Looking at Homework Abstract

At first glance, an article on homework may

Differently seem an odd addition to an ongoing discussion
of non-subject-matter outcomesof schooling(see
the May 1999issue of the Elementary SchoolJour-
nal).Whatcould be moreassociatedtraditionally
Lyn Corno with reading, writing, and arithmetic than
homework? In this article I propose that times
TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity
are changing.Homeworkinvolves importantso-
cial, cultural,and educative issues. A new con-
ceptualizationof homework is not just an aca-
demic task but one that infiltratesfamily and
peer dynamics and the nature of teaching in
community organizationsas well as in school.
One unique role for homework in a modem era
is to provide social communicationand contact
among peers, especially peers who live beyond
the neighborhood school, thereby increasing a
sense of community. Moreover,self-regulatory
processesarean importantfactorin doing home-
work thatteachersand parentsalikecan monitor
and address directly. Students develop an apti-
tude for future homework from the regularities
of homework ongoing.

Opportunity is missed by
most people because it is
dressed in overalls and looks
like work. (THOMASEDISON)

Teachers have long assigned homework

and always will; homework is a common-
place of schooling. It is not, however, a tra-
dition to take for granted. Because children
do homework outside school, it goes un-
supervised by teachers. Home settings vary
in support, and children also do homework
in libraries, sometimes on buses, and in the
homes of friends. The dynamics of home-
work are therefore different from the dy-
The ElementarySchoolJournal namics of other commonplaces of schooling
Volume 100, Number 5
such as teaching or testing. The requirement
? 2000 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
0013-5984/2000/10005-0007$02.00 to do academic work in settings outside

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
530 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

school provides interesting opportunities to physical. Academic work also benefits from
bring out the best and worst of school and care and precision, requiring cognitive or-
these other settings. ganization of objects and events. Learning
It is time to take a new look at home- goals are central, or perhaps goals to solid-
work and move beyond debates on its ef- ify or extend material already learned.
fects on achievement. Homework is a clear Tasks are designed to accomplish such
case in which many aspects of society influ- goals. Teachers assign tasks as part of a
ence both process and outcome. In some larger curriculum plan; completion and
families, parents assist their children with feedback have to occur before moving on.
homework; books, magazines, siblings, and Teachers expect students to take on home-
the Internet provide other resources. The work to the best of their abilities and to re-
telephone is available for discussing home- turn their work as one means to gauge pro-
work problems with friends. Even an un- gress. Other tasks that children undertake,
planned trip to a museum or an intramural such as household chores or jobs that earn
baseball game offers potential material for wages, have different cognitive and psycho-
homework writing assignments and math motor requirements (Warton & Goodnow,
games. Homework is not just text work or 1991).
worksheets after all. The person-environ- Children who do additional academic
ment melding of homework changes both. work outside school are likely to become ac-
climated to academic rigor. In the best of
What School Does for Homework circumstances, students develop an apti-
Consider the properties that homework ac- tude for academic work through the extra
quires because it comes from school, for bet- practice and reinforcement of homework.
ter and for worse. Their inclination to engage in future aca-
demic work depends to some extent on
For Good their reinforcement history with home-
Homework is work, not play. Work gen- work. When children experience flow in do-
erates a range of reaction, running the ing homework, they persist long enough to
gamut from positive to negative. Generally, become able learners and ultimately reach
homework is not supposed to be fun, al- academic expertise.
though the right combination of challenge Beyond individual students' work, a
and skill can make it gratifying. Some as- classroom is a self-contained academic com-
signments even lead a student to experience munity (Brown, 1997). Homework is an ac-
what Csikszentmihalyi (1975) calls "flow," tivity in which the whole class participates.
a feeling of effortless progress where the Even when teachers seek to accommodate
work seems almost to complete itself. diverse student needs by giving students
Homework thus has natural reinforcing different assignments, no class member is
properties comparable to those of school- exempt. The activity of doing homework is
work, potentially both positive and nega- something that all members of a classroom
tive. Teachers can design assignments to in- community can discuss and come to under-
crease the likelihood of a positive response stand on their own terms.
and will often offer the same kinds of in- Shared understandings create the cir-
centives that motivate engagement in class. cumstances for different purposes, excuses,
The academic flavor of homework dis- struggles, and complaints about home-
tinguishes it from other kinds of work work. An enthusiastic subgroup can engage
(Doyle, 1983). Schoolwork involves literacy a reluctant student or prompt a teacher to
activities such as reading and writing and change the frequency and nature of assign-
using abstract thinking and code to solve ments. Community also invokes identifica-
problems; it tends to be mental rather than tion on the part of individuals. The com-

MAY 2000
This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM
All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 531

plaining members have as much to identify scenario as learning to be industrious

with in the community as those who enjoy would be, given a carefully sequenced set
doing homework. Because misery loves of challenges with secondary rewards (Ei-
miserable company (Schacter & Singer, senberger, 1992).
1962), complaints can be bonding. Another potential by-product when
Just as these positive associations ac- tasks are too demanding is a form of dis-
company the school-like properties of engagement called "state orientation." State
homework, so are there potentially negative orientation is a kind of self-consciousness in
outcomes that deserve somewhat fuller dis- which the child becomes unable to take ac-
cussion. tion (Kuhl, 1985). Instead of focusing on the
task at hand, a person who is state oriented
For Ill will engage in what Bandura (1982, p. 137)
Schoolwork varies in cognitive com- refers to as "repetitive perturbing idea-
plexity. Some assignments require under- tion," ruminating about personal weak-
standing and manipulating symbolic ex- nesses rather than strengths. This is particu-
pressions; in others, the student uses an larly likely to occur with low achievers.
algorithm from memory or shows evidence Butler (1999) obtained personal accounts
of having acquired some facts. The nature from learning-disabled college students:
of homework varies similarly, with teachers "(One student said he) 'gets nervous,' loses
preferring more or less complexity. concentration, feels stupid, does not want to
A certain amount of complexity is im- finish, works slower, and becomes dis-
portant in homework assignments; the tracted" (p. 11). Overall, 49% of Butler's
kinds of work students do in school shape sample reported unpleasant emotional re-
their beliefs about school learning. Overre- actions while working through tasks.
liance on one type of assignment restricts Sometimes there are just too many as-
students' perspectives on learning. A flood signments even for good students to handle
of routine review sheets is an easy target for at once. Teachers help students with home-
criticism, but inventive assignments can be work management - asking that assign-
equally narrowing if overdone. Just as stu- ments be written down in a daily minder or
dents should not settle into the belief that requiring parents to initial assignment
learning is all about memorization, drill, sheets as a way to indicate that their child
and practice, neither should they expect has completed the work. Most teachers ask
every homework assignment to involve the students to prioritize and avoid saving
creativity and play of a game show. harder tasks for last, when inclination and
Too much complexity leads to frustra- energy fade. In the early grades, teachers
tion. Frustration is the stress of complexity, also ask parents to provide an appropriate
causing anxiety and self-consciousness. A work space, minimize distractions, and
student who says he cannot do the home- make themselves available for questions
work or does not "get" the assignment dis- that arise. Some teachers even want parents
plays a lack of efficacy for that task. Feelings to sit down with the child for a regular pe-
of inefficacy experienced over tasks and riod and help the child do the work.
time at best stall approach behavior; at Popular magazines and books offer tips
worst, they cause chronic homework avoid- for parents on how to handle homework
ance (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995). In (e.g., Klavan, 1992): set aside a regular time
a cascade of difficulty, school achievements of day; use a kitchen timer to give the child
then suffer. A student can come to believe a better sense of the time spent; bring an icy
that her efforts make little difference in glass of water in as a simple reward. The
grades or other outcomes (Bandura, 1986). idea is to establish a routine that the child
Learning to be helpless is as likely given this associates with doing homework. Such rou-

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
532 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

tines can be comforting in the face of diffi- the child will adopt a tendency to work for
culty and often last a lifetime. Some indi- grades and approval (or other rewards)
viduals of highest accomplishment rather than enjoy the experience of learning
attribute their success to deliberately estab- or the satisfaction of a job well done.
lishing effective work ethics and routines Research has shown that when students
(see Zimmerman, 1998). involve their egos in school and homework,
A risk in all this for a child is compul- seeking high grades rather than making the
sivity and organization carried to an ex- most of the material, they develop a work
treme. Few parents would view these ef- style that is ultimately maladaptive
fects negatively, perhaps, until the story is (Dweck, 1986; Entwistle, 1987). This style
told to an analyst some years later when the reflects a surface approach to learning and
child is a young adult plagued by chronic understanding subject matter rather than a
anxiety and unfinished tasks. As clinical search for deeper meanings and ways to ex-
psychologists will attest, an adult with too tend knowledge. Some children even strive
many things to do and not enough time to display competence at the expense of oth-
may well overorganize, behave compul- ers, establishing a kind of Machiavellian
sively, display difficulty coping with stress, pattern of behavior (Entwistle, 1987). A peer
and even cause suffering in close relations group with similar styles and expectations
(see also Horowitz, 1976; Lakein, 1973). can become highly competitive, leading
In contrast, homework can be too easy even to dishonesty and cheating in the ex-
and bore students. The opposite of frustra- treme (Hartshorne & May, 1928). Active ef-
tion, boredom is the stress of tedium, sig- fort avoidance, or "self-handicapping," is
naling the need to buckle down. Not all another possible outcome of rigidly held
children read a sense of boredom in this standards that are beyond a student's reach
way, however (Klinger, 1996). Often, bore- (Urdan, Midgley, & Anderman, 1998).
dom leads to distraction and feelings of con- If homework always returns corrected
straint (Wolters, 1998). Daydreaming and by an adult, the teacher has no way of dis-
fantasy may occur, or a child may openly cerning what the student does or does not
resist: "Why do I have to sit here and do know. Beginners, those children who are
this? Why can't she give us something in- just starting out in school, will benefit when
teresting? I hate homework; I hate my adults check their homework. Adults pro-
teacher; I hate school." Juggling the nature vide models of what children will need to
of assignments is a tricky but critical prob- do for themselves as soon as possible. As
lem for teachers to address. experience builds, adult assistance fades
Beyond the nature of homework, there into the background, making it clear that
are surrounding expectations to consider. responsibility for both the completion and
These include the expectations of teachers, quality of homework lies with the child.
parents, peers, and students themselves. The child will eventually establish personal
Expectations exert powerful effects-often standards similar to those modeled by par-
for ill. Parents and teachers can sabotage ents and significant others (Zuckerman,
their own best efforts with children by ply- 1994). Although quality work is always a
ing them with expectations that every com- good value for parents to express, expecta-
pleted assignment must be perfect. Some tions tempered to those the child can meet
children will stay up far later than they without frustration allow both parties to
should doing homework, going beyond win.
what is required, to meet the expectation of Perhaps the most controversial thing a
"all As." Relentless pursuit of perfection community creates is homework mythol-
wreaks havoc on well-being (Boekaerts, ogy and lore. Myths and lore can be positive
1993). In addition, there is a good chance and negative. Certainly, shared stories are

MAY 2000
This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM
All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 533

bonding, and some lore is favorable. There just as well for assignments that truly de-
are grade-level projects that remain part of serve to be banished from the home.
a curriculum for many years. These come to
take on a life of their own-a third-grade What Settings Outside School Do for
unit on China or a fifth-grade play, for ex- Homework
ample. The details of such projects evolve Homework moves from school to home and
over time as teachers tweak them and at- vice versa. The homework situation affects
tend seminars to get new ideas. Different both process and outcome for good and for
teachers interpret the same project differ- ill.
ently. Yet, at their cores, these traditions re-
main just that. Inevitably, a few adults For Good
raised in the school system can tell stories Homework is a bridge for knowledge to
about their own experiences with the diffi- travel back and forth between school and
culties and delights of grade-level projects! home. Hill (1994) speaks of the opportunity
However, lore can be problematic. Some provided when work of the home is
teachers are known for their homework brought into school, rather than the other
(usually, they are "homework terrors") way around. Fishing trips, soccer games,
long before fearful children ever enter their community service projects, and church
classrooms. In addition, many homework suppers are all experiences that children
myths have little connection with reality can apply to school lessons. The idea is to
when examined under the eye of science start with the child's own interests, thus
(Como, 1996). The tales children weave eliminating the need for enticements from a
about homework today are ever more in- teacher. From planning a meal for 100 to
teresting, easily surpassing old stories comprehending the signs of domestic
about ravenous dogs. One teacher reported abuse, from scorekeeping on a spreadsheet
having heard, "Power outage; couldn't get to memorizing Latin names for saltwater
my sources off the web." In addition, the fish, children learn things outside school
parent party line can move lickety-split, for that teachers would almost always ap-
better or worse. A cascade of calls came in plaud. Yet too rarely do teachers assign
after first-grade parents in my own com- homework such as this. There is no good
munity spent half of an evening sorting reason for a one-way homework bridge.
through old pictures for their child's "per- Students are spending more time alone
sonal timeline project." than in the past. High school students re-
Finally, the same classroom community portedly spend as much as 20% of their time
that can coax a marginal student into the alone nowadays; roughly 60% of mothers
center has the potential to drag down stan- hold jobs outside the home (Schneider &
dards for the whole class. When the major- Stephenson, 1999). A homework commu-
ity of students boycott assignments, as hap- nity can develop among friends and pro-
pened recently in the Boston secondary vide a means for social communication and
schools, teachers throw up their hands in contact for youth who are home alone.
despair. If the whole class rallies against an Homework assignments that allow for In-
assignment that requires more than a family ternet and telephone exchanges between
feels their child can handle, vocal parents and among students invite the develop-
will soon gain alliance higher up. Parents ment of natural, collaborative communities.
are their child's best advocates after all. The message exchange services today's chil-
Taken to advantage at school, effective par- dren download from the Internet might just
ent advocacy can thwart a teacher's plans to as well be used for homework topics as any-
upgrade class standards almost overnight. thing else.
Alternatively, of course, the system works Other settings in which children do

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
534 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

homework also offer lessons. Working at a Winne, 1995). Parents who help their chil-
friend's house is not the same as working at dren with homework, even just by being
home. The number of siblings in that home, available to answer questions, can seize the
the work space, and the presence of a friend opportunity to model and reinforce the
matter. When the situation confers advan- mannerisms of a careful and dedicated
tages for homework activities and out- learner. Indeed, adults who take time to do
comes, then working together occasionally this make it possible for their children to see
is a nice diversion, a break from routine. their parents as (more or less effective)
Much as when adults collaborate success- learners. This base of comparison suggests
fully, some children will share complemen- all sorts of jumping-off points for a child-
tary ideas so well that the experience of in one case, a personal goal; in another, a
working together on a school project can judgment that there is room for improve-
generate feelings of flow. Homework then ment. Modeling can come as well from
becomes anything but a grind. available siblings.
As places of peace and quiet, libraries A family's abilities to help children with
virtually guarantee concentration and, schoolwork can cement or weaken a child's
again, provide an option for a child whose identification with espoused academic val-
own home can be distracting. Some muse- ues and customs (McCaslin & Murdock,
ums, youth centers, and other facilities offer 1991; McDermott, Goldman, & Varenne,
homework assistance or special programs 1984). Through interpersonal contact with
to which children can be bussed after their children, parents of beginners can dif-
school. Fortunately, directors of such facili- fuse frustration, provide rewards for good
ties are beginning to recognize the need to work, and generally play positive roles in
provide more academic services and sup- this new experience of doing homework.
port than has been the case traditionally A Time magazine cover story (Ratnesar,
(see section on after-school clubs and cen- 1999) questioned the ethics of too much
ters). For most children who need it, a little homework assistance and chastised parents
help with homework a
goes long way. who do work for their children. Of course,
Judicious assistance with homework in children have to see homework as their own
the early years can teach a child strategies responsibility (Warton & Goodnow, 1991).
for self-regulated learning, thus promoting Yet there are significant emotional advan-
self-regulatory skills and tendencies that tages to the right kind of help (Hoover-
evolve into persistent thinking and behav- Dempsey & Sandler, 1995). Consider, for
ioral styles (Zimmerman & Schunk, 1989). example, a fifth grader just finishing a com-
Budgeting time, checking work, and prior- plex diagram. The child notes a require-
itizing tasks are only a few aspects of self- ment to color the diagram. So she asks her
regulated learning that homework might third-grade sibling (who is far better at col-
teach. Self-regulation also involves manag- oring), "Will you help me with this while I
ing internal resources such as controlling do my vocabulary work?" The third grader
disruptive emotions, bringing a positive at- is delighted to be trusted and the fifth
titude to the task, and tapping into a reserve grader has streamlined the task, making it
of effective strategies for processing infor- possible to move on. The wise parent will
mation and solving problems (Corno, 1994). applaud both children for their resource-
Considerable research supports the value of fulness, never minding that the coloring
this kind of effort for a variety of school and was done by the younger child.
study tasks, an example of which I shall de-
scribe later on in this article. For Ill
The research shows how self-regulation McCaslin and Murdock (1991) found
can arise from doing homework (see also that in homes where English is a second lan-

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 535

guage, it can be difficult for parents to help one of the most documentable aspects of
with homework that requires English. In doing homework in the early grades. The
contrast to the previous example where the distractions that working at home present
home includes a welcome sibling-as-re- include noisy siblings, telephone interrup-
source, when parents who want to help are tions, and television. Some parents permit
unable it can be dispiriting for everyone in- their children to listen to music while they
volved. In McCaslin and Murdock's study, do homework, hoping the music will serve
the child went so far as to try to hide his as white noise. Whether this works is un-
parents' limited knowledge of English from clear. What is clear is that distracted chil-
friends. The power of peers is also evident dren upset a household.
if a child avoids doing homework, as an- The evening schedule is so tight in some
other study found, to remain loyal to homes that when homework sessions
friends who disapprove of displayed com- stretch past a family's comfort zone, all
petence (McCaslin & Good, 1996). sorts of emotions erupt. Parents as well as
Other discontinuities exist between children can experience psychological dis-
school and home in some subcultures. For tress-crying and yelling and other angry
example, Au (1980) discovered a manner of outbursts-as a direct result of elementary
storytelling that predominates in native Ha- school homework. If this occurs night after
waiian homes. Her ethnographic research night, then homework time can be some-
resulted in changes to a school reading pro- thing everyone dreads. There is, however,
gram that made it more compatible with lit- observation and interview evidence that
eracy traditions in the native culture. Before learning to handle distraction is one poten-
these changes allowed reading to occur in tial outcome of elementary school home-
the "talk-story" pattern characteristic of work to which both parents and teachers
Hawaiian homes, the school's average stu- can aspire (see the section that follows).
dent read well below grade level; after- In older children, a more intractable as-
ward, these same students showed marked pect of the distraction problem is that one's
gains in reading. own thoughts can be distracting. Generally,
Certain homework traditions may create children wish to be doing something other
similar discontinuities in some homes. It is than homework with their after-school
not hard to imagine historical traditions time. In one study, over two-thirds of sixth
such as worksheets, flashcards, or sentences graders polled said that homework was
in which the child must use spelling words their least favorite after-school activity (Xu
growing increasingly incompatible with lit- & Corno, 1998; see also Leone & Richards,
eracy patterns defining the new millenium. 1989). Even a focused student can be carried
In contrast, Internet conversations that pro- away by distracting thoughts.
vide a running account of students' collab- Some research suggests that when
orative interchange around a complex prob- teachers add fantasy or curiosity elements
lem, presentations and exhibitions that to assignments to embellish motivation,
students develop themselves using multi- they can inadvertently divert student atten-
media software, and audio- and videotapes tion from important content. Rather than
that students produce, are examples of doing the hard, intellectual work in an as-
homework that make historical traditions signment, students are "seduced" by a
obsolete. Moreover, today's educational re- task's entertaining details (Harp & Mayer,
forms have a very different flavor that is of- 1998). When there are competing goals, giv-
tentimes inconsistent with older homework ing priority to those less favored is a so-
traditions, as the last section of this article phisticated act of volition that develops
suggests. with age and experience (Corno, 1994; Kuhl
Finally, coping with distraction may be & Kraska, 1989). Overall, there may be

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
536 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

fewer distractions at home than in school, in the third grade. These case studies illus-
where some number of other children sit trate the issues and struggles of beginning
nearby. Nevertheless, maintaining undi- homework and the ways that parent-child
vided attention is an important issue to deal involvement mediates completion. Young
with in homework as children mature. students will acclimate to homework-
some rather quickly-during the course of
Refocusing Attention on the Promise their first few experiences. As early experi-
of Homework ences evolve into parent-assisted routines, a
Theoretical Background child can manage even challenging assign-
New theory in educational psychology ments.
calls attention to the opportunities and con- Like other reference tasks for school-
straints inherent in given learning or per- reading books, writing, listening to a
formance situations. Homework is a case in speaker-the general situation of doing
point. A situation presents itself; the learner homework, apart from specific homework
engages with it. The student seizes some tasks, offers both affordances and con-
learning opportunities and misses others. straints for developing academic aptitudes.
Sometimes the student struggles with For example, the situation offers a number
boundaries, attempting to move beyond or of affordances for self-regulated behavior.
reshape them. At other times, it seems best When cues are picked up by the child, then
to yield to situational constraints. The inter- self-regulated behavior is more likely to oc-
change between person and situation alters cur-it is also more likely to be noted and
both, each being influenced by the other discussed, evaluated and reinforced, as well
(Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996). as demanded, the next time. Our data illus-
In the case of homework, the situation trate parental actions, verbalizations, and
includes the assigned task as well as the en- organizational features in home environ-
vironment in which homework is com- ments that promote self-responsible com-
pleted. The outer environment, as we have pletion of homework with beginners.
seen, mirrors the myriad influences of so- These observations were made in mid-
ciety writ large. The homework task reflects dle-class, two-parent, professional families
what is salutary and less so about school. in New York City. At least one parent in
Homework challenges the child to come to each family regularly took the time to help
grips with the good and bad in a relatively the child deal with homework. In addition,
short time. He or she engages to a greater all of the children were described by their
or lesser extent with assigned tasks and teachers as "above-average" achievers in
struggles to cope with the environment in the public school attended. Thus, our data
which they are completed. Again, this pro- suggest more of what is possible under fa-
cess changes all three-tasks, environment, vorable home circumstances than what is
and child. Case study data of children do- likely the norm. Many family circumstances
ing homework provide one illustration of will provide less support for homework
the theory. than those we observed, and yet what some
families do certainly can be useful models
Case Study Evidence for others (McCaslin & Murdock, 1991;
The goal of several case studies was to McDermott et al., 1984, for case study data
identify parent-child interactions that lead from different samples).
to self-responsible completion of different Our group of six families volunteered to
types of homework. Xu and Corno (1998; be videotaped and interviewed for this
see also Xu, 1994) conducted qualitative ob- study. Children of both sexes and several
servations and interviews with six families cultural backgrounds were represented
just beginning to get substantive homework (white, African American, Latin American,

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 537

and Asian American). Students, all of types of assignments made and feedback
whom were 8 years old at the time of the given, and each child's academic history.
study, attended the same public school, but Data transcribed from tapes formed sepa-
some had different third-grade teachers and rate case studies. Parents read the case stud-
thus different homework assignments. In ies, and their comments were used to revise
terms of management constraints and de- text in the few instances where corrections
mands, for example, nightly work is not the were requested. A cross-case analysis using
same as weekly packets, and worksheets the constant comparative method permitted
are not the same as projects. interpretations based on the full data set.
We interviewed students and parents, as Converging lines of inquiry from the three
well as each teacher, and videotaped two subsamples yielded conclusions that are
homework sessions per family. We also more general.
conducted stimulated-recall interviews Adults and children gave different in-
with parents following each homework ses- terpretations of the purposes and require-
sion. The preobservation interviews asked ments of homework. Their management of
families to describe how they did home- homework tasks reflected these interpreta-
work, what the typical session entailed, and tions. Although parents and teachers
the kinds of affective responses the child shared similar views about the diverse pur-
had toward assigned homework that year. poses and utilities of homework, their third
They also answered open-ended questions graders' understandings of homework
about values placed on homework and be- were relatively more naive. The students
liefs about what homework was supposed saw homework as more schoolwork that
to accomplish. Finally, families answered had to be done for adult approval or to
questions about ways their child might be prove to the teacher that they were listening
learning to use self-regulation strategies in class. The possibilities that homework
(such as goal setting, resource management, might help develop important personal at-
self-monitoring, and emotion control). tributes or responsible academic behavior,
Taping took place at the families' con- or even that it might complement rather
venience, with no more than a month delay than just reinforce school learning were not
between sessions. Parents and children among these third graders' musings on the
were asked to "do homework as they usu- meaning of homework.
ally did," and at the usual location and time This result supports Cooper's (1989)
of day. Each of the families said they had contention that understanding the complex-
experience with videotaping and that this ities of homework is a stretch for younger
would not be an intrusion into their home- students just beginning to cope with school.
work routines. In the stimulated-recall in- It is not too great a leap to suggest that
terviews following the videotapings, we homework is "an adult thing" to children,
asked parents to stop the tape whenever who do it much out of compliance at first.
they wanted to comment. The tape stopped Action undertaken for largely extrinsic rea-
also at points where parents made gestures sons is notoriously susceptible to several
or statements that we sought for various kinds of interference. There were interrup-
reasons to discuss. To elicit stylistic rather tions from siblings playing nearby, distrac-
than sporadic responses, we asked parents tions by conversations between adults, and
to ground their comments about these the interference of children's own ruminat-
homework sessions in the context of other ing thoughts and self-appraisals. One hy-
homework sessions they had with this pothesis is that it seems harder to protect
child. intentions to work when the work is moti-
Teachers spoke about their reasons for vated by external demands.
giving homework, their expectations, the Unsurprisingly, then, doing homework

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
538 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

presented a challenge for both the parents degree of parent intervention. Projects, for
and children in this sample. In each of the example, tended to draw in parents even as
cases, homework became a nightly commit- they protested. Weekly homework packets
ment that limited both the child's and the worked well for self-starting students-
parents' participation in other activities those who left harder assignments until the
deemed more enjoyable or equally press- end of the week swam upstream with their
ing, as the case may be. Working parents parents.
had multiple attention demands during Our strong conclusion from these data
homework time; tired children wanted to was that everyday experiences with home-
do almost anything but homework after work, as mediated by parents, provided
school. When homework still was not fin- clear opportunities for children to learn to
ished by 10:00 at night, it was an emotion- cope with many aspects of personal respon-
ally draining event. As one mother re- sibility. The need to complete sustained, ex-
marked, there was "homework hysteria." ternally imposed academic tasks in a famil-
Parents in all six families expressed the iar social setting (home) led to difficulties
need to oversee their children's homework and distractions. However, as children be-
at this stage, although some teachers did came more experienced with homework
not request it. Most parents were not help- and their teacher's expectations and more
ing with the substance of homework so knowledgeable about types of assignments
much as they were helping to manage the and their requirements, they began to take
tasks. We observed various effective and over more and more of the management of
not so effective management strategies. homework themselves.
Effective strategies evoked organizing This was true also as the children be-
and action control. For example, some par- came better aware of intrinsic reasons for
ents established rules and procedures for completing homework. To develop confi-
doing homework; others helped their chil- dence, for satisfaction, or to reach the kind
dren develop their own homework rou- of understanding that allows discussion
tines. All the families guided the children in and communication with others about a
basics such as finding supplies and a proper topic-these intrinsic reasons for doing
work space, prioritizing tasks, and moni- homework became clearer with rich assign-
toring time. In some of the cases, parents ments to which children could connect.
also modeled, explained, and encouraged Teachers who drew a child's attention to
various volitional control strategies-for outcomes such as these helped with focus
example, the use of highly regarded incen- and distraction as well.
tives as dangling carrots to completion, the The third graders displayed improve-
adoption of a task-oriented work style as ments over the course of our investigation
difficulty levels raised stress. Parents were that ranged from the development of better,
also observed demonstrating ways to han- more efficient work space environments to
dle both positive and negative emotions- systems of time management that would ri-
a "high five" for a good job and a breather val those "on the job." Also evident was the
and reassessment when frustrated. use of overt self-speech (children spoke to
These parents successfully coordinated themselves aloud) as a means for focusing
a number of strategies for helping their chil- attention, amplifying motivation, and con-
dren "do homework." They alternated be- trolling negative emotions (see McCaslin &
tween allowing their children the freedom Good, 1996).
to make their own decisions about home- These improvements followed a devel-
work on the one hand, and making deci- opmental trajectory predictable from mod-
sions for the children on the other. The na- ern theories of volition (Corno, 1993; Kuhl
ture of the assignment often dictated the & Kraska, 1989). It was relatively easy for

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 539

children to become proficient with setting that leads children to understand the source
the environment, but monitoring motiva- of their errors, but also encourages taking a
tion and controlling emotion in the face of second try, has been shown in experiments
difficulty were harder for both children and to boost motivation and learning (see, e.g.,
parents. When parents understand that self- Elawar & Como, 1985). Finally, if students
regulation in homework, and in analogous could be helped to view even some home-
tasks, is a developmental function, they can work as closing critical gaps in their aca-
better adjust their expectations. At the same demic experience, they stand to see the
time, doing homework provides opportu- value of injecting meaning into daily work.
nities for students to observe, practice, and They might also experience the important
experience the consequences of using voli- role that interest plays in persistence.
tional strategies. It therefore has the poten- An older field experiment asked, What
tial to attune children to self-responsibility if parents of young children could use
in advance of when they might get there on homework to teach their children what
their own developmental timelines. school is all about? Corno (1980) gave some
Adult mediation of homework may be a 400 third graders a homework Learning
necessary condition for hurrying up the vo- Skills Program (LSP) that taught them
litional clock for many beginners. This may about what it means to learn in a classroom
involve parents, as in our study, but noth- setting, where teachers present material
ing prevents the same effect from occurring that students must discuss and come to un-
with a teacher, a tutor, an older sibling, or derstand. This group represented half of a
even a computer tutorial. Epstein's (1989) larger sample of classrooms; each classroom
research on profitable ways parents can be- received the program by random assign-
come involved in homework speaks to this ment or served as a control.
as well. In short, experience with home- In one of four structured exercises for
work, of itself, does not teach children re- LSP Unit 1: Making Ideas Orderly, students
sponsibility. However, better-mediated ex- learned to define the concept of a review.
periences on the part of parents or tutors They were taught that teachers often go
may yet bring the myth that "homework back over material, and why, and they
shapes responsibility" a bit closer to reality. learned words teachers use to cue students
before reviewing (e.g., "Let's look again at
Some Valuable Experimental Data what this says" "So what did we learn from
Case study data tell only part of the this story?"). Similar exercises defined the
homework story. To refocus on the promise concept of summarizing and taught stu-
of homework, other kinds of evidence need dents why and how teachers summarize.
attention. Still others discussed the concepts of goal
The policy recommendation to give setting and emphasizing important points.
more homework to young children sounds Students saw how to distinguish a lesson
vapid when weighed against results from goal from an activity ("Today we are going
quantitative studies that highlight the many to work with manipulatives [activity] so
nuances involved in gauging homework's you can solve area problems" [goal]). They
effects. Particularly for beginning elemen- learned ways that teachers mark impor-
tary school children, as Cooper (1989) has tance in lessons with other verbal cues (e.g.,
said, shorter assignments that are easily "This is going to be on the test," and "Re-
completed help to foster favorable attitudes member these three key things").
toward the whole enterprise of schooling. In four exercises for LSP Unit 2: Partici-
Both cognitive and affective outcomes can pating in Class, students also learned how
be influenced by how teachers handle to ask questions like those teachers ask (e.g.,
homework. Teacher feedback on homework "Wh" and "How" questions; Palincsar &

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
540 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

Brown, 1984). They learned how to volun- of .64 on reading comprehension (Como,
teer and why teachers reward volunteering 1980, p. 286).
and going beyond expectations. They This experiment shows that some kinds
learned about other ways that students can of homework can promote student achieve-
show teachers their intentions to become ment in the elementary school directly. The
full participants in the classroom commu- kind of homework involved had the advan-
nity (answering when called on, talking to tage of structured parental assistance in
learn). reading and a central goal to demystify
The program wove these classroom or- classroom learning for all students.
ganizing and participation skills into les- Non-subject-matter outcomes were
sons taught to the children by their parents, measured in this study as well. A follow-up
using age-appropriate reading passages report (Como, Mitman, & Hedges, 1981)
and discussion questions similar to those of found positive effects favoring students
regular reading homework. Students took who completed the program on attitudinal
pretests and posttests on vocabulary, read- outcomes such as self-esteem, liking for
ing comprehension, and reasoning, as well school, and feelings of anxiety (effects simi-
as knowledge of the keywords taught in the lar in magnitude to the academic effects).
program (e.g., review, summary, goal, vol- One explanation is that when students are
unteering, etc.). Posttests immediately fol- taught how to learn in school and why
lowed each class's completion of the exer- some learning-related behavior might be
cises and were given again 6 months later. particularly important, they gain a better
We compared the performance of students understanding of their own role in relation
who received the program to that of stu- to that of teachers and the material to be
dents who simply completed teachers' reg- learned. They see how they can, themselves,
ularly assigned reading homework during address classroom demands and expecta-
the same 8-week period. tions head-on.
Students who completed at least six of This study also suggests that when stu-
the eight program exercises had scores on dents understand what teachers do to help
reading achievement and vocabulary tests them learn in school-when they can ob-
significantly higher than those of students serve and label specific learning cues such
who did not receive the program. Their as summaries and reviews-then they be-
scores were also significantly higher than come able to cue themselves similarly. Such
those of students who completed fewer preparation becomes particularly impor-
than six program exercises. Although there tant as students move up the grade ladder.
was a relationship between completion of Once teachers assume that their students
LSP exercises and the mean ability level of possess sufficient classroom learning skills,
a class (correlation = .42), causal modeling they no longer provide the kinds of verbal
analyses showed that highly supportive cues observed in earlier grades. In the ab-
teachers were able to moderate this rela- sence of effective reviews, summaries, and
tionship. In classes where teachers reported goals that teachers provide, students have
making efforts to support the program (see to fend for themselves.
examples later in this section), the comple- Thus, a classroom learning skills pro-
tion-ability correlations were negligible. gram would capitalize on this window of
With average ability and motivation levels opportunity by helping students to (a) in-
at pretest taken into account, the size of the temrnalizethose aspects of teacher behavior
achievement effects (as estimated by effect that organize concepts for meaningful re-
size coefficients for adjusted means within tention and transfer, and (b) assume respon-
classes) ranged from a large effect of 1.09 on sibility for participating effectively in class.
a program concepts test to a moderate effect When confronted with incomplete instruc-

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 541

tion, students who have met these goals are for teachers to tailor their feedback to indi-
able to fill in the holes for themselves vidual errors as well. However, the evi-
(Snow, 1996). An important resource is then dence supports a lighter load for younger
at their disposal for use beyond school. students just beginning in school. Accord-
Having the means (a "way") to learn might ing to the thorough research review by Coo-
well foster the "will" to learn in students per (1989), prior to sixth grade, homework
(Corno, Collins, & Capper, 1982). Such na- has a small effect on subject-matter learn-
scent capabilities underlie the constructive ing. However, the early grades can be a
mastery orientation and deep learning style good time to teach time management and
that some students develop in later years. effective work habits.
Teachers can take it upon themselves to A teacher can also use homework to
teach these and other learning skills. Har- help young children begin to learn on their
vey (1982) was the teacher of one third- own, by giving them a few basic classroom
grade class involved in the LSP experiment. learning tools. Whatever teachers can do to
In addition to sending home the parent-stu- demystify classroom teaching and learning
dent exercises, Harvey's deliberate efforts for their students seems likely to be valu-
to support the program also involved dis- able. Tacit knowledge about schooling, in-
cussion and reinforcement of LSP concepts cluding its rules and rewards, otherwise be-
in class. She wrote LSP cues on bookmarks comes the exclusive domain of those few
in her teacher edition textbooks to provide young children advantaged enough to dis-
daily reminders of the LSP concepts. She cern such things without much assistance.
then repeated the concepts and asked stu- Parents' roles deserve clarification in this.
dents to help her use them when she taught For older students, better assignments
lessons and made assignments. challenge them to develop expertise-in
Harvey also devised a system to ensure subject areas and also in studying and in-
that LSP packets arrived home and that teracting with others. If teachers want
completed packets came back to school. She youth to keep on learning on their own,
praised children who returned the packets then homework should communicate this.
on schedule and occasionally gave them lol- Having a part in a play or being a member
lipops for doing so. Students whose as- of a debate team develops particular knowl-
signed packets were overdue received calls edge and skills. But the homework that ac-
at home. Not surprisingly, Harvey's class- companies such situations allows a teacher
room completion rate was exceptionally to emphasize attitudes, values, and other
high. One unexpected non-subject-matter skills that are necessary in these contexts.
outcome of this incentive program was an Musical theater and debates both benefit,
increase in students' volunteering initiative. for example, when participants know how
Noticeably more students offered to help to finish what they begin, to persist in spite
with the daily operations in Harvey's class- of difficulty, and remain focused during a
room after completing LSP lessons-for ex- performance.
ample, help with transitions, cleanups, and Moreover, if teachers cue older students
taking on leadership duties for projects. with critical questions when evaluating
homework, then students will begin to
What Should Teachers Do? learn the value of asking evaluative ques-
Given all of the variables that families tions for themselves: How could you im-
must negotiate with homework, a teacher prove the delivery of that line? Have you
has to set priorities. Homework does give checked the logic of that argument? What is
teachers a sense of how well their students the point of this paragraph? Can you think
comprehend curricular material and where of another way to get the message across or
the problems are. It provides opportunities to convey emotion to an audience? Such

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
542 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

questions anticipate what a good critic assistance in their own classrooms, devel-
would say about any performance, and en- oped some of these innovations. Some in-
courage students to evaluate their work by spired ideas are coming about as teacher-
similar standards. researcher collaborations become more
Theory says that the teacher becomes a frequent (Clark & Moss, 1996; Corno &
partner in helping children see what it Randi, 1999). Other noteworthy discoveries
means to participate in both an academic I have taken out of context, embedded as
and a social community. In both cases, there they are within new program designs at the
is need for a game plan and participants forefront of contemporary educational re-
have to get a sense of how much time to forms. Finally, a few innovations derived
spend on tasks. Someone has to monitor the from research investigations not even fo-
time spent. Each community member sup- cused on homework applications. Each
ports but does not do the work of others. forces a different look at the old concept of
Whether the situation involves a class pro- homework.
ject or team fund-raising, when frustrations
occur, leaders (teachers or others) can pro- Culture as Springboard
vide valuable demonstrations of how to Moll and his colleagues (Moll, Amanti,
take a breather and how to back up and try Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992) entered working-
again. They can cheer on progress made. An class Mexican and Mexican-American com-
astute leader also shares a few personal an- munities in Arizona to develop teaching in-
ecdotes about homework, especially those novations that drew on "funds of
with happy endings. Whether in a class- knowledge" from home. They identified re-
room or an extracurricular community, sources in households and the larger com-
there is room for a family to state frankly munity that families used to develop cul-
that they are spending more time than they turally essential knowledge and work skills
can tolerate on homework, and then to dis- in children. These included, for example, in-
cuss options with those in authority. formation about farming and animal man-
Homework does not have to be unimag- agement, knowledge about construction
inative "drill on skills" or even just ex- and building, and related business matters
tended class work. Homework should pro- historically endemic to the Mexican-Amer-
vide opportunities for children to make ican border populations. Rather than em-
meaning for themselves out of the material. phasizing cultural artifacts, crafts, or dance,
Teachers can help with this by talking with the idea was to equip children with strate-
their students about homework and en- gic knowledge about activities essential for
couraging them to look at assignments in household functioning and regional pro-
light of things they already know. Students' ductivity.
own interests and experiences, the activities Classroom teachers collaborated in the
in which they choose to engage in their free research, using the home-based data to de-
time, are all potential homework topics that velop academically rigorous instructional
can be used as an integral part of class les- innovations that bridged gaps between the
sons. The trend today is away from work- homes and classrooms of these students.
sheets toward more creative homework as- The result was a series of units on cooking
signments-projects, exhibitions, and other candy, equipment maintenance, ranching,
so-called "authentic" experiences. farming, and masonry. Teachers used the
topics as springboards for instruction and
Homework Innovations
assignments involving inquiry and active
In this section I briefly describe a selection learning. Homework encouraged students
of homework innovations that reflect this to use their social contacts outside school to
trend. Teachers, working without funding access new knowledge for further devel-

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 543

opment and study (Moll et al., p. 138). The resourceful administrators, secure meeting
students brought work from home into the places, recruited assistants (even former
classroom and vice versa. gang members), and donated computers,
Another variation on this theme revital- books, and tutoring. Capitalizing on the in-
izes an older idea of using popular culture terests of the youth they serve, the "wiz-
to tune into teens. A recent news article (Vi- ards" who run the organizations orches-
gue, 1999) describes the novel homework trate film productions, art shows, and
developed by some high school teachers in concerts. These activities develop partici-
Boston. One poetry assignment asked stu- pants' self-management and presentation
dents to examine the emotions evoked by skills through a process of creation and per-
words of their favorite popular songs. Stu- formance. The performances put partici-
dents discussed why they played these pants in touch with schooled concepts at the
songs so frequently and considered them in same time that they provide experiential
relation to the poetry of Robert Frost. In an- feedback and rewards. Youth can then see
other task, a creative writing and literature that their experiences somewhere in be-
teacher had students categorize compact tween school and games can serve impor-
disks by the images on their covers; the tant intellectual as well as social functions.
class then discussed the cultural messages The Boston school system has one ex-
conveyed. This teacher used the compact ample of a city-run after-school program
disk lesson to teach students to be careful that is becoming more academic (Hart,
consumers of the advertising and other 1999). Staff in the city's centers are being
messages around them. These are lessons in given extensive training in ways to "boost
social semiotics, not examples of teachers literacy activities, math games, and how to
trying to be hip. use computers to enhance learning" (p. B5).
Using culture as a springboard can also Students will find trade books used in
mean learning more about other cultures. A school literature classes on clubhouse book-
former Williams College professor, Robert shelves, and they can read after school and
Gaudino, developed an unusual semester have discussions with club staff. In addi-
abroad program that some alumni dubbed tion, some city museums will provide com-
a life-changing experience (see Zernike, puter and other workshops after school.
1999). In "Williams-at-home," students live
for a time with families and work on farms, Homework for Understanding
in factories, or in stores in Appalachia, the The movement to encourage teaching
Midwest, and the Deep South. Before this subject matter "for understanding" rather
experience, the students take course work than simple memorization and recitation
on the history and culture of the area they leads to nontraditional forms of homework
will live in; afterward their course work in- (see Perkins, 1993). School projects are in-
cludes assignments requiring deep reflec- creasingly interdisciplinary and inquiry ori-
tion on what they have learned and how it ented, involving work pushed out over
connects to their own lives. This project weeks or longer. Many such projects result
could be adapted for secondary schools. in products that are highly creative, reflect-
ing a level of performance beyond students'
After-School Clubs and Centers
years. For example, Tovey (1997) writes of
I previously mentioned another revival a high school teacher whose students
occurring in after-school clubs and centers. worked together to produce a newsletter
The most effective youth organizations in giving advice to the next class about taking
inner-city settings have a number of com- the SAT and college applications.
mon characteristics (McLaughlin, Irby, & Elementary teachers at Pine Hill School
Langman, 1994). They have energetic and in suburban Massachusetts have their

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
544 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

classes design and complete a community work from this program help students to
service project, such as cleaning up the local use the kind of language mathematicians
pond for summer use. Inevitably such a use, and experience the way that mathe-
task becomes more than picking up rub- maticians use numbers in reasoning and
bish; there are geese to be dealt with, for problem solving.
example, and eroded sand to be replaced.
Such observations lead to study of pond Using Homework to Develop Writers
ecology and wildlife. The students work in A recentNew YorkTimesMagazinearticle
pairs to document their efforts in computer- profiled British novelist Penelope Fitzger-
based, multimedia presentations that in- ald, who continues to produce acclaimed
clude photographs, music, graphics, and fiction at age 82 (see Lubow, 1999). Ms. Fitz-
original written text. Again, these presen- gerald's daughter, Maria, was quoted as
tations are beyond what most adults would saying, "The impression I get about her up-
(or could) prepare, given the same assign- bringing is that is was incredibly competi-
ment. This is true for their content as well tive. You were supposed to be intensely
as their delivery. clever. She and her brother were expected
Homework gets at understanding when to go to the dinner table and hold their own
it requires students to make meaning out of with the distinguished figures of the day.
material, to explain why, to build a persua- She says it was ghastly, really, but I think it
sive case, to find and solve problems, to had a great effect." Ms. Fitzgerald herself
transfer thoughts and ideas to new contexts, said further of the games she played with
and to personalize (Perkins, 1993). It seems her brothers at dinner, "You had pieces of
harder to make this kind of headway in paper and pencil and you wrote extracts of
some subjects, such as mathematics. How- books and reviews for and against-we
ever, new ideas for mathematics homework made it all up" (p. 32).
exist in programs such as the University of The childhood of a writer is a great gift
Chicago's mathematics curriculum, Every- of material to mine. This is the strong mes-
day Mathematics (Bell et al., 1999). In this sage Calkins (1994) sends in describing her
program, elementary-level children bring widely adopted program for developing
home "study links" that often require adult young writers. Calkins refers to the impor-
or sibling involvement in solving problems tance of "making memoir out of the pieces
or math puzzles. of our lives" (p. 399), much in the style of
Raphel (1998) developed a mathematics the author and columnist, Donald M. Mur-
homework program for the intermediate ray. Calkins shows how a parent's simple
school. Students compute the distributions question "So what were the highlights of
of various animals in animal crackers, or this summer?" can lead a child to "begin
calculate how long it would take the school spinning experience into memories" (p.
to consume one million cartons of milk, and 399).
work out the number of possible answers to The "What I Did Last Summer" essay is
multiplication problems from 1 x 1 to 9 x a routine homework assignment, some-
9. Students also complete a "personal esti- times derided and often caricatured by chil-
mation project," collecting data in the dren today. But Calkins is onto something
home-how many times the refrigerator with her concept of bringing "emblematic
door opens in a day, or how many cars pass moments" from home into the written work
by their house in 15 minutes, or the number of school (p. 407). She asks, for example,
of catalogs sent as junk mail in a week. With that students bring home notebooks and
the data they obtain, students write about record "very specific observations about a
their projects, use statistics, and draw con- single person in their lives." The assign-
clusions. Many more examples of home- ment is to select one detail about that par-

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 545

ent, or brother, or soccer coach that seems Aptitude Seminar, forthcoming). Rather, a
to "say it all" (p. 407). Other assignments student's own understanding is joined with
involve writing about meaningful settings the situation in which the homework was
like one's home or a favorite playground. assigned-by a particular teacher, with
Using old photographs, students reveal pertinent goals, for a given group of stu-
how a specific photograph conveys the es- dents who will complete the assignment
sence of some important message about under certain circumstances. By virtue of a
who the person pictured is or will become. shared context, an individual student who
These "select and reveal" homework as- participates in homework activities, in turn,
signments engage a process of writing a cut affects other students in the same classroom
above the ordinary. Calkins explains how a community.
writing teacher can tweak and refine stu- Students engaged by their homework
dents' notebook entries with careful, strengthen their capabilities to participate
pointed questions. "Take your photograph, further in homework activities of similar
what do you see there? Wonder? Feel? Re- and different types. They develop an apti-
member?" (p. 409). The result is a document tude for future homework from the regu-
that evolves from a fifth grader's descrip- larities of homework ongoing. Over time,
tive beginnings into what Calkins calls students recognize and deal with the sta-
"pearling an image" (p. 411). Calkins's ples of all homework, that is, the need to
book gives many creative examples of the complete an assignment using and finding
kinds of homework that lead children to in- resources. There are also regular bound-
aries surrounding homework such as time
spired writing.
and resource limitations. Eventually stu-
Conclusion dents adjust to these boundaries and even
What students take from doing homework begin to push against them. The situation
includes knowledge and skills stretched invites students to sample these afford-
across the home-school environment, inter- ances, thereby aiding homework comple-
tion.
personal and self-regulation styles and
A student's facility with homework in-
mannerisms, and an identification with an
academic and social community of others creases especially as he or she comes to in-
who do homework. Under the right circum- ternalize the social supports and problem-
stances, a student also experiences a certain solving demands present in many of the
innovative homework trends just de-
satisfaction with homework completed-
scribed. The challenges of other kinds of
satisfaction for good effort invested, but
homework ultimately then come within
more importantly, a sense of oneself as a
reach. A student can handle the common
student. I have argued that the circum-
homework traditions-the worksheets, the
stances of homework are an important in-
fluence on student attitudes toward school. copied sentences, and so on. In addition,
this student can take on the kind of home-
This kind of confidence grows when a stu-
work that adults impose on themselves
dent moves into the inner circle to share in
whenever there is need to learn something
the tacit knowledge that permits full and new. Another homework myth that may ul-
meaningful involvement in school. timately withstand scientific scrutiny is that
This tacit knowledge includes the rules it pays to do your homework.
of participation for students, parents, and
teachers as well. What any one student
comes to understand about a given home- Note
work assignment is not separate from the
situation, existing as has so often been I would like to thank Tom Good and Carol
thought "in the student's head" (Stanford Hamilton for valuable comments on an earlier

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
546 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL

draft. Stanford Extension Emeritus LJC should Corno, L. (1996). Homework is a complicated
see some fruits of his labors here. Many fine ex- thing. EducationalResearcher,25(8), 27-30.
amples derive from the good teachers and stu- Corno, L., Collins, K. M., & Capper, J. (1982).
dents at Pine Hill School in Sherborn, Massachu- Where there's a way there's a will: Self-regulat-
setts. Thanks to all! ing the low achieving student. ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED 222 499 (TM
820 465)
Corno, L., Mitman, A., & Hedges, L. (1981). The
influence of direct instruction on student
References self-appraisals: A hierarchical analysis of
treatment and aptitude-treatment interaction
effects. American EducationalResearchJournal,
Au, K. (1980). Participation structures in a read- 18, 39-61.
ing lesson with Hawaiian children. Anthro- Corno, L., & Randi, J. (1999). A design theory for
pology and EducationQuarterly, 11, 91-115. classroom instruction in self-regulated learn-
Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in ing? In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional-de-
human agency. American Psychologist, 37,
sign theory and models:A new paradigm of in-
122-148. structional theory (Vol. 2, pp. 293-317).
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
and action: A social cognitive theory. Engle-
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredomand
wood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bell, M., Balfanz, R., Carroll, W., Hartfield, R., Doyle, W. (1983). Academic work. Review of Edu-
McBride, J., & Saecker, P. (1999). Everyday cational Research,53, 159-199.
mathematics:Study links. Chicago: Everyday Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes af-
Learning. fecting learning. American Psychologist, 41,
Boekaerts, M. (1993). Being concerned with well- 1040-1048.
being and with learning. EducationalPsychol- Eisenberger, R. (1992). Learned industriousness.
ogist, 28, 149-167. PsychologicalReview, 99, 248-267.
Brown, A. (1997). Transforming schools into Elawar, M. C., & Corno, L. (1985). A factorial ex-
communities of thinking and learning about
periment in teachers' written feedback on
serious matters. American Psychologist, 54, student homework: Changing teacher be-
399-413. havior a little rather than a lot. Journalof Edu-
Butler, D. L. (1999, April). Identifying and reme- cational Psychology, 77, 162-173.
diating students' inefficientapproachesto tasks. Entwistle, N. J. (1987). Understanding classroom
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the learning. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
American Educational Research Association,
Epstein, J. (1989). Family structures and student
Montreal. motivation: A developmental perspective. In
Calkins, L. M. (1994). The art of teaching writing C. Ames & R. Ames (Eds.), Researchon moti-
(2d ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. vation in education:Vol 3. Goals and cognitions
Clark, C. T., & Moss, P. A. (1996). Researching (pp. 259-295). San Diego, CA: Academic
with: Ethical and epistemological implica- Press.
tions of doing collaborative, change-oriented Good, T. (Ed.). (1999). Non-subject-matter out-
research with teachers and students. Teachers comes of schooling (Special issue). Elemen-
CollegeRecord,97, 518-548. tary SchoolJournal,99(5), 383-528.
Cooper, H. (1989). Homework.New York: Long- Greeno, J. G., Collins, A. M., & Resnick, L. (1996).
man.
Cognition and learning. In D. C. Berliner &
Comrno,L. (1980). Individual and class level ef- R. C. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of educational
fects of parent-assisted instruction in class-
psychology (pp. 15-46). New York: Macmil-
room memory support strategies. Journal of lan.
EducationalPsychology, 72, 278-292. Harp, S. F., & Mayer, R. E. (1998). How seductive
Corno, L. (1993). The best-laid plans: Modem details do their damage: A theory of cogni-
conceptions of volition and educational re- tive interest in science learning. Journal of
search. EducationalResearcher,22(2), 14-22. EducationalPsychology, 90, 414-434.
Corno, L. (1994). Student volition and education: Hart, J. (1999, September 27). Changing lessons
Outcomes, influences, and practices. In D. H. after school: More work, less play urged for
Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds.), Self-regu- city centers. Boston Globe,pp. B1, B5.
lation of learning and performance:Issues and Hartshorne, H., & May, M. A. (1928). Studies of
educational applications (pp. 229-251). Hills- the nature of character:2, Studies in deceit.New
dale, NJ: Erlbaum. York: Macmillan.

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
 HOMEWORK 547

Harvey, P. C. (1982). Variations on direct instruc- (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Us-
tion in one third-gradeclassroom.Unpublished ing a qualitative approach to connect homes
doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, and classrooms. Theoryinto Practice, 31, 132-
Stanford, CA. 141.
Hill, C. (1994). Testing and assessment: An ap- Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Recipro-
plied linguistic perspective. EducationalAs- cal teaching of comprehension-fostering and
sessment, 2(3), 179-212. comprehension-monitoring strategies. Cog-
Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., & Sandler, H. M. nition and Instruction, 1, 117-175.
(1995). Parental involvement in children's Perkins, D. (1993). Teaching for understanding.
education: Why does it make a difference? American Educator,17(8), 28-35.
TeachersCollege Record,97, 310-331. Raphel, A. (1998, November). Homework in the
Horowitz, M. J. (1976). Stress responsesyndromes. intermediateclassroom:Researchand ideas. Pa-
New York: Aronson. per presented at the meeting of the Califor-
Klavan, E. (1992). Taming the homeworkmonster. nia Math Council Southern Section, Palm
New York: Poseidon. Springs, CA.
Klinger, E. (1996). Emotional influences on cog- Ratnesar, R. (1999, January 25). The homework
nitive processing, with implications for the- are my family. Time, pp. 54-63.
ories of both. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A. Schacter, S., & Singer, J. E. (1962). Cognitive, so-
Bargh (Eds.), The psychologyof action:Linking cial, and physiological determinants of emo-
cognition and motivation to behavior(pp. 168- tional state. PsychologicalReview, 69, 379-399.
192). New York: Guilford. Schneider, B., & Stephenson, D. (1999). The am-
Kuhl, J. (1985). Volitional mediators of cognition- bitious generation: America's teenagers moti-
behavior consistency: Self-regulatory pro- vated but directionless.New Haven, CT: Yale
cesses and action versus state orientation. In
University Press.
J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Action control: Snow, R. E. (1996). Aptitude development and
From cognition to behavior. West Berlin: education. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law,
Springer-Verlag. 2, 536-560.
Kuhl, J., & Kraska, K. (1989). Self-regulation and Stanford Aptitude Seminar. (forthcoming). Re-
metamotivation: Computational mecha-
making the concept of aptitude: Extending the
nisms, development, and assessment. In R.
legacy of Richard E. Snow. Mahwah, NJ: Erl-
Kanfer, P. L. Ackerman, & R. Cudeck (Eds.), baum.
Abilities, motivation, and methodology: The
Tovey, R. (1997, November-December). Re-
Minnesota symposium on individual differences
thinking homework. Harvard Education Let-
(pp. 343-374). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. ter, 13, 6-8.
Lakein, A. (1973). How to get control of your time Urdan, T., Midgley, C., & Anderman, E. M.
and your life. New York: Signet.
(1998). The role of classroom goal structure
Leone, C. M., & Richards, M. H. (1989). Class-
in students' use of self-handicapping strate-
work and homework in early adolescence:
The ecology of achievement. Journalof Youth gies. American Educational Research Journal,
and Adolescence,18(6), 531-548. 35, 101-122.
Lubow, A. (1999, August 15). An author of a cer- Vigue, D. I. (1999, September 24). Building
tain age. New York Times Magazine, pp. 30- bridges: Knowing teen culture gives teachers
33. opportunity. Boston Globe,pp. Al, A18.
McCaslin, M., & Good, T. (1996). Listening in Warton, P. W., & Goodnow, J. J. (1991). The na-
classrooms.New York: Harper Collins. ture of responsibility: Children's under-
McCaslin, M., & Murdock, T. (1991). The emer- standing of "Your Job." Child Development,
gent interaction of home and school in the 62, 156-165.
development of students' adaptive learning. Winne, P. H. (1995). Inherent details in self-reg-
In M. Maehr & P. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in ulated learning. EducationalPsychologist, 30,
motivation and achievement (Vol. 7, pp. 213- 173-187.
259). Greenwich, CT: JAI. Wolters, C. A. (1998). Self-regulated learning
McDermott, R., Goldman, S., & Varenne, H. and college students' regulation of motiva-
(1984). When school goes home: Some prob- tion. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90,
lems in the organization of homework. 224-235.
TeachersCollege Record,85(3), 391-409. Xu, J. (1994). Doing homework:A study of possibil-
McLaughlin, M. W., Irby, M. A., & Langman, J. ities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
(1994). Urban sanctuaries. San Francisco: Jos- Teachers College, Columbia University,
sey-Bass. New York.
Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. Xu, J., & Corno, L. (1998). Case studies of families

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).
548 THEELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
JOURNAL

doing third-grade homework. Teachers Col- Zimmerman,B. J., & Schunk,D. H. (1989).Self-
lege Record,100, 402-436. regulatedlearningand academicachievement:
Zemike, K. (1999, September 20). Alumni carry Theory, research,and practice.New York:
on a "painful" legacy. Boston Globe,pp. A1, Springer-Verlag.
A14. Zuckerman, G. (1994). A pilot study of a ten-day
Zimmerman, B. J. (1998). Academic studying course in cooperative learning for beginning
and the development of personal skill: A self- Russian first graders. ElementarySchoolJour-
regulatory perspective. EducationalPsycholo- nal, 94, 405-420.
gist, 33, 73-86.

MAY 2000

This content downloaded from 192.148.225.018 on July 18, 2017 01:14:21 AM

All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).