how many hours do students spend on homework a year

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Students spend three times longer on homework than average, survey reveals

Sonya Kulkarni and Pallavi Gorantla | Jan 9, 2022

Graphic by Sonya Kulkarni

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association have suggested that a healthy number of hours that students should be spending can be determined by the “10-minute rule.” This means that each grade level should have a maximum homework time incrementing by 10 minutes depending on their grade level (for instance, ninth-graders would have 90 minutes of homework, 10th-graders should have 100 minutes, and so on).

As ‘finals week’ rapidly approaches, students not only devote effort to attaining their desired exam scores but make a last attempt to keep or change the grade they have for semester one by making up homework assignments.

High schoolers reported doing an average of 2.7 hours of homework per weeknight, according to a study by the Washington Post from 2018 to 2020 of over 50,000 individuals. A survey of approximately 200 Bellaire High School students revealed that some students spend over three times this number.

The demographics of this survey included 34 freshmen, 43 sophomores, 54 juniors and 54 seniors on average.

When asked how many hours students spent on homework in a day on average, answers ranged from zero to more than nine with an average of about four hours. In contrast, polled students said that about one hour of homework would constitute a healthy number of hours.

Junior Claire Zhang said she feels academically pressured in her AP schedule, but not necessarily by the classes.

“The class environment in AP classes can feel pressuring because everyone is always working hard and it makes it difficult to keep up sometimes.” Zhang said.

A total of 93 students reported that the minimum grade they would be satisfied with receiving in a class would be an A. This was followed by 81 students, who responded that a B would be the minimum acceptable grade. 19 students responded with a C and four responded with a D.

“I am happy with the classes I take, but sometimes it can be very stressful to try to keep up,” freshman Allyson Nguyen said. “I feel academically pressured to keep an A in my classes.”

Up to 152 students said that grades are extremely important to them, while 32 said they generally are more apathetic about their academic performance.

Last year, nine valedictorians graduated from Bellaire. They each achieved a grade point average of 5.0. HISD has never seen this amount of valedictorians in one school, and as of now there are 14 valedictorians.

“I feel that it does degrade the title of valedictorian because as long as a student knows how to plan their schedule accordingly and make good grades in the classes, then anyone can be valedictorian,” Zhang said.

Bellaire offers classes like physical education and health in the summer. These summer classes allow students to skip the 4.0 class and not put it on their transcript. Some electives also have a 5.0 grade point average like debate.

Close to 200 students were polled about Bellaire having multiple valedictorians. They primarily answered that they were in favor of Bellaire having multiple valedictorians, which has recently attracted significant acclaim .

Senior Katherine Chen is one of the 14 valedictorians graduating this year and said that she views the class of 2022 as having an extraordinary amount of extremely hardworking individuals.

“I think it was expected since freshman year since most of us knew about the others and were just focused on doing our personal best,” Chen said.

Chen said that each valedictorian achieved the honor on their own and deserves it.

“I’m honestly very happy for the other valedictorians and happy that Bellaire is such a good school,” Chen said. “I don’t feel any less special with 13 other valedictorians.”

Nguyen said that having multiple valedictorians shows just how competitive the school is.

“It’s impressive, yet scary to think about competing against my classmates,” Nguyen said.

Offering 30 AP classes and boasting a significant number of merit-based scholars Bellaire can be considered a competitive school.

“I feel academically challenged but not pressured,” Chen said. “Every class I take helps push me beyond my comfort zone but is not too much to handle.”

Students have the opportunity to have off-periods if they’ve met all their credits and are able to maintain a high level of academic performance. But for freshmen like Nguyen, off periods are considered a privilege. Nguyen said she usually has an hour to five hours worth of work everyday.

“Depending on the day, there can be a lot of work, especially with extra curriculars,” Nguyen said. “Although, I am a freshman, so I feel like it’s not as bad in comparison to higher grades.”

According to the survey of Bellaire students, when asked to evaluate their agreement with the statement “students who get better grades tend to be smarter overall than students who get worse grades,” responders largely disagreed.

Zhang said that for students on the cusp of applying to college, it can sometimes be hard to ignore the mental pressure to attain good grades.

“As a junior, it’s really easy to get extremely anxious about your GPA,” Zhang said. “It’s also a very common but toxic practice to determine your self-worth through your grades but I think that we just need to remember that our mental health should also come first. Sometimes, it’s just not the right day for everyone and one test doesn’t determine our smartness.”

HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Raymond Han

HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Mia Lopez

HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Cordavian Adams

Senior strategies

HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Sara Shen

Engi-near the finish line

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Art Car Club showcases its rolling artwork on wheels at the Orange Show parade

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Uncalculated uncertainties

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Anonymous • Nov 21, 2023 at 10:32 am

It’s not really helping me understand how much.

josh • May 9, 2023 at 9:58 am

Kassie • May 6, 2022 at 12:29 pm

Im using this for an English report. This is great because on of my sources needed to be from another student. Homework drives me insane. Im glad this is very updated too!!

Kaylee Swaim • Jan 25, 2023 at 9:21 pm

I am also using this for an English report. I have to do an argumentative essay about banning homework in schools and this helps sooo much!

Izzy McAvaney • Mar 15, 2023 at 6:43 pm

I am ALSO using this for an English report on cutting down school days, homework drives me insane!!

E. Elliott • Apr 25, 2022 at 6:42 pm

I’m from Louisiana and am actually using this for an English Essay thanks for the information it was very informative.

Nabila Wilson • Jan 10, 2022 at 6:56 pm

Interesting with the polls! I didn’t realize about 14 valedictorians, that’s crazy.

How Much Homework Do American Kids Do?

Various factors, from the race of the student to the number of years a teacher has been in the classroom, affect a child's homework load.

In his Atlantic essay , Karl Taro Greenfeld laments his 13-year-old daughter's heavy homework load. As an eighth grader at a New York middle school, Greenfeld’s daughter averaged about three hours of homework per night and adopted mantras like “memorization, not rationalization” to help her get it all done. Tales of the homework-burdened American student have become common, but are these stories the exception or the rule?

A 2007 Metlife study found that 45 percent of students in grades three to 12 spend more than an hour a night doing homework, including the six percent of students who report spending more than three hours a night on their homework. In the 2002-2003 school year, a study out of the University of Michigan found that American students ages six through 17 spent three hours and 38 minutes per week doing homework.

A range of factors plays into how much homework each individual student gets:

Older students do more homework than their younger counterparts.

This one is fairly obvious: The National Education Association recommends that homework time increase by ten minutes per year in school. (e.g., A third grader would have 30 minutes of homework, while a seventh grader would have 70 minutes).

Studies have found that schools tend to roughly follow these guidelines: The University of Michigan found that students ages six to eight spend 29 minutes doing homework per night while 15- to 17-year-old students spend 50 minutes doing homework. The Metlife study also found that 50 percent of students in grades seven to 12 spent more than an hour a night on homework, while 37 percent of students in grades three to six spent an hour or more on their homework per night. The National Center for Educational Statistics found that high school students who do homework outside of school average 6.8 hours of homework per week.

Race plays a role in how much homework students do.

Asian students spend 3.5 more hours on average doing homework per week than their white peers. However, only 59 percent of Asian students’ parents check that homework is done, while 75.6 percent of Hispanic students’ parents and 83.1 percent of black students’ parents check.

Teachers with less experience assign more homework.

The Metlife study found that 14 percent of teachers with zero to five years of teaching experience assigned more than an hour of homework per night, while only six percent of teachers with 21 or more years of teaching experience assigned over an hour of homework.

Math classes have homework the most frequently.

The Metlife study found that 70 percent of students in grades three to 12 had at least one homework assignment in math. Sixty-two percent had at least one homework assignment in a language arts class (English, reading, spelling, or creative writing courses) and 42 percent had at least one in a science class.

Regardless of how much homework kids are actually doing every night, most parents and teachers are happy with the way things are: 60 percent of parents think that their children have the “right amount of homework,” and 73 percent of teachers think their school assigns the right amount of homework.

Students, however, are not necessarily on board: 38 percent of students in grades seven through 12 and 28 percent of students in grades three through six report being “very often/often” stressed out by their homework.

How Much Time Should K-12 Students Spend at School During a Calendar Year

The K-12 schools around the world can differ from each other more than we think. I have been visiting quite a many schools and seen from great to sad ones. They can differ in their daily life from day structure to the teaching content not to mention the student’s status. I have seen schools where students move to one lesson to another without any breaks. I have seen schools where there is no space for students to spend their breaks. And then totally opposite; schools with breaks between the lessons and areas where they can spend their time. Students have an active role in their learning and making decisions.

Photo by Maarit Rossi. Children in Arusha, Tanzania

Let’s talk now only how much time students spend at school!

I am happy about the time students spent their time in the Finnish schools. They have 190 days in a school year, as I think many children have around the world!  But this information doesn’t show us the whole picture. How many hours do they spend at school in one week tells us more. What kind of school days do they have? Do they have a good lunch and snack if the day is long? Do they have breaks between the lessons? Do they have a place where to spend their breaks? Do students learn in the school or do they have to go after school? Does the quality of teaching influence to the length of a school day!

In Finland the minimum number of hours is in the following list:

• 1st and 2nd class 19 hours per week

• 3rd grade 22 hours per week

• 4th grade 24 hours per week

• 5th and 6th grade 25 hours per week

• 7th and 8th grade, 29 hours per week

• 9th grade 30 hours per week.

In high school, grades 10 to 12, the minimum number is 75 courses, each of which lasts approximately 38 hours.

In grade one they have 722 hours a year, amount of hours growing so that in high school students may have average 950 hours.

 What about the time used out of school?

15-year-old’s spent globally average of 5 hours on homework based on OECD study. Students e.g. in Shanghai spend 13.8 hours a week on homework and in Russia 9.7 hours. Students in Finland and South Korea spent fewer than three hours – the least among the 65 countries and regions surveyed – on homework each week.

What if that is not all? There are after schools! Yes, you read right, there are countries, like Japan, where most kids have school after school. It is possible that students in Singapore leave home at 8 am and return at 10pm! Asian countries have achieved good Pisa results, but there has been a rush of hours of study!

What if that is not all? There are after schools! Yes, you read right, there are countries, like Japan, where most kids have  school  after school. It is possible that students in Singapore leave home at 8 am and return at 10pm! Asian countries have achieved good Pisa results, but there has been a rush of hours of study!

How many hours does your child spend at school?

In Finland most of students, teachers and parents are satisfied with the time their children spend at schools. Finnish students spend less time at school than students in many other countries, they have a lot of breaks during the school day. They have free school lunch, transportation and free books. Now we are talking about ending the school later in June and starting later in the autumn. Other discussion is when it would be good to start the school? Pre-school starts now at the age of six and 1 st grade at the age of seven in Finland.  Politicians are planning to advance the start.  I appreciate our system today. Finnish children have a childhood. Learning at the right age is like driving a bicycle. If you try too early or too late, the result is not the best.

Do you want your child to have a childhood?

As part of the  Top Global Teacher Bloggers / CMRubinWorld.com / Global Search for Education    http://www.cmrubinworld.com/TGTB ,  above is my answer to question of September:  How much time should K-12 students spend at school during a calendar year?

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How much time should students spend doing homework?

When a teenager arrives home from school in the afternoon, the last thing he or she wants to worry about is homework. After all, there’s TV to be watched, friends to hang out with and maybe even a job to fulfill.

However, recent research from the University of Oviedo in Spain indicates homework needn’t take up an entire night. In fact, researchers found the perfect amount of time per day for homework was just one hour.

The study, which looked at more than 7,000 students living in Spain approximately 13 years old, found a positive correlation between the amount of homework a student completed and the level of the child’s understanding — and that optimal level was achieved in one hour.

But don’t get too excited too quickly.

Researchers say such results aren’t fully conclusive. The authors note that though they found a correlation between an hour of studying and the optimal level of learning, it doesn’t necessarily translate to better test results.

As a matter of fact, a variety of other studies indicate otherwise.

According to a 2012 article published in The Guardian , a study from the Department for Education in the UK found that children who put in two to three hours a night of homework were more likely to get better grades in school.

The study found that one of the main determinants of a student’s attitude toward homework came from the influence of the school. When students were expected to do thorough homework, they were likely to spend more time completing it.

“That’s one of the reasons Indian and Chinese children do better,” said Pam Sammons , an education professor at Oxford University. “They tend to put more time in. It’s to do with your effort as well as your ability.”

Sammons noted that homework doesn’t need to occupy an entire night, but there are benefits to spending a few extra minutes on assignments.

“What we’re not saying is that everyone should do large amounts,” said Sammons. “But if we could shift some of those who spend no time or half an hour into doing one to two hours.”

And perhaps you’ve heard the popular saying of “10 minutes per night per grade” coined by researcher Harris Cooper. Cooper recommends 10-20 minutes of homework per night beginning in first grade, then an additional 10 minutes added for each grade level after that.

But even though there may not be a one-size-fits-all recommendation, it is possible that too much studying can be detrimental. Just last year, research from Stanford University reported that high school students’ grades were negatively affected when they spent too much time with homework.“Any student who is doing more than three and a half hours of homework a night is actually at risk for higher stress levels and poor mental and physical health,” said Denise Pope , a senior lecturer in Stanford’s School of Education who participated in the study.

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Learning time during regular school hours

Additional lessons at school after regular school hours, school-based help with homework and study after regular hours, chapter 6. learning time during and after school hours.

This chapter describes how much time students devote to learning, both in school and after school hours. In addition to time spent learning the core PISA subjects of reading, mathematics and science, for the first time, PISA has data on the time students spend learning foreign languages in school. The chapter also examines the types of extracurricular activities that are available to students at school, from remedial or enhancement classes, to art clubs and orchestras. These findings are then related to student performance and equity in education systems.

Learning takes time, and time is limited. Thus, time is a key education resource that must be used effectively in and outside of school. Investing in and optimising the use of students’ learning time has the potential to improve the quality and equity of education outcomes ( OECD, 2011[1] ). However, the relationship between learning time and academic achievement is complex: additional learning time does not translate automatically into better outcomes ( Gromada and Shewbridge, 2016[2] ).

This chapter examines two ways in which students spend time learning ( Figure V.6.1 ). First, the chapter covers learning that takes place during regular school hours. It compares countries in terms of the amount of learning time allocated for lessons in key subjects, such as language-of-instruction (language-of-instruction refers to the main language that teachers use in their lessons, which is usually the same as the language of the PISA assessment), 1 mathematics and science. It also considers how this time is allotted within countries, across students and schools, and how that allocation is related to student achievement. For the first time, PISA 2018 collected information about learning time in foreign-language lessons, and the results are reported here.

Second, the chapter examines learning that takes place after regular school hours. In this case, the emphasis is not on the amount of time invested, but on the opportunities that schools offer to their students. The chapter examines additional lessons offered at school for reinforcement and enrichment purposes, school support with homework and study, and extracurricular activities, such as sporting teams, volunteering or art clubs and music bands.

On average across OECD countries, performance in reading improved with each additional hour of language-of-instruction lessons per week, up to 3 hours. However, this positive association between learning time in regular language-of-instruction lessons and reading performance weakened amongst students who spent more than three hours per week in these lessons.

In 28 countries and economies, students spent more time in foreign-language lessons than in language-of-instruction lessons; the opposite was observed in 47 countries and economies.

On average across OECD countries, students who have access to a room for homework at school scored 14 points higher in reading than students without access to a room for homework; after accounting for socio-economic status, they scored 5 points higher. Education systems with larger shares of students in schools that offer a room(s) for homework tended to show better mean performance in reading, mathematics and science, even after accounting for per capita GDP.

Students who were enrolled in schools that offer more creative extracurricular activities (including music and art activities) performed better in reading, on average across OECD countries (by 4 score points) and in 32 countries and economies, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile. At the system level, countries and economies whose schools offer more creative extracurricular activities tended to show greater equity in student performance.

Research on the relationship between learning time and student achievement offers mixed evidence. The relationship is hard to observe empirically because a number of factors, including the quality of the curriculum, teachers’ instructional practices, students’ aptitudes and motivation to learn, and even countries’ level of economic development, can mediate or condition the effectiveness of learning time ( Carroll, 1989[3] ; Baker et al., 2004[4] ; Scheerens and Hendriks, 2014[5] ). Key findings in recent research show that additional learning time has positive but diminishing effects on student performance, and that the benefits of additional learning time can be heterogeneous, depending on the type of student (e.g. low performing or socio-economically disadvantaged) ( Cattaneo, Oggenfuss and Wolter, 2017[6] ; Patall, Cooper and Allen, 2010[7] ; Gromada and Shewbridge, 2016[2] ; Bellei, 2009[8] ).

PISA measures learning time as the number of hours per week that students are required to attend regular school lessons. To create measures of learning time, PISA 2018 asked each student to report the number of class periods she or he is required to attend for specific subjects (language-of-instruction, mathematics, science and foreign language); the total number of class periods per week she or he is required to attend in all subjects; and the average number of minutes per class period.

On average across OECD countries in 2018, students spent about 3.7 hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons and in mathematics lessons, 3.4 hours per week in science lessons, and 3.6 hours per week in foreign-language lessons. The total learning time in regular school lessons (in all subjects) was 27 hours per week, on average across OECD countries (Table V.B1.6.1).

Learning time in language-of-instruction lessons varied across countries ( Figure V.6.2 ). In 18 countries and economies, students attended language-of-instruction classes for more than 2 but less than 3 hours per week. The least learning time, on average, was observed in Belarus (2.3 hours) and Finland (2.5 hours). In these two countries, and also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, almost 9 out of 10 students attended language-of-instruction classes for 3 hours per week or less. In 32 countries/economies, they attended such classes for 3 or more, but less than 4, hours per week; in 20 countries and economies, they attended such classes for 4 or more, but less than 5, hours per week; and in 6 countries/economies, students attended language-of-instruction classes for 5 or more hours per week. Amongst the latter group, average learning time, per week, in language-of-instruction lessons was the longest in Chile (6.8 hours), Denmark (5.8 hours), Canada (5.4 hours) and Peru (5.4 hours). In these countries, and in Hong Kong (China) and Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China) (hereafter “B-S-J-Z [China]), at least 30% of students attended language-of-instruction lessons for more than 5 hours per week (Table V.B1.6.2).

Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the learning time per week in regular language-of-instruction lessons.

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables V.B1.6.1 and V.B1.6.3.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131481

The average amount of time that students in a country or economy spent in language-of-instruction lessons tended to be similar to the average time they spent in mathematics lessons and in science lessons. 2 This was not the case, however, with regard to foreign-language lessons.

As shown in Figure V.6.2 , in 47 countries and economies, the time students spent in language-of-instruction lessons in 2018 was greater than the amount of time they spent in foreign-language lessons; 3 but in 28 countries and economies the opposite was true. In Luxembourg, 15-year-old students attended foreign-language lessons for three hours per week more than language-of-instruction lessons. 4 In Hungary, students spent two hours more per week in foreign-language lessons than in language-of-instruction class. And in Austria, Belgium, 5 Bulgaria, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, 6 France, Germany, Latvia, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland 7 and Thailand, students spent about one hour more per week in foreign-language class than in language-of-instruction lessons.

Disparities in students’ learning time related to schools’ socio-economic profile are relatively small. On average across OECD countries, students in disadvantaged schools spent 6 minutes more per week in language-of-instruction lessons than did their counterparts in advantaged schools (Table V.B1.6.3). In 26 countries and economies, students in disadvantaged schools spent more learning time in language-of-instruction lessons than students in advantaged schools; but in only 8 countries (the Dominican Republic, Germany, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, the Slovak Republic and the United Kingdom) was the difference greater than 40 minutes per week ( Figure V.6.2 ). By contrast, in 14 countries and economies students in advantaged schools spent more time in language-of-instruction lessons than did students in disadvantaged schools, but only in Japan and Chinese Taipei was the difference greater than 40 minutes per week.

Variations in students’ learning time related to schools’ socio-economic profile are also small when considering mathematics and science lessons (Table V.B1.6.3), but they are much greater when it comes to foreign-language lessons, and are in favour of students in advantaged schools, on average ( Figure V.6.2 ). On average across OECD countries, students in advantaged schools spent almost one hour more per week in regular foreign-language lessons than did students in disadvantaged schools. In 57 countries and economies, students in advantaged schools spent more time in foreign-language classes than did students in disadvantaged schools. In Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic, advantaged schools offered at least two additional hours of foreign-language lessons per week than did disadvantaged schools. Only in the Dominican Republic, Israel, Macao (China), the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates did disadvantaged students spend more time in foreign-language lessons at school than did advantaged students.

Differences in students’ learning time related to school location (i.e. urban versus rural schools), school type (i.e. public versus private schools) and level of education (i.e. lower versus upper secondary schools) were small, on average across OECD countries.

Learning time and student outcomes

The most common way PISA summarises the relationship between school practices and student achievement is by fitting a straight line to model the observed data (i.e. linear regression approach). For example, in 2018 an increase of one unit in the PISA index of socio-economic status was associated with an increase of 37 score points in reading, on average across OECD countries ( OECD, 2019[10] ). In some cases, however, the relationship between two variables is not well summarised by a straight line. This is the case with learning time in regular school lessons and student achievement. As shown in Figure V.6.3 , the relationship between reading performance and learning time in regular language-of-instruction lessons is non-linear; instead, it is hump-shaped.

Notes: For each learning time displayed, the time range covered starts where it ends for the previous one; for example, for 2 hours, learning time could be 2 hours or less but more than 1 hour.

Differences between categories that are not statistically significant are marked with dotted lines (see Annex A3).

The share of students per average learning time in language-of-instruction lessons is indicated next to each category.

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables V.B1.6.2 and V.B1.6.5.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131500

On average across OECD countries, performance in reading improved with each additional hour of language-of-instruction lessons per week, up to 3 hours. Students who spent an hour or less per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored 425 points in reading; those who spent two hours per week scored 463 points (36 points higher than the prior group); and those who spent three hours per week scored 499 points (37 points higher than the prior group). This strong positive association between more time in language-of-instruction lessons and reading performance was evident amongst both disadvantaged and advantaged students ( Figure V.6.3 ).

After accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile, on average across OECD countries, there were large gains in reading achievement associated with attending language-of-instruction lessons for two or three hours per week (Table V.B1.6.6). More than 40% of students attended language-of-instruction lessons for two or three hours per week, on average across OECD countries (Table V.B1.6.2).

However, this positive association between learning time in regular language-of-instruction lessons and reading performance weakened amongst students who spent more than three hours per week in these lessons. On average across OECD countries, students who spent 4 hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons had an average mean reading score of 499 points, which is almost identical to the score of students who spent one hour less in class ( Figure V.6.3 ).

The same pattern (i.e. a positive slope that becomes flat after three hours of instruction per week) was observed amongst advantaged students. Amongst disadvantaged students, the slope did not flatten but instead became slightly negative. Disadvantaged students who spent four hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored five points lower than disadvantaged students who spent three hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons, on average across OECD countries. These results do not necessary suggest that spending more time in class results in lower scores; some low-performing students may take more classes for remedial purposes.

Nonetheless, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile, on average across OECD countries, students who spent four hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored better in reading by two points than students who spent three hours per week in those lessons (Table V.B1.6.6). In 2018, about a third of students attended language-of-instruction lessons for four hours per week, on average across OECD countries (Table V.B1.6.2).

Reading performance started to decline amongst students who attended language-of-instruction lessons for longer amounts of time. On average across OECD countries, students who spent more than five hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored worse in reading than students who spent between three and five hours per week in class. The same pattern was observed amongst both disadvantaged and advantaged students. After accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile, on average across OECD countries, attending language-of-instruction lessons for 5 hours per week was associated with a 9-point decline in reading scores (compared to students who attended class for 4 hours per week); attending for more than 5 hours per week was associated with a 28-point drop in reading scores (compared to students who attended class for 5 hours per week) (Table V.B1.6.6). Almost one in four students attended language-of-instruction lessons for more than four hours per week, on average across OECD countries (Table V.B1.6.2).

The average hump-shaped pattern observed across OECD countries, as shown in Figure V.6.3 (i.e. positive changes in performance up to three hours of instruction per week, no difference after one additional hour of instruction per week, then negative changes after five or more hours per week), was consistent across most PISA-participating countries and economies. In countries as diverse as Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates, the relationship between learning time in language-of-instruction lessons and reading performance was similar to the average pattern observed across OECD countries (Table V.B1.6.5).

However, some countries differed from the average OECD pattern in the point at which the slope of the relationship changed direction. In 29 countries and economies, students who spent 4 hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored better than students who spent 3 hours per week. In 9 countries and economies, students who spent 5 hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored better than students who spent 4 hours per week in class (Table V.B1.6.5). Japan, Qatar, Chinese Taipei and Ukraine were amongst the countries where additional hours of study, up to five hours, tended to be associated with improvements in reading performance ( Figure V.6.4 , Panel A).

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.5.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131519

By contrast, in 17 countries and economies students who spent 4 hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons in 2018 scored worse than students who spent 3 hours per week in instruction; in 4 countries, students who spent 3 hours in language-of-instruction lessons scored lower than students who spent 2 hours in instruction. In Bulgaria, Morocco and Thailand, an additional hour of class time after two hours per week tended to be associated with declines in reading performance, even though students who spent two hours per week in language-of-instruction lessons scored higher in reading than students who spent only one hour or less in language-of-instruction lessons ( Figure V.6.4 , Panel B).

Similar curvilinear patterns of association between learning time and student performance were observed for mathematics (Table V.B1.6.8), science (Table V.B1.6.10) and foreign-language lessons (i.e. associated with reading performance in the test language; Table V.B1.6.12), on average across OECD countries. Furthermore, when the total amount of learning time per week in regular lessons (in all subjects) was considered, the same hump-shaped pattern emerged ( Figure V.6.5 ).

Notes: For each learning time displayed, the time range covered starts where it ends for the previous one; for example, for 24 hours, learning time could be 24 hours or less but more than 20 hours.

All differences between categories are statistically significant (see Annex A3).

The share of students per average total learning time is indicated next to each category.

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables V.B1.6.14 and V.B1.6.15.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131538

Offering additional lessons on curricular subjects after regular hours at school is a common practice across PISA-participating countries and economies. These activities typically aim to reinforce or enrich instruction and learning that has taken place during regular school hours. Sometimes, after-school lessons specifically target low-performing students, socio-economically disadvantaged students or language-minority students ( Park et al., 2016[11] ; Jacob and Lefgren, 2002[12] ; Curwen and Colón-Muñiz, 2013[13] ). In contexts where socio-economically advantaged students have privileged access to private tutoring after school, public schools offer after-school lessons to expand learning opportunities for disadvantaged students ( Bae et al., 2010[14] ). Some after-school programmes target high-performing students from low-income families ( Miller and Gentry, 2010[15] ).

PISA 2018 asked school principals whether their school offers additional language-of-instruction lessons after school hours. It also asked about the purposes of these additional lessons.

On average across OECD countries, 46% of students were in schools where additional language-of-instruction lessons are offered. There was wide variation across PISA-participating countries and economies in the extent to which schools offer additional language lessons after regular school hours. In 12 countries and economies, 3 out of 4 students were in schools that offer additional language lessons, but in another 10 countries, only 1 out of 4 students attended such schools.

In 14 countries and economies, students in advantaged schools were more likely than students in disadvantaged schools to be in schools that offer additional language lessons after regular school hours; but in another 12 countries and economies, students in disadvantaged schools were more likely than students in advantaged schools to have these kinds of lessons available to them at school.

After-school lessons can have different purposes. On average across OECD countries in 2018, 52% of students attended schools that offer after-school lessons for both remedial and enrichment purposes; 31% attended schools that offer these lessons for remedial purposes only; 12% were in schools that offer these lessons integrating remedial and enrichment purposes; and only 5% of students attended schools that offer these lessons for enrichment purposes only (Table V.B1.6.18).

Students in schools that offer additional language-of-instruction lessons did not score better or worse in reading than students who do not have these kinds of lessons available to them at school, on average across OECD countries (Table V.B1.6.17).

1. A socio-economically disadvantaged (advantaged) school is a school whose socio-economic profile (i.e. the average socio-economic status of the students in the school) is in the bottom (top) quarter of the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status amongst all schools in the relevant country/economy.

Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the percentage of students in schools that provide additional language-of-instruction lessons after regular school hours.

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.17.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131557

A longstanding and widely used instructional practice ( Murillo and Martinez-Garrido, 2014[16] ), homework can have a positive influence on student achievement ( Cooper, Robinson and Patall, 2006[17] ) and also on the development of attitudes towards achievement, such as motivation and self-regulation ( Ramdass and Zimmerman, 2011[18] ). However, critics argue that too much homework is ineffective, that it takes time from leisure activities, or that it is stressful or harmful to children’s development or family life ( Baker and Letendre, 2005[19] ; Dudley-Marling, 2015[20] ).

Previous PISA reports show that homework is widely used across PISA-participating countries and economies. For example, on average across OECD countries in 2015, 15-year-old students reported that they spent 17 hours per week studying after school, including homework, private study and other related activities ( OECD, 2016[21] ). PISA findings also suggest that homework can help students succeed academically. Students who spend more time doing homework tended to score higher in mathematics, even after accounting for their social and demographic background ( OECD, 2014[22] ).

A key concern about homework is whether it might have the unintended consequence of widening the performance gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds. PISA shows that socio-economically advantaged students and students who attend socio-economically advantaged schools tend to spend more time doing homework ( OECD, 2014[22] ). The lack of a quiet space to study at home, the disparity in home Internet service and computer access, and perhaps less parental support with their studies are amongst the reasons why disadvantaged students spend less time doing homework ( Bolkan, 2017[23] ).

PISA 2018 did not collect information about how much time students spend doing homework or studying after school. Instead, PISA asked about the kinds of support or help that schools provide to students for completing homework and studying after school. More specifically, PISA asked school principals if their school offers a room where students can do their homework, staff who help students with their homework, or peer-to-peer tutoring. Having a room in the school available for homework hinges on the school’s infrastructure. The availability of staff to help students with their homework has to do with the school’s human resources and with the financial resources needed to hire teachers or other staff after school hours. Peer-to-peer tutoring does not depend on a school’s resources, but rather on its organisational capacity and practices.

Of these three kinds of school support for homework and study after regular school hours, the most frequently observed was having a room where students can do their homework. On average across OECD countries in PISA 2018, three out of four students attended a school that provides a room where students can do their homework. In Canada, France, Japan, Luxembourg, Macao (China), Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Chinese Taipei and the United Kingdom, at least 9 out of 10 students had access to a study room after regular hours. By contrast, in Albania, Argentina, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam, at most 4 out of 10 students attended a school that provides a room in which they can do their homework.

Students in advantaged schools were more likely than students in disadvantaged schools to attend a school that provides a room for homework. On average, the share of students in advantaged schools whose school provides a room for homework was about 7 percentage points larger than the share of students in disadvantaged schools whose school provides such a space. The disparity in favour of students in advantaged schools was found in 24 countries and economies, and in 16 of these countries and economies the size of the disparity was 20 percentage points or larger. Only in six education systems (Brunei Darussalam, Estonia, Latvia, Macao [China], Montenegro and Ukraine) were students in disadvantaged schools more likely than students in advantaged schools to have access to a place at school to do their homework.

The share of students in schools that provide a room where students can do their homework increased between 2015 and 2018, on average across OECD countries (by 3 percentage points) and in 20 countries and economies. In Finland, Iceland, Mexico, the Republic of Moldova, Norway, Qatar and Turkey, the share increased by more than ten percentage points, but it decreased by more than ten percentage points in Brazil and Denmark.

The incidence of peer-to-peer tutoring was measured for the first time in PISA 2018. On average across OECD countries, almost half of all students attended a school that provides this form of study help. In 24 countries and economies, 75% of students or more were in schools with peer-to-peer tutoring after regular hours, including B-S-J-Z (China), Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Ukraine, where 90% of students or more attended such schools. By contrast, in Finland, Japan, Malta, Sweden and Switzerland, only 25% of students or less attended a school where peer-to-peer tutoring is available (Table V.B1.6.19).

Socio-economic disparities were greater in peer-to-peer tutoring than in the other two forms of study help. On average across OECD countries, the share of students in advantaged schools whose school provides peer-to-peer tutoring was about 13 percentage points larger than the share of students in disadvantaged schools whose school provides this form of study help. In 22 education systems, this disparity in favour of students in advantaged schools was statistically significant, compared to only 7 education systems where the disparity favoured students in disadvantaged schools (Table V.B1.6.19).

Note: All differences between advantaged and disadvantaged schools are statistically significant, on average across OECD countries (see Annex A3).

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.19.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131576

School-based help with homework and study, and student performance

In 20 countries and economies, attending a school that provides space where students can do their homework is associated with higher scores in reading, after accounting for the socio-economic profile of students and schools ( Figure V.6.8 ). On average across OECD countries, students who have access to a room for homework at school scored 12 points higher in reading than students without access to a room for homework, before accounting for other variables, and 4 points higher after accounting for socio-economic variables.

1. The socio-economic profile is measured by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS).

Note: Statistically significant values are shown in darker tones (see Annex A3).

Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the score-point difference associated with schools providing a room for homework, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile.

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.21

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131595

Furthermore, at the system level, those education systems with a higher percentage of students who have access to a room for homework at school tended to show better mean performance in PISA. After accounting for per capita GDP, across all countries and economies, there was a strong correlation between the share of students who have access to a room for homework at school and mean performance in reading (partial r = .54), mathematics (partial r = .51) and science (partial r = .55). Across OECD countries, the correlations were weaker, but also statistically significant, after accounting for per capita GDP, in the three core subjects (partial coefficients between .34 and .47).

Peer-to-peer tutoring was also associated with better performance, although in a smaller number of countries and with narrower score-point differences ( Figure V.6.9 ). On average across OECD countries, students in schools with peer-to-peer tutoring scored 14 points higher in reading than students without access to peer-to-peer tutoring, before accounting for other variables, and 4 points higher after accounting for socio-economic variables. Peer-to-peer tutoring was associated with better reading performance in 15 countries and economies, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile.

Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the score-point difference associated with schools providing peer-to-peer tutoring, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile.

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.21.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131614

Extracurricular activities at school

While some of the activities that schools offer after school hours have an explicit academic focus (e.g. offering additional enrichment or remedial lessons), other activities do not. Extracurricular activities at school usually aim to achieve a broader set of goals, such as physical exercise and health, the development of creativity and practice or appreciation of the arts, or volunteering and engagement with the community. Participation in extracurricular activities can also help students develop non-cognitive skills that are helpful for academic success, such as persistence, teamwork or a stronger sense of belonging at school ( Farb and Matjasko, 2012[23] ; Massoni, 2011[24] ). They can also help develop social networks ( Stuart et al., 2011[25] ). However, research suggests that extracurricular activities might have the unintended effect of enhancing disparities in achievement related to socio-economic status because they tend to be more frequently available in advantaged than in disadvantaged schools ( Covay and Carbonaro, 2010[26] ; Stearns and Glennie, 2010[27] ).

PISA 2018 asked school principals whether their school offers a range of extracurricular activities. These activities are shown in Figure V.6.10 . On average across OECD countries, sporting activities were the extracurricular activities most frequently offered to 15-year-old students (90% of students have access to sports activities), followed by lectures or seminars and volunteering or service activities (74% of students). Debating clubs (40% of students), book clubs (37% of students) and collaboration with local newspapers (27%) were the least frequently offered extracurricular activities, on average across OECD countries.

Note: Statistically significant changes between 2009 and 2018 are marked in a darker tone (see Annex A3).

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.22.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131633

Over the past decade, the largest declines in extracurricular activities were observed amongst those related to newspapers. On average across OECD countries, the share of students in schools whose principal reported that the school offers collaboration with local newspapers decreased by 11 percentage points, and the share of students in schools that support a school yearbook, newspaper or magazine shrank by 10 percentage points. By contrast, the share of students in schools that offer debating clubs increased by 7 percentage points, and the share of students in schools that offer book clubs increased by 5 percentage points.

The index of creative extracurricular activities at school was computed as the total number of the following music- and art-related activities that are offered at school: band, orchestra or choir; school play or school musical; and art club or art activities. Values in the index range from 0 to 3. On average across OECD countries in 2018, creative extracurricular activities were more frequently offered in advantaged (2.12 in the index) than in disadvantaged (1.65 in the index) schools, in urban (1.94 in the index) than in rural (1.65 in the index) schools, and in private (2.08 in the index) than in public (1.93 in the index) schools.

1. This analysis is restricted to schools with the modal ISCED level for 15-year-old students.

Note: Higher values in the index indicate greater number of creative extracurricular activities at school.

Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the index of creative extracurricular activities at school.

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.23.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131652

After accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile, students who were enrolled in schools that offer more creative extracurricular activities performed better in reading, on average across OECD countries (by 4 score points) and in 32 countries and economies.

How learning time is related to differences in performance and equity in education across countries/economies (system-level analysis)

This section examines whether learning time is related to education outcomes at the system level. Two education outcomes are considered: mean performance in reading and equity in reading performance. As in previous PISA reports, equity in reading performance is measured by the percentage of variation in reading performance accounted for by the variation in students’ socio-economic status: the smaller the variation in performance explained by socio-economic status, the greater the equity in performance ( OECD, 2018[18] ; OECD, 2019[19] ).

Figure V.6.12 shows system-level correlation coefficients between various measures of learning time, on the one hand, and reading performance and equity in reading, on the other. Correlational analyses were conducted separately for OECD countries and for all countries and economies that participated in PISA 2018. In addition, correlations were computed before and after accounting for per capita GDP to account for the level of economic development of a country/economy.

1. For each learning time displayed, the time range covered starts where it ends for the previous one; for example, for 2 hours, learning time could be 2 hours or less but more than 1 hour.

Notes: Correlation coefficients range from -1.00 (i.e. a perfect negative linear association) to +1.00 (i.e. a perfect positive linear association). When a correlation coefficient is 0, there is no linear relationship between the two measures.

Only statistically significant coefficients are shown. Values that are statistically significant at the 10% level (p < 0.10) are in italics. All other values are statistically significant at the 5% level (p < 0.05).

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table V.B1.6.24.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131671

Consistent with the average hump-shaped pattern observed across OECD countries (see Figure V.6.3 ), system-level analyses show that education systems where more students tended to spend extremely short or long hours in regular lessons tended to score lower in reading. Figure V.6.13 shows that education systems where more students spent 20 hours or less per week in regular school lessons, including language-of-instruction, mathematics, science and foreign-language lessons, tended to show lower average performance in reading. Figure V.6.14 shows that education systems where more students spent 39 hours or more per week in regular lessons in all subjects tended to have lower scores in reading. These relationships were observed both across OECD countries, and across all countries and economies, even after accounting for per capita GDP. Similar patterns were observed when considering mathematics and science performance (Table V.B1.6.24).

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables V.B1.6.13 and I.B1.4.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131690

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131709

Differences in learning time for foreign-language instruction were related to equity in student performance. Figure V.6.15 shows that education systems with a narrower socio-economic gap in regular foreign-language learning time tended to achieve greater equity in reading performance. This relationship was observed both across OECD countries and across all countries and economies, even after accounting for per capita GDP. A similar pattern was also observed for equity in mathematics and science performance (Table V.B1.6.24).

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables V.B1.6.3 and II.B1.2.3.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131728

In high-performing education systems, schools tend to provide a room where students can do their homework, and school staff provides help with students’ homework. Figure V.6.16 shows that education systems where more students have access to a room for homework at school tended to perform better in reading. Figure V.6.17 shows that education systems where more students attended schools where the staff provides help for their homework tended to perform better in reading. These relationships are observed both across OECD countries, and across all countries and economies, even after accounting for per capita GDP. Similar patterns were also observed for equity in mathematics and science performance (Table V.B1.6.24). Across all countries and economies, there was a weak negative correlation between access to a room for homework at school and equity in performance, after accounting for per capita GDP (partial r = -0.22).

Sources: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables V.B1.6.19 and I.B1.4.

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131747

  StatLink  https://doi.org/10.1787/888934131766

At the system level, countries and economies with more students in schools that offer lectures and/or seminars (e.g. guest speakers, such as writers or journalists) tended to perform better in reading. These countries also tended to show greater equity in performance. These relationships were observed both across OECD countries and across all countries and economies, even after accounting for per capita GDP ( Figure V.6.12 ).

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[17] Cooper, H., J. Robinson and E. Patall (2006), “Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003”, Review of Educational Research , doi: 10.3102/00346543076001001, pp. 1-62, https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543076001001 .

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[20] Dudley-Marling, C. (2015), “How School Troubles Come Home: The Impact of Homework on Families of Struggling Learners”, Current Issues in Education , Vol. 6/0, https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1681 (accessed on 12 December 2019).

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[1] OECD (2011), Quality Time for Students: Learning In and Out of School , PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264087057-en .

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[25] Stuart, M. et al. (2011), “The impact of engagement with extracurricular activities on the student experience and graduate outcomes for widening participation populations”, Active Learning in Higher Education , doi: 10.1177/1469787411415081, pp. 203-215, https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787411415081 .

Bulgaria: Bulgarian language and literature

Belarus: Belarusian language and literature

Chile: Language and communication

Estonia: Estonian language and literature

Greece: modern Greek language and literature

Hungary: Hungarian language and literature

Korea: Korean language arts

Peru: Communication

Romania: Romanian language and literature

The Russian Federation: Russian language and literature

The Slovak Republic: Slovak language and literature

Ukraine: Ukrainian language and literature, together with foreign literature

Uruguay: Spanish language or literature

United States: English/Language arts classes

← 2. Across all countries and economies, the correlation coefficient between learning time in language-of-instruction lessons and learning time in mathematics lessons is 0.82 (partial correlation after accounting for per capita GDP is 0.82). The correlation coefficient between learning time in language-of-instruction lessons and learning time in science lessons is 0.42 (partial correlation after accounting for per capita GDP is 0.43). The correlation coefficient between learning time in language-of-instruction lessons and total learning time (all subjects) is 0.46 (partial correlation after accounting for per capita GDP is 0.42). Across OECD countries, all of the above correlations are as strong or stronger. The correlation coefficient between learning time in language-of-instruction lessons and learning time in foreign-language lessons is not statistically significant across all countries and economies or across OECD countries.

← 3. Foreign language refers to any language other than the language of instruction. It also includes possible other national languages of a country.

← 4. In Luxembourg, French and German are official languages and mandatory foreign languages at school.

← 5. In Belgium, French and Flemish are official languages and mandatory foreign languages at school, depending on the district, and German is an official language and an optional foreign language at school.

← 6. In Finland, Finnish and Swedish are official languages and mandatory foreign languages at school.

← 7. In Switzerland, French, German and Italian are official languages and mandatory foreign languages at school.

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American students spend more time working than in class, study finds.

College students in the United States spend more time working than actually sitting in lecture halls or at the library, a new report shows.

According to HSBC Bank’s new study of educational experiences reported by students and parents in 15 countries and territories, 85 percent of American college students “are working in paid employment while studying.” Ipsos MORI, the market research company that conducted the survey, heard from 1,507 students between the ages of 18 and 34 who are currently enrolled in college, as well as 10,478 parents who have a child 23 years or younger in college.

Asserting that “today’s students face a big challenge balancing work and study,” the HSBC report breaks down how students spend their days. On average, students reported working 4.2 hours per day. In comparison, they spent an average of 2.3 hours each day going to lectures, tutorials, and seminars; 1.5 hours visiting the library; or 2.8 hours studying at home.

Asked why they work while studying, 57 percent of working learners said they had to work out of “financial necessity.” Other benefits cited less frequently included gaining career experience, meeting new people, and fulfilling internship requirements.

“The economics of the debt crisis have become a major distraction to students’ education,” John Hupalo—CEO of Invite Education, a financial planning resource for college hopefuls—told Bloomberg . “Students’ first priority should be to get value out of their education, not squeezing out hours at a job in order to make money to sustain that education.”

A recent report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce further reinforces the challenges of combining working and learning, especially for low-income students.

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With many Puerto Rican schools and universities closed or offering limited access to basic amenities, students are facing challenges both on and off the island.

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The Countries Where Kids Do The Most Homework

Does your kid complain about endless hours of homework? If you live in Italy , those complaints could reach fever-pitch! According to research conducted by the OECD, 15-year old children in Italy have to contend with nearly 9 hours of homework per week - more than anywhere else in the world. Irish children have the second highest after-school workload - just over 7 hours each week. In the United States , about 6.1 hours of a 15-year old's week are sacrificed for the sake of homework. In Asia, children have very little to complain about. Japanese students have to deal with 3.8 hours of homework per week on average while in South Korea, it's just 2.9 hours.

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Q: How much time should be spent on homework? A: 70 minutes at most, every day

Students got better test marks with regular hour-long study sessions, article bookmarked.

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Teenagers should not do more than an hour of maths and science homework per day – according to a new study – as any more has been found to be counter-productive.

But this isn’t an excuse to slack off from revision or assignments as the best test results were produced after regular and short periods of homework, rather than longer blocks of time.

The performance of 7,725 students from 148 schools in the region of Asturias, Spain, was monitored. They were each asked how many hours they spent on different subjects and whether they received help.

Around 274 were excluded from further examination as they said they never did homework. The remaining 7,451 could choose from ‘2 or 3 days per week’, ‘almost every day’ and ‘every day’.

School lunches around the world

The teenagers – with an average age of 13.78 and 47% of which were girls – did significantly better in standardised exams if they had done homework on their own in regular hour-long blocks, researchers from the University of Oviedo found.

Students who were assigned homework regularly received nearly 50 more test points than their previous exams. Those who did maths and science homework on their own were marked an average of 54 points higher.

However, it was not noted in the study whether those who could complete homework on their own were more well-equipped to do so and thus could work independently.

Research adjustments were made for the students’ socioeconomic differences based on the schooling and careers of their parents and whether the teenager had to repeat a year.

“Our data indicate that it is not necessary to assign huge quantities of homework, but it is important that assignment is systematic and regular, with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-regulated learning,” said Javier Suarez-Alvarez, co-lead author with Ruben Fernandez-Alonso and Jose Muniz.

“The data suggest that spending 60 minutes a day doing homework is a reasonable and effective time.”

The test given to students included multiple choice, short open-ended answer, and essay questions. Each of the two subjects had a booklet of 24 questions.

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

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Here’s how many hours the average student spends hustling.

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The average American student spends approximately 105 hours a month “hustling” in order to achieve their goals, according to new research.

A new study examined the amount of time the average student spends studying and working, and found students spend approximately 9.7 hours studying and 16.5 hours working in a typical week, all to achieve goals they’ve set for the upcoming school year.

A thousand high school and college students, aged 15–22, were asked about their goals for school and their lives as a whole.

Conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Post-it Brand , the study found that those aged 19 to 20 were the most likely to describe themselves as “hustlers” — at 62%.

Results showed younger respondents, aged 15–16, hit the books the most — spending an average of 10.5 hours a week studying.

As you get older, your “hustling” focus may shift, as respondents aged 21–22 reported only studying an average of 5.6 hours a week — but they work an additional 17 hours a week on average.

The hustle doesn’t just relate to studying or working during the school year. In fact, half of the high school students surveyed have a goal of starting their own small business.

Aside from small business goals, slightly over half of high school and college students are also aiming to get a 4.0 GPA (52%).

Next in line for high school students is to get into their top college choice (49%).

No matter their age, however, nearly half of respondents had goals of making themselves and their parents proud, at 46% and 45% respectively.

Also, most respondents had goals bigger than themselves — 50% said they’re motivated by the chance to make a difference in the world they live in.

And when it comes to getting motivational help to reach these big goals, speaking to mom and dad tops the list at 57%.

How do students stay on top of their “hustling” and quell their worries? Well, it varies by age.

High school respondents prefer to go digital — with over half of respondents using digital to-do lists and digital calendars.

But perhaps as you age, you want to go back to basics. Over half of college-aged students prefer to use a paper calendar and planner to manage themselves and their time.

“Setting goals and thinking about what you want to achieve for the upcoming year is an important part of getting ready for back to school,” said Remi Kent, global business director of Post-it Brand.

“Post-it Products help you plan your time, manage and balance your school and home life and be ready to tackle the new school year.”

This may have to do with the eight in 10 students who believe they not only learn better, but they also remember things better when they write down their thoughts.

In fact, 77% of high school students and 85% of college students surveyed admitted to grabbing anything to write down a thought. Four in 10 respondents even admitted to writing things on their hand in order to get it down.

“Writing something down is the first step to bringing it to action,” said Kent.

“We believe in the power of getting your thoughts out into the world, and we are here to provide the tools to help you do that.”

Top 5 goals for American students

*105 hours a week “hustling” was calculated using the following figures: 9.7 hours studying + 16.5 hours working = 26.2 hours a week, multiplied by 4 weeks in a month = 104.8 hours a month “hustling”

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School days: How the U.S. compares with other countries

By now, most U.S. schoolchildren are either back in the classroom or headed there soon. As they make the transition from summer camp and bug spray to math homework and science projects, their weary parents may well wonder if children in the U.S. spend less time in the classroom than kids in other countries.

The answer: Not really, though it’s hard to say for sure.

Making comparisons between the U.S. and other countries is complicated, mainly because each U.S. state sets its own standards for minimum instructional time (more on that below), while in other countries such standards typically are set at the national level. Because of variations in the length of both the school day and the school year, the best basis for comparison is total number of instructional hours per school year. And since many states have different minimums for different grade levels, we picked three representative grades — one each for elementary, middle and high school.

Among 33 mostly developed nations, annual “total intended instructional time” averaged 790 hours for primary students (ranging from 470 hours in Russia to 1,007 hours in Chile) according to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development . For the international equivalent of U.S. middle-schoolers, average annual required hours increased to 925 (ranging from 741 hours in Sweden to 1,167 hours in Mexico). The OECD did not have data for high schoolers.

Nor did the OECD report include U.S. figures, since instructional-time rules are set by individual states. But based on our analysis, the U.S. would place near the top of both lists.

We used data from the Education Commission of the States , supplemented by examination of relevant rules and statutes and inquiries to individual states, to estimate average instructional-time minimums in the U.S. The numbers we came up with are 943 hours for 1st-graders, 1,016 hours for 7th-graders and 1,025 hours for 11th-graders. (For comparison, a 180-day calendar of 6-hour days would provide 1,080 instructional hours.)

But as parents, teachers and school administrators know well, the American education system is very locally driven, and we found wide variation in time requirements. Seventeen U.S. states mandate more instructional time for their 1st-graders (and other elementary-school students) than Chile, the top country in the international report. Vermont, which has the shortest requirement for its 1st-graders (175 four-hour days, for 700 hours total), still requires more time than nine nations, including South Korea, Slovenia, Hungary and Finland. (The U.S. and international ranges are more comparable at the middle-school level.)

Both sets of numbers, though, mask considerable variation and contain many caveats. Countries may define “instructional time” differently and set their own rules on when, and for how many years, students can attend primary and secondary school. And the OECD data don’t include time spent with tutors, in “cram schools” or in other supplemental classes, which are very common in some countries.

Nor are all U.S. school hours created equal. Texas, for instance, would seem to require the most school time: 7 hours a day for 180 days, or 1,260 hours in all. But the Texas Education Agency informs us that those seven hours include lunch, recess and other “intermissions”: “It is up to each school district to determine how much of the school day is dedicated to instruction,” the agency said in response to our query. “It is their responsibility to allot sufficient time for the required curriculum elements under the state adopted curriculum rules.”

Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center .

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