The purpose of this research study was threefold: to determine if a relationship existed between homework and student achievement in students from a rural high school in the foothills of North Carolina; to determine if a relationship existed between two specific types of homework (preparation and practice) and student achievement; and to determine stakeholder perceptions (teachers, students, and parents) regarding the impact of homework on student learning, personal development, and family relationships.
The conceptual framework of this study was based on research conducted by Cooper (1989), Lee and Pruitt (1979), Foyle (1984), and from an extensive literature review that revealed three categories associated with the positive and negative impacts of homework (student learning, personal development, and family relationships).
The study was conducted as a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. Quantitative data were collected from teacher EVAAS student growth scores from 2015-2017. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using three perceptual surveys administered to teachers, parents, and students from the target high school.
Research in this study added to Cooper’s (1989) research on homework and student achievement. The study concluded that homework positively impacted student achievement at the target high school when it was assigned frequently or most of the time. It if it was assigned infrequently or sometimes, it impacted student achievement less than teachers who assigned no homework to their students.
Second, this study added to Foyle and Bailey’s (1986) research by examining the use of two of the four types of homework included in Lee and Pruitt’s (1979) taxonomy – preparation homework and practice homework – and determined that students assigned primarily preparation homework produced slightly greater achievement results than students assigned primarily practice homework.
Third, this study added to the research on homework by determining perceptions of teachers, students, and parents on the impact of homework in three areas: student learning, personal development, and family relationships
