Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Barbara Gerard
Committee Member
William Thayer
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
achievement, assignments, grades, homework, interviews, learning styles, Leominster, Massachusetts, middle school students, parents, parochial schools, report cards, social studies curriculum, St. Anna School, student achievement, students, teachers
Abstract
St. Anna School is a small, parochial school located in Leominster, Massachusetts. Homework is an academic requirement for all students in Grades 3 through 8. At the middle school level, Grades 6 through 8, students are given between 1 and 2 hours of homework 4 nights per week. Parents expect homework. Teachers assign homework. Students should do homework. Although parents, teachers, and students are aware of the existence of homework, students still failed to complete homework. Why did students fail to complete homework? Interviews were conducted with middle school teachers, students, and parents to find out why students failed to do homework.
This study focused on the social studies curriculum for the middle school students. It looked at the role of homework in relation to student achievement.
Did this failure to complete homework affect student achievement? An analysis of the data regarding the completion of homework indicated that students who failed to complete homework achieved lower grades on their report cards.
Feedback from the interviews resulted in changing the types of homework assignments. These changes resulted in an increased rate of homework completion. This increased rate of homework completion resulted in an increased rate of student achievement as recorded on report cards.