Middle school homework: harmful or helpful?

Throughout my school district, there has been a growing concern from parents/guardians and students that the homework load has become increasingly burdensome. Meanwhile, current education reform has put even more stress on teachers and schools to impart knowledge from dense standards mandated by states. The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of student, parent/guardian, and teacher perspectives on homework, and investigate student homework patterns. This study will also consider the effectiveness of homework on academic achievement by examining homework completion and unit exam scores. Students and parents/guardians were surveyed. Teachers were given an opportunity to respond to student and parent/guardian survey data in order to provide their viewpoints on homework. The resulting findings revealed that homework is effective as long as it is assigned in moderation. Keywords: education, middle school, homework, effectiveness, debat