Parent Involvement in Homework: A Research Synthesis.

... one major program of research on parent involvement has long focused onsthe potential power of school and teacher invitations for involvement (e.g.,sDauber & Epstein, 1993; Epstein, 1986,1991, 1994; =-=Epstein & Dauber, 1991-=-). Thissprogram has consistently produced evidence that patterns of teacher attitudes andsinvitations are important to many parents' decisions about participation in children'ssschooling (see also Ecc...

One of the more contentious issues in the homework debate is the amount of time students should spend on homework. The Cooper synthesis (1989a) reported that for junior high school students, the benefits increased as time increased, up to 1 to 2 hours of homework a night, and then decreased. The Cooper, Robinson, and Patall (2006) study reported similar findings: 7 to 12 hours of homework per week produced the largest effect size for 12th grade students. The researchers suggested that for 12th graders the optimum amount of homework might lie between 1.5 and 2.5 hours per night, but they cautioned that no hard-and-fast rules are warranted. Still, researchers have offered various recommendations. For example, Good and Brophy (2003) cautioned that teachers must take care not to assign too much homework. They suggested that homework must be realistic in length and difficulty given the students’ abilities to work independently. Thus, 5 to 10 minutes per subject might be appropriate for 4th graders, whereas 30 to 60 minutes might be appropriate for college-bound high school students. (p. 394)