Expectations and Reports of Homework for Public School Students in the First, Third, and Fifth Grades

Summary

In general, the amount of reading and mathematics homework that students’ teachers expected them to complete on a typical evening increased from first grade to fifth grade. For example, 21 percent of first-graders had teachers who expected their students to complete at least 30 minutes of reading homework, compared to 31 percent of third-graders and 53 percent of fifth-graders. In both subjects and in all grades, differences were found by the minority enrollment of the school. Children in  schools with higher percentages of minority students had teachers who expected more homework on a typical evening, whereas generally children in lower minority schools had teachers who expected less homework.

The percentage of public school children whose parents reported that their child did homework 5 or more times a week increased from 38 percent among children in first grade to 47 percent among children in third grade. By fifth grade, 51 percent of children had parents who reported that their child did homework 5 or more times a week. In all three grades, larger percentages of Black, Asian, and Hispanic children than White children had parents who reported that their child did homework 5 or more times a week.