Homework has been after school work for as long as most can remember, many dread the extra practice and don’t have enough time for homework, and others find better understanding from it. But can homework really be effective for students? Students sometimes can find homework tiring after they leave the classroom for the day, and how much homework kids should do a day can be controversial. So what do others think about this topic?

Student Opinions

Multiple teachers and students were asked how they feel about homework assignments and the amount some teachers give. Julia Cavanaugh, a sophomore here at Pentucket, shared her opinion; “Sometimes homework can add stress, if I already have it in multiple classes then it can get stressful.” 

Julia was then asked if homework should be banned; “I don’t know, yes I want it to but sometimes it can actually really help you learn the material more. But, if I had a choice, I would ban it.” 

She then thought homework sometimes impacted free time; “The individual homework isn’t too much, but when added all together it can get too stressful and it just seems unfair.”

Hunter Tocci, a senior at Pentucket, was also interviewed. When asked if homework is effective, he said, “Not really, because teachers give it and it can just be busy work; however, some students positively react to homework.”

Then when asked if it should be banned, Tocci said, “No. Some people do better with homework, I’m not really good at math and if I have homework it’s extra and could positively impact me.” Tocci also agreed with Cavanaugh, and believes that homework always takes up free time. 

Teacher Opinions

Mrs. Endyke, the science department chair at Pentucket, had something to say about homework. “It’s only effective if it has a genuine purpose for enhancing the student’s learning by making a connection to the curriculum. I think that’s the teacher’s right to assign homework. If it’s meaningful then I’m all here for it.” 

Mr. Dziedziak, another teacher at Pentucket, has a contrasting viewpoint: “Numerous studies show homework gives less of an impact on students’ learning.” 

He believed that there should be less homework, saying, “Teachers are required to give homework that takes thirty minutes or less to complete.”

Mrs. Chory, math department chair, had a different opinion on homework, stating, “I think in math it’s useful because you need to practice, and I think it depends on the subject. Like math or any language I think should be practiced.” When asked if she thinks homework should be banned, she said no. 

History department chair, Mr. Sherman, had something to say as well when asked about the effectiveness of homework; “If you’re using it just for grades, it’s busy work. I feel like when I was younger it was busy work, but now it can be more meaningful. I think homework should be used to reinforce what you did during the day, or to help set up what you plan on doing. Homework should not be just busy work.”

 And when Sherman was asked if it should be banned, he said, “No. I think in some classes it’s needed.”

Conclusion

To conclude the question, is homework really effective? Some teachers agreed, and others disagreed, while students mostly didn’t agree with homework. To some, homework can be busy work, and to others just a summary of what you’ve done. Homework’s effectiveness varies from person to person.