Homework: An Easy Load?

A new Brookings Institution report debunks the popular notion that U.S. schoolchildren suffer from a growing homework load, and do not have enough time to play and just be kids. According to data analyzed by the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, the great majority of students at all grade levels now spend less than one hour studying on a typical day—an amount that has not changed substantially in at least twenty years. The research suggests that rather than having too much homework, children are not doing enough—a cause for concern because homework is correlated with school success.

Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center, will release the report at a briefing for the press and the public. Loveless will discuss his research—which includes data from surveys conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Third International Math and Science Study, the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, and the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA—and take questions from the audience.