Statistics

According to a 2001 review of more than 120 studies of homework and its effects by Professor Harris Cooper of Duke University, there is very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school. Even in high school, too much homework may diminish its effectiveness or even become counter-productive.

A cross-cultural analysis of education practices found that American middle-school students do more homework than their peers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The study found that more homework does not correlate with higher test scores.

~ Wilde, Marian. "How Much Homework is Too Much?" Great Schools. Accessed on December, 23 2009.

Middle school students who scored highest in math tests tended to come from countries where teachers assign relatively little homework -- including Denmark, the Czech Republic and Japan. The lowest-scoring students came from countries where teachers assign large amounts of homework, such as Iran, Thailand and Greece. Haddock Vicki. "After years of teachers piling it on, there's a new movement to ... Abolish homework" 

~ San Francisco Chronicle. October 8, 2006

Of those who enter high school, only about 70 percent will graduate—one of the lowest rates among industrialized nations. As important, however, is the fact that, of those who do receive a diploma, only half are academically prepared for postsecondary education.

~ "Paying Double: Inadequate High Schools and Community College Remediation", Alliance for Excellent Education, Issue Brief, August 2006

Forty percent of all students who enter college must take remedial classes. Report by David Conley for the Melissa and Bill Gates Foundation

Seventy one percent of the country’s school districts have reduced or eliminated music, art, social studies and/or science to make time for reading and math.

~ CEP. Compendium of Major NCLB Studies, Curriculum & Instruction

A 2006 national Scholastic/Yankelovich study found that reading for pleasure declines sharply after age eight. The number one reason: too much homework.

~ The Case Against Homework, page 260.

Research presented at a 1996 national Head Start conference demonstrated that kids attending developmentally appropriate K-2 classes scored higher in reading and math than those in academically oriented classes.

~ Sherman, C.W., Mueller, D.P. (1996). Developmentally Appropriate Practice and Student Achievement in Inner-City Elementary Schools. Head Start National Research Conference, June 1996 Associated Press 2006

In a national survey, students were asked to use 3 words to describe how they felt in school. The word most often used by students was "bored" followed by "tired". Lyons, L. (2004). Most teens associate school with boredom, fatigue.

~ The Gallup Youth Survey, January 22-March 9, 2004. Retrieved June 24, 2009

Our test and achievement driven education system contributes to higher drop out rates and rates of burn.

~ http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/feb03/vol60/num05/The_Dangers_of_Testing.aspx

A recent McKinsey and CO. report showed that, while U.S. fourth graders compare well on global testing, high school kids really lag. "The longer American children are in school, the worse they perform."

~ The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools: Summary of Findings, April 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009

Research shows that playful learning leads to better academic success than does a skills-and-drills approach, but this isn’t happening in many of our school: Teens reported being bored 27% of the time that they are in class and disengaged 75% of the time.

~ Larson, R. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55(1), 170-183