Is Homework Helpful or Harmful?

Research suggests homework doesn’t make young kids smarter. But it may widen the achievement gap.

Welcome to Is My Kid the Asshole?, a newsletter from science journalist and author Melinda Wenner Moyer, which you can read more about here. If you like it, please subscribe and/or share this post with someone else who would too.

Hello! I’m excited to be sharing my inaugural Dear Melinda column. This week it’s free for everyone, but next week my Friday column will only go out to paid subscribers, so don’t forget to subscribe. These columns will address a broad range of parenting questions with science.

Right before the pandemic hit, I dug into the science of homework. I had heard from parents that many elementary-aged kids were getting more than the recommended amount — the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association have long advised that students should get a maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level per night, meaning that first graders should have at most 10 minutes, second graders 20 minutes, and so on — and I wondered: What do we know about how homework affects young kids? Does it help them learn? Does it pose any downsides?

Now that kids are back in school again (and my kids, at least, are once again getting homework), I thought it would be a good time to share what I learned.