course for a total of three hours a night with the understanding that some advanced-level courses may require additional time to complete particularly the reading components to those courses.”
The move was surprising. Given continuing learning loss gaps, students presumably need more outside work, not less. So what was APS’ rationale for changing the policy?
In its new policy, APS said it “supports research-based equitable homework practices” and noted that homework should “represent limited time commitments and minimal intrusion on the activities…outside of the school day.” They also noted that excessive homework can hurt “student health and social-emotional well-being.” APS cited two studies which informed their review: Bempechat and Galloway, Conner & Pope.
However, could these revisions reduce student achievement and equity? Let’s look deeper.
Background on Homework
While there are a few outliers, there is general consensus that homework is positively associated with student achievement in middle and high school and has an ambiguous link in elementary school. (also, Bempechat and Galloway et al.) While correlation is not causality, the consistency of the findings is notable.
APS argues that quality matters more than quantity with regards to homework, seemingly referencing Bempechat’s assertion that quality homework is more valuable than “busy work.” However, busy work is by definition non-productive, so that is not a meaningful comparison. The relevant question is how varying amounts of quality homework compare. Here the article is silent. APS should expect, and thus assume, that its teachers are providing quality homework; if that is a concern, efforts should be directed to improve the quality of assignments, not limiting the quantity.
Homework and Stress
APS cites Galloway et al. in noting that excessive homework can be psychologically harmful. However, homework demands are usually highest in advanced courses, like AP, IB, and DE, and yet APS exempted these latter courses from its policy change. Unmentioned is that students are also stressed because they have large learning gaps post-COVID; additional remedial homework could actually reduce stress there.
Homework and Equity
Some view homework as inequitable because not all students have home environments conducive for homework. However, Bempechat disagrees, arguing that homework is equitable and that excessive reductions risk worsening the achievement gap. She notes that lower-income students rely on homework since they don’t have access to outside enrichment programs available to higher-income students. Homework also provides a window for lower-income parents into their child’s school day since they may be too busy to visit the classroom.
Homework Duration and Benefits
Both studies cited by APS assert that homework’s benefits diminish around two hours per night for high school students, as per a literature survey done by Duke’s Harris Cooper. However, this finding derives from only one study within the literature survey -- an unpublished 1996 master’s thesis in sociology on after-school employment which excluded black, Hispanic, and non-Chinese Asian students. The study had issues with sample representativeness, which prompted the author to warn against generalizing the study’s findings. National US homework policy should not be based upon this study.
There are multiple challenges in determining the optimal amount of homework for boosting achievement. For one, struggling students often get additional homework which can generate the anomalous negative link between achievement and homework hours reported in some outlier studies. Secondly, the achievement variable studied may not be directly tied to the homework. Ultimately, the fact that APS homework reductions do not apply to AP, IB, and DE courses is implicit acknowledgement that larger amounts of homework do help performance.
Summary
Ultimately, logic may be the most useful tool in assessing homework’s worth. How many times has your student said “if only I had done less homework and not studied for the test, I’d have done better in the course?” Reducing homework in regular courses, while exempting advanced courses, risks hurting achievement and boosting the achievement gap. Particularly in light of ongoing needs to remediate learning loss, APS should review its decision to halve nightly, regular homework per class in middle and high school. With free, APS-provided online tutors now available to help, students are better positioned than ever to engage in and benefit from homework.
