Lest we imagine that America and Britain are the only nations ever to have quibbled over how much homework is too much, it may be expedient to delve deeper into the topic raised in the last two posts. Fortunately, it has not been many years since the effect of homework on academic achievement was last surveyed on a global basis. In May of 2005, two education researchers from Pennsylvania State University—David P. Baker and Gerald K. LeTendre—co-authored a book titled National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling. Analysing data collected from schools across more than 41 nations, the researchers came to a conclusion that might surprise many parents: more homework does not necessarily translate to higher academic achievement. Penn State's press release on the subject, which carried the title, Too Much Homework Can Be Counterproductive, had this to say: [The study's] findings indicated a frequent lack of positive correlation between the average amount of homework assigned in a nation and corresponding level of academic achievement. For example, many countries with the highest scoring students, such as Japan, the Czech Republic and Denmark, have teachers who give little homework. "At the other end of the spectrum, countries with very low average scores—Thailand, Greece, Iran—have teachers who assign a great deal of homework," Baker noted.
"The United States is among the most homework-intensive countries in the world for seventh- and eighth-grade math classes. U.S. math teachers on average assigned more than two hours of mathematics homework per week in 1994-95," said LeTendre. "Contrary to our expectations, one of the lowest levels was recorded in Japan—about one hour a week. These figures challenge previous stereotypes about the lackadaisical American teenager and his diligent peer in Japan."
During the early 1980s, many U.S. schools and teachers ramped up their homework assignments, at least to younger children, in reaction to intense media focus on studies comparing the mediocre performance of American students to the industriousness of their Japanese counterparts. At the same time, ironically, Japanese educators were attempting to reduce the amount of homework given to their students and allow them more leisure from the rigors of schooling. Neither the American nor the Japanese educational reform of the 1980s seems to have affected general achievement levels in either country."
If homework is not a reliable predictor of academic success, what is? According to Baker, the advantage goes to "those families that are better able to marshal resources to support outside school learning." Resources might include money, time, a place to study and access to cultural works and educational tools. Of course, there might be a variety of factors that affect a family's ability to "marshal resources." One of these factors is the quality of the relationships within the family itself. Studies across national boundaries bear out that fragmented families are more likely to experience scarcities of time, money and other resources that are important to academic success. In addition, researchers know that children in fragmented families feel the effects of higher stress levels—their own as well as that of their parents. Could it be that the most important work to be done in the home has to do with strengthening family relationships? Taking everything else into account, it seems the logical place to begin. | 
