When Homework is a Waste of Time

The evidence suggests that as of now, homework isn’t making the grade. Although surveys show that the amount of time our children spend on homework has risen over the past three decades, American students are mired in the middle of international academic rankings: 17th in reading, 23rd in science, and 31st in math, according to the latest results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). In a 2008 survey, one-third of parents polled rated the quality of their children’s homework assignments as fair or poor, and four in ten said they believed that some or a great deal of homework is busywork. A recent study, published in the Economics of Education Review, reports that homework in science, English and history has “little to no impact” on students’ test scores. (The authors did note a positive effect for math homework.)