Homework: The Key to Student Success

One of the most difficult challenges that teachers and parents face is getting teenagers to do their homework. A common complaint with high school students is the fact that they do not have enough time to do their homework. In the year 2000 American students are holding down more jobs, taking on more household responsibilities, and participating in a greater amount of extracurricular activities than any other generation of American students. (Homework: Time To Turn It In?). As more and more distractions are made available to the American teenager, it is imperative that today's students are aware of the importance of doing their homework. Homework is a necessary component of every successful student's education. By doing homework, a student will learn independent thought, perform better in school, and provide a greater chance for economic success in their post education lives.

Students, in order to succeed, must become responsible for their education. In a secondary school setting, students spend less than five hours of classroom time per week in any one particular subject. During this time, the teacher introduces new concepts and skills by building on previous lessons. In order for student, to become proficient with these newly taught concepts and skills, they must practice and work on these skills, so that they may be ingrained in the student's mind. In order for this learning to take place, the United States Department of Education suggests that students should use homework to practice what they have learned in school and to prepare themselves for the next day's class (Learning Partners--Let's Do Homework!). With the usage of homework as a practice forum for students, education experts recommend that secondary students should spend two hours per night on homework (Do You Have Too Much Homework?).

By becoming more independent learners through homework, the average students will demonstration an improvement in their grades. Students that habitually do their homework can expect to have greater test scores and also higher class grades. (Homework: Time To Turn It In?). This is because students are taking time to develop their understanding of skills and concepts through practice and self-understanding. However, not only will students' grades and test scores increase, but in a 1996 United States Department of Education survey it was found that, "Students who read eleven or more pages each day for school or homework have higher average reading proficiency scores than those who read less than five pages a day" (Research: Literacy Facts and Figures).

As students' grades, test scores, and proficiency scores increase, their chances of graduating with a high school diploma and continuing their educational career also increase. With more education, students have a greater chance of securing a more stable and higher paying job than those students that either drop out of high school or only earn a high school diploma. According to United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate is directly correlated with the amount of education experience of an individual; unemployment rate of high school dropouts was 6.7 percent, compared with the unemployment rate of high school graduates at 3.5 percent and the unemployment rate of only 1.8 percent for college graduates (Workforce 2000 facts). In the Occupational Outlook Quarterly of 1992, workers who have the most education have the highest average annual earnings and