National Louis University Digital Commons@NLU Dissertations 12-2016 Perceptions Of The ffecE ts Of Homework On Student Achievement At A Suburban Middle School: A Program Evaluation Cody Huisman National Louis University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, and the Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Huisman, Cody, "Perceptions Of The Effects Of Homework On Student Achievement At A Suburban Middle School: A Program Evaluation" (2016). Dissertations. 207. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/207 This Dissertation - Public Access is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons@NLU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@NLU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PERCEPTIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF HOMEWORK ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AT A SUBURBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL: A PROGRAM EVALUATION Cody Huisman Educational Leadership Doctoral Program Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Doctor of Education In the Foster G. McGaw Graduate School National College of Education National Louis University December, 2016 Document Origination Statement Digital Commons @ NLU This document was created as one part of the three-part dissertation requirement of the National Louis University (NLU) Educational Leadership (EDL) Doctoral Program. The National Louis Educational Leadership EdD is a professional practice degree program (Shulman et al., 2006). For the dissertation requirement, doctoral candidates are required to plan, research, and implement three major projects, one each year, within their school or district with a focus on professional practice. The three projects are: Program Evaluation Change Leadership Plan Policy Advocacy Document For the Program Evaluation candidates are required to identify and evaluate a program or practice within their school or district. The “program” can be a current initiative; a grant project; a common practice; or a movement. Focused on utilization, the evaluation can be formative, summative, or developmental (Patton, 2008). The candidate must demonstrate how the evaluation directly relates to student learning. In the Change Leadership Plan candidates develop a plan that considers organizational possibilities for renewal. The plan for organizational change may be at the building or district level. It must be related to an area in need of improvement, and have a clear target in mind. The candidate must be able to identify noticeable and feasible differences that should exist as a result of the change plan (Wagner et al., 2006). In the Policy Advocacy Document candidates develop and advocate for a policy at the local, state or national level using reflective practice and research as a means for supporting and promoting reforms in education. Policy advocacy dissertations use critical theory to address moral and ethical issues of policy formation and administrative decision making (i.e., what ought to be). The purpose is to develop reflective, humane and social critics, moral leaders, and competent professionals, guided by a critical practical rational model (Browder, 1995). Works Cited Browder, L.H. (1995). An alternative to the doctoral dissertation: The policy advocacy concept and the policy document. Journal of School Leadership, 5, 40-69. Patton, M. Q. (2008). Utilization-focused evaluation (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Shulman, L.S., Golde, C.M., Bueschel, A.C., & Garabedian, K.J. (2006). Reclaiming education’s doctorates: A critique and a proposal. Educational Researcher, 35(3), 25-32. Wagner, T., et al. (2006). Change leadership: A practical guide to transforming our schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass i ABSTRACT The purpose of this program evaluation was to gain a clear understanding of how homework supports or deters the achievement of students, specifically the overall grade a student attains. This document details how students and teachers at a suburban Middle School perceive homework and its effect on student learning. The findings were that many students received failing grades in classes, primarily due to missing homework. The program evaluation used mixed methodology. Using survey and focus group results in conjunction with current literature, the conclusion revealed a need for homework policies that would support student learning without punishing students’ grades. Students shared that they have busy lives and much of the homework is challenging for them to complete on their own. Teachers shared feelings of how subjective homework policies and grading can be, and they agreed that policies should be designed with this in mind. The recommendations made were for policies that are more consistent, and that grading policies do not put too much emphasis on homework as part of an overall grade. ii PREFACE There are topics in American education that have been an essential issue at every school, and homework is one of those topics. Homework is an important part of the culture at Lee Middle School. The majority of the staff uses it as a tool to enhance learning. Homework is also viewed by many staff members as a way to build responsibility and work ethic. Conducting a program evaluation questioning a practice that is perceived to build these skills was challenging. The experience has given me an opportunity to refine my leadership skills in several areas. Three of these leadership skills are building strong professional relationships, being a change agent, and guiding and focusing research on a topic that is built into the educational value system of many people. Strong professional relationships require a lot of trust by both parties. I have worked as a part of the Lee team for two and a half years and have tried to strengthen relationships between myself and our staff. The surveys and group interviews asked challenging questions that invited people to be reflective about their beliefs and practices. This process would not have been successful without trust. This reinforced my belief that there is no successful school culture without great professional relationships among the adults in the building. There is very little course work or reading that can prepare one to be a change agent. The evaluation of homework practices at Lee was conducted with change in mind. Teachers and administrators knew that this process might lead to new homework policies at Lee Middle School. Change is difficult, especially when change means less homework or decreasing the value of homework in an overall grade. Changing homework policies at iii Lee is perceived by many as “making things easier.” Being a change agent means communicating with people and sharing research-based information about the effectiveness of homework. The focus of the evaluation was on student achievement. The final leadership lesson I learned was making sure that the evaluation process had a sharp focus on improving student achievement. Everyone involved needed to know that we were doing surveys and group interviews to gather as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision on homework policies at Lee. The objective and focus of the entire process was to come to an agreement about using homework effectively to improve student learning. The process started in May 2014, and it is still ongoing in the spring of 2015. I need to communicate and remind people that we are doing what is best for students and parents. As a school administrator, I will be evaluating programs for the rest of my career. They will not all result in a formal academic report, but they will involve student-centered decisions. The experience of evaluating the homework program at Lee Middle School has given me opportunities to grow as a leader that I would not have had otherwise. I am thankful personally—but more thankful for the impact it will have on students. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DOCUMENT ORIGINATION STATEMENT DIGITAL COMMONS @ NLU ….....… i ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………….....…. ii PREFACE ………………………………………………………………………...……...iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………….…………...………………………….……...v LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………..……………….vii SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………….…….1 Purpose ……….………………….……………………………………….……...1 Rationale ……………………….…………….……………………….….………2 Goals …………………………….…………….……………………....…………4 Research Questions ……………….…………….…………………………….…5 Demographics ………………………………………………………...…………6 SECTION TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………...…7 Introduction …………………………………..……………………………..…...7 Purpose of Homework ……………………….……………………...……….….8 Effective Homework ………………………….….………………..….…………9 Amount of Homework ………………………….….…………………………..10 Feedback on Homework ……………………….…………….………………...11 Grading …………………....……....………………..……….………………….12 Homework Policies—Late or Missing Work ……….…….……………….…..14 Low-Income Students and Homework …………....……………………….…..15 Summary …………………………….………………………………….……...17 SECTION THREE: METHODOLOGY…………………………..……………………18 Research Design Overview ……………………………………….…………...18 Participants …………………………………………………….………………18 v Data Gathering Techniques ………………………………….………………...20 Data Analysis Techniques ………………………………….………………….21 SECTION FOUR: FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS ……..……………………23 Introduction ……………………….…………………………………………...23 Data Findings ………………………………………………………….………23 Student Survey Data ………………………………………………….……….26 Teacher Survey Data ………….…………………………………………….…31 Themes of Student Group Interviews