Week 1 Reading Assignment

"Wherever there are schools, there will be homework"

The Effects of a Learning Station on the Completion and Accuracy of Math Homework for Middle School Students by Arlene M. Hall and Sydney S. Zentall

This article dealt with a research that was done to find out how an intervention would aid in the accuracy of math homework completion. It asserted that there is increased benefits in academic achievement for middle and high schoolers when there is academic work completed outside of the classroom setting.

One of the reasons students do not attempt their homework and/or turn in incomplete homework is due to boredom and so this research attempted to increase students' 'optimal levels of stimulation' by using a Learning Station. "The Learning Station was a three sided free-standing panel with theoretically and empirically-based components involving (a) stimulation (color, music, activity breaks, and choice) and (b) self-attention (mirror and self-monitoring),"(Hall, Zentall).

The researchers looked at three students who were reported by their teachers as 'inattentive and highly active'. All of the students showed some improvement at the conclusion of the research.

Practical Recommendations for using Homework with Students with Learning Disabilities by James Patton

What is homework and how is it handled? "Homework is defined as tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are meant to be carried out during non-school hours"

This article looked at critical areas and how it affected students completing their homework.

Homework can best serve students if certain components are taken into consideration: 1) the way the assignment is introduced and the types of materials that are provided to accomplish the task, 2) how the homework is related to community factors and 3) what the teacher does with the homework when it is completed

Previous research was looked at, and in some areas a comparison was made of the affects of homework on students with learning disabilities and general education students.

It looked at how different components affected the benefits of homework and how it helped in making homework successful. Teachers were surveyed about practices and training was important for teachers. Parental involvement was taken into consideration and the article concluded that students with learning disabilities would greatly benefit from parent involvement.

There were findings to suggest that homework for students with disabilities should be short and focused on reinforcement and even that there were certain students who would not benefit from being given homework.

Homework, the article concluded, was of great benefit for students with learning disabilities if it is appropriate for the skill, attention and motivation levels, if teacher planning and preparation is improved and if parents are involved with aiding their children.

An Examination of the Homework Practices of Teachers of Students with Learning Disabilities by Spencer J. Salend and Janet Schliff

The article looked at homework practices on the part of a group of 88 special education teachers in four New York State district schools. They were given a questionnaire to fill out about their homework practices.

There are a number of components necessary for homework to be successful for students: 1) teacher grading homework and providing feedback, 2) parent involvement, 3) homework should have specific objectives, 4) a reasonable amount of homework should be given and 5) homework assignments should be individualized.

The results of the questionnaires found that teachers were using acceptable homework practices but not adhering to all the components for making homework successful for their students. Special educators were not always correcting homework, were not always providing students with feedback, homework was not always being graded and parents were not always being involved in their child's homework. In addition, students were not always being motivated.

There were limitations to the study however, because of the small sample size and all the teachers taught in schools in similar geographic areas.

The Cognitive and Academic Benefits of Music to Children: Facts and Fiction by Rudi Crncec, Sarh J. Wilson and Margot Prior

Although there has been many articles written about the effects of calming music on students and the improvement on academics, this article claims that more research still needs to be done before we can say definitively how music affects academics.

The benefits of music cannot be discounted though as music has an intrinsic value as a great cultural invention, it has the ability to function as a vehicle for emotional expression and communication. Music also has the ability to improve students' self-esteem and make them more attentive to academic instructions and is likely to influence positively a child’s developing orientation to tasks requiring persistence.

Further research has to be done as the types of music being played also can affect how students perform and especially with students who have disabilities. Also further research has to operationalize how certain variables (calm, soothing) are defined in order for future research to be successful. Also, needing to be addressed is how individuals respond to music as there are some students who would benefit from background music and others who would clearly be disadvantaged by it. Further systematic research is strongly indicated in this area, including an examination of whether the beneficial effects of soothing music persist over time.