Synthesis of Research on Homework

I n the 1950 edition of the Kncyclopedia of Educational Research, H J Oito wrote, "compulsory homework does not result in suffi ciently improved academic accom plishments to justify retention" (Otto 1950, p 380) Eighteen years later, PR Wildman went a step further, stating that "whenever homework crowds out Sr recreation, and creative activities, and whenever it usurps time devoted to sleep, it is not meeting the basic needs of children and adolescents" (Wildman 1968, p 203) Today, it is hard to fathom how these educators could have arrived at such negative appraisals of homework. We must realize, however, that our present atlitude is a third renaissance in the belief ihat homework has ped agogical value When the 20th century began, the mind was viewed as a muscle that could benefit from men tal exercise, or memorization Since memorization could be done at home, homework was viewed as good During the 1940s, the emphasis in education shifted from drill to