East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 8-2017 Homework Practices: Teacher and Parent Perceptions of Efficacy and Purpose Christy E. Hoeke East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.edu/etd Part of the Educational Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Hoeke, Christy E., "Homework Practices: Teacher and Parent Perceptions of Efficacy and Purpose" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations.edu/etd/3283 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University.
For more information, please contact digilib@etsu. Homework Practices: Teacher and Parent Perceptions of Efficacy and Purpose _____________________ A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership _____________________ by Christy Hoeke August 2017 _____________________ Dr. Virginia Foley, Chair Dr. John Boyd Dr.
Don Good Dr. Cecil Blankenship Keywords: Homework, Homework Effectiveness, Homework Purpose ABSTRACT Homework Practices: Teacher and Parent Perceptions of Efficacy and Purpose by Christy Hoeke The purpose of this study was to explore teacher and parent perceptions of homework effectiveness and homework purpose. Specifically, the researcher examined teacher and parent perceptions, perceptions of teachers in different grade level bands, and perceptions of teachers with different levels of experience. In this nonexperimental quantitative study, the researcher examined and analyzed the answers provided on an anonymous survey (Appendix A) provided electronically to educators and parents of students in five school systems in northeast Tennessee.
Parents had a higher perception of both homework effectiveness and homework purpose. Homework effectiveness was perceived as higher by the “other” group (not k-2, 3-5, 6-8, or 9- 12) in comparison to the 9-12 group of teachers. There were no significant differences in perceptions of homework effectiveness among the k-2, 3-5, and 6-8 groups of teachers. Homework purpose was perceived as higher in the 9-12 group than in the 3-5 group and the “other” group of teachers.
No significant differences were found between the k-2 and 6-8 groups of teachers on homework purpose. There was no significant difference between perceptions of homework effectiveness or homework purpose among teachers with different levels of experience. This study revealed that parents tend to perceive a greater benefit in homework for both effectiveness and purpose than teachers do. While the level of teacher experience does not influence teacher perception of homework effectiveness or purpose, there are some significant 2 differences in perceptions of teachers by different grade level bands.
Recommendations are made to conduct further research on the topic of homework design, the impact of grading policies on homework perceptions, and homework differentiation. 3 Copyright© 2017 by Christy Hoeke. All Rights Reserved. 4 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to all my family.
Without their support, I could not have completed this process. They never once complained about my writing time or about listening to my “aha” moments or frustrations. Stuart was my rock, and Ben and Claire are my inspiration. My mom Carolyn, dad James, and sister Lori have always supported my educational progress.
Their love and support mean the world to me. 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members: Dr. Virginia Foley, Dr. Don Good, Dr.
John Boyd, and Dr. I sincerely appreciate all your help and support through this process. Foley and Dr. Boyd have influenced my leadership studies since I started pursuing my doctoral degree.
Blankenship afforded me the opportunity to pursue my educational license. Good provided strong support while I was working with my data. The combined efforts of my committee have enabled me to complete this process. I would like to thank my editor, Dr.
Smith, for her assistance and support. I would also like to thank all the educators and parents who responded to my survey. Your comments and participation provided insights that motivated me to consider my topic more deeply. I want to thank the many colleagues I have worked with who have listened to my thoughts over the past few years.
Your inspiration and support helped me keep my sanity. I am a much richer person for your encouragement and influence. I hope that in whatever ways our paths cross in the future, we all reap the benefit of my experiences on this journey. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.
6 LIST OF TABLES. 10 LIST OF FIGURES. 12 Statement of Purpose. 16 Statement of Significance.
17 Definitions of Terms. 17 Limitations and Delimitations. 18 Overview of the Study. 20 History of Homework.
20 Purpose of Homework. 22 Time Spent on Homework. Completion and Effort. 29 Homework and High Achievement.
33 Teacher Perception of Homework. 38 7 Stress Attributed to Homework. 41 Student Emotions Regarding Homework. 45 Positive Effects Credited to Homework.
47 Making Homework Effective for Students. 49 Outside Activities that Impact Achievement. 51 Homework in the Elementary School. 54 Summary of the Literature.
60 Research Questions and Null Hypotheses. 64 Summary of the Chapter. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 77 Conclusions of Findings.
82 Additional Items Analysis. 82 Implications for Practice. 84 Implications for Further Research. 99 Appendix B: School System Approval.
104 9 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Pairwise Differences of Grade Level Bands, Effectiveness Dimension. Levels of Teacher Experience, Effectiveness Dimension. Pairwise Differences of Grade Level Bands, Purpose Dimension.
Levels of Teacher Experience, Purpose Dimension. Types of Homework Assigned, Percentages Broken Down by Grade Level. 84 10 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Mean scores for teacher and parent groups on homework effectiveness dimension.
Mean scores for grade band groups on homework effectiveness dimension. Mean scores for levels of teacher experience on homework effectiveness dimension. Mean scores for teacher and parent groups on homework purpose dimension. Mean scores for grade band groups on homework purpose dimension.
Mean scores for levels of teacher experience on homework purpose dimension. 75 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In August 2016, second grade teacher Brandy Young of Godley, TX, sent a note home with her students stating that she would not assign homework. The resulting Facebook post about her note went viral and was the lead story on many national news shows. Homework has a history of causing stress to both parents and students (Gill & Schlossman, 2004; Kralovec & Buell, 2001).
The National Education Association (NEA) (2006) has recommended 10-20 minutes per night for first grade students and an additional 10 minutes for each grade thereafter. Some parents and critics against homework argue that teachers are assigning much more than the NEA recommended amount (Bennett & Kalish, 2006; Kralovec & Buell, 2001; Simplicio, 2005). Among researchers there is much debate about whether homework is beneficial (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006; Kohn, 2006). Because of the scarcity of recent research on the topic, articles written by respected researchers were cited despite their age.
Homework is generally defined by Cooper (1989a) as “assignments made by teachers that are meant to be completed during nonschool hours” (p. While many researchers study and write about homework, studies have shown widely differing results and there is not a solid positive or negative consensus (Cooper et al. Homework has many factors that aggravate research studies: design of the homework, age of the students, effect on grades, effect on achievement measured by classroom tests, effect on achievement measured by standardized tests, and student attitudes. Other factors include parental involvement, completion of work, and discrepancies between the perceived time it should take and the actual time spent (Cooper et al.
Bennett and Kalish (2006), Kohn (2006), and Kralovec and Buell (2000) embraced the idea that homework was not only unnecessary but also potentially 12 harmful to students. Conversely, Marzano and Pickering (2007) and Frey and Fisher (2011) reported that the benefits of well-designed homework outweigh the possible but unlikely negatives. A meta-analysis by Cooper et al. (2006) provided a thorough exploration of the research.
However, their results were mixed and interpreted differently by parties on both sides of the issue (Kohn, 2006; Marzano & Pickering, 2007). Complaints by students and parents are not the only issues associated with the appropriateness of homework. School systems often expect teachers to assign homework that is meaningful and pertinent; students do not want to waste time when the work is rote or too difficult. Many teachers are not trained in homework design during their college preparation or given adequate professional development once they are hired and opinions vary on whether homework should be graded.
Many students are not willing to do homework without the reward of a grade and others refuse to do it even when failure to do the work can negatively affect grades (Vatterott, 2011). Statement of Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore teacher and parent perceptions of the effectiveness of homework and to discover how teachers and parents perceive homework effectiveness and purpose for different ages of students. Additionally, the purpose was to learn how teachers with different years of experience viewed homework and determine the homework design experiences teachers have had in their professional development – both preservice and inservice. In this nonexperimental quantitative study, the researcher examined and analyzed the answers provided on an anonymous voluntary survey sent electronically to educators and the parents of students in five school systems in northeast Tennessee (Appendix A).
13 Homework has traditionally been assigned to students in the United States for many reasons. Generally for third grade and higher the reasons given for assigning homework are academic: preparing students for new learning, practicing skills, rote learning such as spelling words or multiplications tables, and extending learning to offer students an opportunity to go further than they did in the classroom (Cooper et al. In kindergarten through second grade, the purposes have traditionally been nonacademic – to keep parents informed of what is occurring in the classroom, to build good study habits, and to build good attitudes. Despite complaints in the media by homework critics, the amount of homework students report being assigned has not changed dramatically since the 1980s, except in the lower grades (Loveless, 2014).
Loveless analyzed data from a survey about homework by the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) and found that the quantity of homework students report being assigned has remained relatively stable, if not decreasing slightly. NAEP is considered the nation’s report card. As early as the 1900s, educators and psychologists debated about whether homework benefited students (e. Gill & Schlossman, 2004; Kralovec & Buell, 2000; Loveless, 2014).
Bennett and Kalish (2006) stated that when a child came home from school the time should belong to the family. Parents should decide what children do in their after school hours. Young children need time to move and play; they no longer receive time at school as the requirements for state mandated testing accountability grow. Disgruntled parents are quick to weigh in both with the schools and the media.
Parent advocates have done studies with other parents by conducting interviews and collecting evidence condemning homework. The majority of students do not have an excessive amount of daily homework (Loveless, 2014). There appears to be discrepancy between the research literature and public opinion. 14 Cooper et al.
(2006) suggested that more empirical studies be conducted based on the lack of conclusive studies and the flawed nature of many studies. Many teachers report that they are not highly trained in good homework design (Tas, Sungur-Vural, & Öztekin, 2014). Homework design is a crucial step in a process that has been slighted by school systems and university training (Bennett & Kalish, 2006). If students and parents are going to expend energy doing homework, it should be valuable and beneficial (Vatterott, 2011).