EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective
Indicator 25: Time Spent on Homework
Since homework is a form of practice, most educators postulate that it improves student achievement, and, in fact, most of the empirical studies conducted on the subject suggest that the amount of time spent on homework is positively related to student achievement. However, this relationship is influenced by such factors as differences in students' grade level. Although statistics concerning the average number of hours spent on homework provide one indication of the role of homework, they do not address the quality of the homework assigned, the degrees to which students actually complete homework, or the effort and care students take in completing it.
- Overall, it appears that in 1991, 9- and 13-year-olds in the United States were more likely to spend 1 hour or less on homework each day than their counterparts in many of the other countries studied. About 20 percent of 9-year-old students and 10 percent of 13-year-old students in the United States did no homework at all each day. The corresponding percentages were much lower in all the other countries reported, except in Canada and Scotland at ages 9 and 13 and in Spain at age 9.
- Whereas the majority of students in all the countries reported having completed no more than 1 hour of homework a day at age 9, by age 13 the majority of students in about half these countries completed at least 2 hours of homework daily. In the United States, however, the majority of students still continued to complete no more than 1 hour of homework a day at age 13.
- Nine-year-old students in almost every country studied spent more time on mathematics homework than science homework each week. The same was true for 13-year-olds, with the exception of those in the former Soviet Union, Jordan, and Hungary.
Table 25a: Percentage of students reporting number of hours spent on homework daily,1 by age and country: 1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Age 9 Age 13 ----------------------- ----------------------- 1 hour 2 hours 1 hour 2 hours Country None or less or more None or less or more --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G-72 Canada 29 (1.2) 58 (1.1) 13 (0.6) 8 (0.6) 65 (0.9) 27 (1.0) France - - - 0 (0.2) 44 (1.6) 55 (1.6) United States 20 (1.8) 59 (2.0) 20 (1.2) 10 (1.2) 61 (1.7) 29 (1.8) Other Hungary 2 (0.5) 72 (1.4) 25 (1.4) 0 (0.1) 42 (1.3) 58 (1.3) Ireland 2 (0.4) 80 (1.7) 18 (1.5) 1 (0.5) 35 (1.8) 63 (1.9) Israel 4 (0.7) 60 (1.6) 35 (1.5) 1 (0.2) 49 (1.9) 50 (1.9) Jordan - - - 3 (0.5) 40 (1.9) 56 (2.0) Korea 2 (0.4) 77 (1.1) 22 (1.1) 3 (0.5) 56 (1.6) 41 (1.7) Scotland 18 (2.8) 78 (3.0) 4 (0.6) 16 (1.4) 70 (1.2) 14 (1.1) Slovenia 4 (0.7) 81 (1.2) 15 (1.1) 1 (0.2) 70 (1.6) 28 (1.7) Soviet Union (former) 2 (0.3) 68 (1.4) 31 (1.3) 0 (0.2) 47 (1.6) 52 (1.6) Spain 15 (1.6) 55 (1.9) 29 (1.8) 1 (0.4) 33 (1.5) 64 (1.5) Switzerland - - - 1 (0.2) 79 (1.3) 20 (1.3) Taiwan 2 (0.5) 67 (1.3) 31 (1.2) 4 (0.6) 55 (1.1) 41 (1.3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Not available.
1/ All standard errors are in parentheses.
2/ No data available for Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
NOTE: See supplemental note to Indicator 25 for details on indicator calculation for Canada, Israel, Scotland, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.
SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, Learning Mathematics, 1992.
Table 25b: Percentage of students reporting number of hours spent weekly on mathematics and science homework,1 by age and country: 1991
Age 9 Age 13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mathematics Science Mathematics Science --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- 0-1 2-3 4 hours 0-1 2-3 4 hours 0-1 2-3 4 hours 0-1 2-3 4 hours Country hours hours or more hours hours or more hours hours or more hours hours or more ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G-72 Canada 72 (0.9) 19 (0.8) 10 (0.6) 80 (0.9) 14 (0.7) 6 (0.5) 58 (1.1) 27 (0.9) 15 (0.8) 83 (0.8) 13 (0.8) 4 (0.3) France - - - - - - 45 (1.5) 38 (1.4) 17 (1.3) 88 (0.8) 12 (0.7) 1 (0.2) United States 65 (1.7) 20 (1.1) 14 (1.1) 78 (1.4) 15 (1.3) 7 (0.8) 63 (2.1) 22 (1.5) 15 (1.3) 76 (1.7) 17 (1.2) 7 (0.8) Other Hungary 49 (1.8) 27 (1.4) 23 (1.6) 62 (1.6) 26 (1.2) 12 (1.1) 68 (1.3) 21 (1.2) 11 (0.7) 55 (1.3) 32 (1.4) 13 (0.8) Ireland 63 (2.1) 22 (1.5) 15 (1.6) 82 (1.5) 12 (1.2) 6 (0.9) 48 (1.6) 35 (1.4) 17 (1.3) 74 (1.6) 21 (1.2) 5 (0.7) Israel 55 (1.4) 26 (1.2) 19 (1.0) 70 (1.3) 23 (1.1) 7 (0.6) 41 (1.4) 42 (1.3) 17 (1.1) 72 (1.6) 23 (1.3) 4 (0.5) Jordan - - - - - - 57 (1.5) 29 (1.2) 14 (1.0) 60 (1.6) 28 (1.3) 12 (1.0) Korea 51 (1.6) 32 (1.2) 17 (1.0) 69 (1.5) 24 (1.0) 7 (0.9) 29 (1.2) 38 (1.1) 33 (1.1) 56 (1.8) 34 (1.6) 9 (1.0) Scotland 84 (1.4) 12 (1.3) 4 (0.7) 92 (1.2) 5 (0.8) 3 (0.6) 75 (1.6) 21 (1.4) 4 (0.6) 90 (1.2) 8 (1.1) 2 (0.4) Slovenia 61 (1.7) 24 (1.4) 16 (1.1) 68 (1.7) 21 (1.2) 11 (1.0) 54 (1.5) 32 (1.4) 15 (0.9) 63 (1.3) 30 (1.2) 7 (0.7) Soviet Union (former) 52 (2.9) 23 (1.4) 25 (2.3) 75 (1.5) 19 (1.3) 6 (0.5) 39 (1.9) 28 (1.0) 33 (1.5) 3 (0.7) 37 (0.8) 59 (0.8) Spain 46 (2.0) 29 (1.5) 25 (1.6) 51 (2.0) 29 (1.5) 20 (1.6) 52 (1.9) 26 (1.4) 22 (1.3) 58 (1.6) 30 (1.3) 12 (0.9) Switzerland - - - - - - 51 (1.7) 34 (1.3) 15 (1.2) 89 (1.2) 9 (1.0) 1 (0.4) Taiwan 50 (1.6) 35 (1.2) 15 (1.3) 58 (1.4) 32 (1.1) 9 (1.0) 47 (1.3) 29 (1.3) 24 (1.2) 64 (1.1) 25 (1.1) 10 (0.8) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Not available.
1/ All standard errors are in parentheses.
2/No data available for Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
NOTE: See supplemental note to Indicator 25 for details on indicator calculation for Canada, Israel, Scotland, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.
SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, Learning Mathematics, 1992; Learning Science, 1992.
Figure 25a: Percentage of 9- and 13-year-old students who reported doing 2 or more hours of homework per day, by selected country:* 1991
*Countries are sorted in descending order by the percentage of 13-year-olds who reported doing 2 or more hours of homework per day.
SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, Learning Mathematics, 1992.
Figure 25b: Percentage of 9- and 13-year-olds who reported doing at least 4 hours of mathematics or science homework weekly, by selected country:* 1991
*Countries are sorted in descending order by the percentage of 9- and 13-year-olds who reported doing at least 4 hours of mathematics homework weekly.
SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, Learning Mathematics, 1992.
Notes on Figures and Tables
In some cases, countries limited assessments to particular geographic areas or language groups. A description of these limitations follows.
Canada, Israel, Scotland, the former Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States
See supplemental notes for Indicator 8.
[Indicator 24]
[Indicator 26]