In 2015, the American Journal of Family Therapy published a study titled "Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents ' Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background." The researchers Robert Pressman, David Sugarman, Melissa Nemon, Jennifer Desjarlais, Judith Owens, and Allison Schettini-Evans examined "family stress" "in the context of children 's homework load" (p. 297). The researchers surveyed 1173 parents with a 46-question survey. They examined participants of both English and Spanish families with students in kindergarten through twelfth grade in the fall and spring. The only limitation to this study is that it was conducted in Rhode Island only. While the researchers found that the homework load did not have an overall severe effect on family stress (p. 307), what the researchers did find was that “homework be limited and thoughtfully applied to primary school children” (p.310). Although family stress did not increase due to homework amount, the researchers discovered family stress caused by homework increased in families who either are disadvantaged, Spanish speaking, or has parents unavailable to assist their child with homework (p.310) The major significance of these results is that homework must focus on quality rather than quantity. Ultimately, this finding is important because teachers should be aware of families who are disadvantaged, Spanish-speaking, …show more content…
Dr. Simplicio writes in his article titled “Homework in the 21st Century: The Antiquated and Ineffectual Implementation of a Time Honored Educational Strategy” published in the journal Education. Simplicio asserts homework assignments commonly given to students are “redundant and meaningless” (139) An argument against the standard use of homework currently which Simplicio exclaims is “many homework assignments simply do not accomplish the educational goals they were designed to do” (140). The overlying issue with today 's homework has focused in on the quality of the assignment. The straightforward and easy answer to the problem is assigning work that is not busy work. Worksheets have been shown to have little academic benefit, so why waste time with them? Classroom time is limited. Teachers need to teach effectively, and that starts with the homework the night before. Teachers need to assign homework that efficiently and simply accomplishes the goal of the lesson, rather than cramming an entire book of problems down a child 's