December 2008

A recent meta-analysis by Cooper, Robinson, and Patall (2006) 

indicated a positive relationship between educational outcomes 

and homework. However, the strength of the relationship varied 

by the student’s grade level and the frequency of and amount of 

time allocated to homework. Many educators and policymakers see 

benefits of homework beyond improved test scores and advocate 

its assignment to students in all grades. For example, homework 

may be used to reinforce learning by giving students the 

opportunity to practice material presented in class or to prepare for 

new material (Epstein and Van Voorhis 2001). It can also be used 

for noninstructional purposes to promote parent-child interaction or 

facilitate parent-teacher communication. These different functions 

for homework will vary depending on the characteristics and needs 

of the students, teachers, and schools.

Previous research from the National Assessment of Educational 

Progress (NAEP) presents student reports of time spent on 

homework and teacher reports of amount of homework assigned 

(Perie, Moran, and Lutkus 2005; Braswell et al. 2001). However, no 

research using recent, nationally representative data has investigated 

the amount of homework expected of and completed by a cohort of 

students as they progress through school. This Issue Brief offers a 

unique look into children’s homework experiences as they progress 

through the elementary grades. The brief uses longitudinal 

data to examine (1) the amount of time that students’ public 

school teachers expected them to spend on reading/language arts 

(referred to as “reading” in this brief) and mathematics homework 

in first, third, and fifth grades; and (2) reports from parents of 

public school children of how often children did homework at home 

in the first, third, and fifth grades.1,2,3 Previous research has shown 

differences in children’s reading and mathematics achievement by 

race/ethnicity (Rathbun and West 2004). Thus, this brief investigates 

whether differences exist in expectations and reports of homework 

by these variables. Teachers’ expectations are reported by the 

percentage of minority students in the student’s school and parents’ 

reports are reported by the child’s race/ethnicity.4

Data for this analysis are drawn from the Early Childhood 

Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), 

conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of 

Education Science’s National Center for Education Statistics. 

The ECLS-K data are nationally representative of children who 

were first-graders in the 1999–2000 school year.5

 The analysis 

in this Issue Brief follows this cohort of children and uses data 

from spring 2000, spring 2002, and spring 2004. The analysis 

is restricted to children who were first-time kindergartners in 

1998–99, first-graders attending public school in spring 2000, 

third-graders attending public school in spring 2002, and 

fifth-graders attending public school in spring 2004.6,7,8 

Expectations and Reports of Homework for 

Public School Students in the First, Third, and 

Fifth Grades 

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2009–033

Issue

Brief

Expectations for Time Spent on Homework, as 

Reported by Teachers

In general, students’ teachers expected them to do more homework 

as they moved from first grade to fifth grade (table 1).9

 For 

example, in spring 2000, some 21 percent of public school firstgraders had teachers who expected their students to spend at least 

30 minutes on reading homework on a typical evening (17 percent 

for 30 minutes and 4 percent for more than 30 minutes). 

The percentage of students who had teachers with similar 

expectations increased to 31 percent in third grade (spring 2002), 

and 53 percent in fifth grade (spring 2004).

Similarly, students’ teachers’ expectations for the amount of time 

spent on mathematics homework generally increased between 

first and fifth grade. For example, 7 percent of first-graders had 

teachers who expected their students to spend at least 30 minutes 

on mathematics homework on a typical evening (6 percent for 

30 minutes and 1 percent for more than 30 minutes). Eighteen 

percent of third-grade students and 43 percent of fifth-grade 

students had teachers with similar expectations for mathematics 

homework.

Differences by percent minority enrollment. In first, third, and fifth 

grade, children in higher percent minority schools had teachers who 

expected more homework on a typical evening, whereas generally 

children in lower minority schools had teachers who expected less 

homework.

Specifically, a smaller percentage of first-graders in schools with less 

than 10 percent minority enrollment (the lowest minority schools) 

had teachers who expected their students to spend 30 minutes on 

reading homework than did children in schools with 25–49 percent, 

50–74 percent, and 75 percent or more minority enrollment 

(10 percent vs. 18, 21, and 27 percent, respectively). Similarly, a 

smaller percentage of first-graders in the lowest minority schools 

had teachers who expected their students to spend 30 minutes on 

mathematics homework than did their peers in higher minority 

schools (1 percent vs. 4–15 percent).

In third grade, greater percentages of children in schools with 

75 percent or more minority enrollment (the highest minority 

schools) had teachers who expected their students to spend either 

30 minutes or more than 30 minutes on reading homework nightly 

than did children in the lowest minority schools (32 vs. 16 percent 

for 30 minutes; 17 vs. 1 percent for more than 30 minutes). 

Expectations for time spent on mathematics homework followed 

a similar pattern: greater percentages of children in the highest 

minority schools had teachers who expected their students to 

spend either 30 minutes or more than 30 minutes on mathematics 
2 NCES 2009-033 Issue Brief December 2008

homework than did children in the lowest minority schools (27 vs. 

8 percent for 30 minutes; 10 vs. less than 0.5 percent for more than 

30 minutes).

In fifth grade, higher percentages of children in the highest minority 

schools had teachers who expected their students to complete either 

30 minutes or more than 30 minutes of reading or mathematics 

homework than did children in the lowest minority schools (reading: 

46 vs. 29 percent for 30 minutes, and 28 vs. 6 percent for more 

than 30 minutes; mathematics: 43 vs. 25 percent for 30 minutes, 

and 23 vs. 2 percent for more than 30 minutes).

Time Spent Doing Homework, as Reported by 

Parents

The percentage of public school children whose parents 

reported that their children never did homework or did it less 

than once a week decreased from 8 percent in first grade to 

3 percent in third grade and 3 percent in fifth grade (table 2). 

Similarly, the percentage of children whose parents reported that 

their children did homework 1 to 2 times a week decreased from 

14 percent in first grade to 9 and 8 percent in third grade and 

fifth grade, respectively. There were no measurable differences 

in the percentage of children whose parents reported that their 

first-, third-, or fifth-graders did homework 3 to 4 times a week. 

However, the percentage of children whose parents reported 

that their children did homework 5 or more times a week increased 

from 38 percent in first grade to 47 percent in third grade to 

51 percent in fifth grade.

Differences by race/ethnicity. In all three grades, greater 

percentages of Black, Hispanic, and Asian public school children 

had parents who reported that their children did homework 5 

or more times a week than did White children. For example, in 

first grade, 42, 49, and 51 percent of Black, Hispanic, and Asian 

children, respectively, had parents who reported that their children 

did homework 5 or more times a week compared to 32 percent of 

White first-grade children. In fifth grade, 55, 65, and 70 percent of 

Black, Hispanic, and Asian children, respectively, had parents who 

reported that their children did homework 5 or more times a week 

compared to 45 percent of White children.

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.

References

Braswell, J.S., Lutkus, A.D., Grigg, W.S., Santapau, S.L., Tay-Lim, B.S.-H., 

and Johnson, M.S. (2001). The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics 

2000 (NCES 2001-517). National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. 

Department of Education. Washington, DC.

Cooper, H., Robinson, J.C., and Patall, E.A. (2006). Does Homework 

Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–

2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1): 1–62. 

Table 1. Percentage distribution of public school students in the kindergarten class of 1998–99, by the amount of time their teachers 

expect them to spend on homework on a typical evening, grade, subject, and school characteristic: 1999–2000, 2001–02, and 

2003–04

Subject and school characteristic

1st grade (1999–2000) 3rd grade (2001–02) 5th grade (2003–04)

None

10 

min

20 

min

30 

min

More 

than 

30 

min None

10 

min

20 

min

30 

min

More 

than 

30 

min None

10 

min

20 

min

30 

min

More 

than 

30 

min

Reading/language arts

Total 2.2 28.1 48.6 17.3 3.8 1.2 16.1 52.0 24.2 6.5 1.4 6.7 38.0 38.6 14.9

Percent minority

Less than 10 4.7 35.2 48.8 10.0 1.3! 1.4! 25.7 56.2 15.7 1.1! 2.5 ! 9.8 52.1 28.8 6.5

10–24 1.2! 34.3 48.2 14.6 1.7! 0.5! 13.4 59.8 23.6 2.8! 1.0 ! 8.3 43.9 36.3 9.7

25–49 0.8! 29.9 47.7 18.0 3.5 0.7! 14.5 49.9 29.4 5.5 0.7 ! 6.6 35.8 40.6 15.7

50–74 2.9! 21.3 52.5 20.9 2.5! 0.6! 9.6 50.8 28.8 10.2 1.6 ! 5.6 35.5 45.1 12.1

75 or more 0.5! 18.5 45.1 26.9 8.9 2.2! 10.0 39.6 31.5 16.7 0.9 ! 3.0 ! 21.8 45.5 28.4

Mathematics

Total 12.4 55.9 24.2 6.3 1.2 2.8 36.4 43.2 15.0 2.6 1.4 ! 10.7 44.9 34.0 8.7

Percent minority

Less than 10 25.1 58.7 14.3 1.3! 0.7! 4.5! 50.9 36.3 8.3 # 2.0 ! 16.3 54.3 25.1 2.3 !

10–24 13.5 68.2 13.3 4.0 1.0! 1.8! 44.4 44.8 8.7 0.3! 1.9 ! 10.8 57.2 26.2 3.8

25–49 5.6 58.7 30.3 5.2 0.3! 0.7! 30.0 52.6 15.7 0.9 1.9 ! 8.4 47.4 34.5 7.0

50–74 6.7 54.4 30.6 7.6 0.7! 4.3! 24.7 48.3 20.4 2.4 0.1 ! 8.3 ! 40.6 45.1 5.8

75 or more 3.1! 42.7 37.6 14.5 2.2 1.8! 18.1 42.5 27.4 10.2 0.7 ! 7.8 25.6 42.7 22.7

# Rounds to zero.

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third the estimate.

NOTE: Teachers were asked how much time they expect children to spend on reading or mathematics homework in a typical evening. They could choose among 5 categories: none, 

10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or more than 30 minutes. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.

asp?pubid=2009033.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), “Spring Teacher 

Questionnaire,” spring 2000, spring 2002, and spring 2004. 
NCES 2009-033 Issue Brief December 2008 3

The Issue Brief series presents information on education topics of current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling 

variability. All differences discussed are statistically significant at the .05 level; this means a difference is discussed only if the probability that it is due to 

chance (i.e., sampling variability) is less than 1 in 20. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons. In the design, conduct, and data processing 

of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, 

measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error. For more information on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten 

Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), visit http://nces.ed.gov/ecls.

This Issue Brief was prepared by Siri Warkentien (Child Trends), Molly Fenster (MacroSys Research & Technology), Gillian Hampden-Thompson 

(American Institutes for Research), and Jill Walston (American Institutes for Research) of the Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI). 

For further information, contact Lisa Hudson, NCES, at 202-502-7358 or lisa.hudson@ed.gov. To order additional copies of this Issue Brief 

or other NCES publications, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS or visit http://www.edpubs.org. NCES publications are also available on the Internet at 

http://nces.ed.gov. 

Epstein, J.L. and Van Voorhis, F.L. (2001). More Than Minutes: Teachers’ 

Roles in Designing Homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3): 

181–193.

Perie, M., Moran, R., and Lutkus, A.D. (2005). NAEP 2004 Trends in 

Academic Progress: Three Decades of Student Performance in 

Reading and Mathematics (NCES 2005-464). National Center for 

Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department 

of Education. Washington, DC.

Rathbun, A. and West, J. (2004). From Kindergarten Through Third Grade: 

Children’s Beginning School Experiences (NCES 2004-007). National 

Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. 

Department of Education. Washington, DC.

Tourangeau, K., Lê, T., and Nord, C. (2005). Early Childhood Longitudinal 

Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), Fifth-Grade 

Methodology Report (NCES 2006-037). National Center for 

Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department 

of Education. Washington, DC.

Endnotes

1

 Teacher data are drawn from the Teacher Questionnaire and parent data 

are drawn from the Parent Interview. In both cases, the data are linked to 

individual students by the student’s ID number. Thus, information from 

teachers and parents should be interpreted with the student as the unit of 

analysis (i.e., as the percent of students whose teachers or parents expected 

or reported a given amount of homework). For detailed methodology 

information, see Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class 

of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), Fifth-Grade Methodology Report (Tourangeau, Le, 

and Nord 2005).

2

 Comparisons cannot be made between teacher expectations and parent 

reports of homework. The questionnaire asked teachers how many 

minutes per day they expected children to spend on homework on a 

typical evening for two subjects separately: reading/language arts and 

mathematics. They could choose among 5 categories: none, 10 minutes, 

20 minutes, 30 minutes, or more than 30 minutes. Parents were asked 

how often their child did homework at home. They could choose among 

4 categories: never/less than once a week, 1 to 2 times a week, 3 to 

4 times a week, or 5 or more times a week. Parent responses were not 

separated by subject.

3

 ECLS-K does not ask students in first-, third-, or fifth-grade the amount 

or frequency of their homework. However, readers are cautioned that 

homework data reported by parents may not be consistent with what 

students would report. 

4

 Teacher expectations are reported by the percent minority enrollment of 

the school because teachers typically assign homework on a classwide basis, 

rather than to individual students, sometimes based on school or district 

homework policies (Epstein and Van Voorhis 2001).

5

 Although the ECLS-K study started in kindergarten in 1998–99, the firstgrade sample was freshened with students who had not attended kindergarten 

in the United States in the previous year.

6

 The ECLS-K sample includes 7,100 first-graders, 6,820 third-graders, 

and 6,660 fifth-graders who attended public school and for whom parent 

questionnaire data are available. The analysis weighted cases using the childlevel longitudinal C456PW0 weighting variable.

7

 Since the sample of children fielded in 2002 or 2004 was not freshened 

with third- or fifth-graders who did not have a chance to be sampled in first 

grade (e.g., because they were out of the country during their first-grade 

year), this sample of children does not represent all third-graders in 2002 or 

all fifth-graders in 2004. In addition, the analytic sample includes only those 

children for whom parent interviews or teacher questionnaires were complete 

in each of the following data collections: spring of first, third, and fifth grade. 

Furthermore, the sample does not include students who repeated a grade and 

did not advance to the next grade on schedule. For these reasons, readers are 

cautioned against drawing conclusions about all third-graders or all fifthgraders based on this analysis. 

8

 The analysis was restricted to public school children to avoid confounding 

differences in homework between public and private schools with differences 

due to other characteristics also related to school type (e.g., percent minority 

enrollment and race/ethnicity). The brief does not examine students during the 

kindergarten year because the items pertaining to homework in the kindergarten 

year differed from those in the first-, third-, and fifth-grade years.

9

 It is possible that expectations for the amount of time spent on homework 

increased for all grade levels between spring 2000 and spring 2004, and not as 

a result of the children’s progression from first to fifth grade. The longitudinal 

data used in this Issue Brief cannot distinguish between these possibilities.

Table 2. Percentage distribution of public school students in the kindergarten class of 1998–99, by parent reports of how often their child 

does homework at home, grade, and student characteristic: 1999–2000, 2001–02, and 2003–04

Student characteristic

1st grade (1999–2000) 3rd grade (2001–02) 5th grade (2003–04)

Never/less 

than once 

a week

1 to 2 

times a 

week

3 to 4 

times a 

week

5 or more 

times a 

week

Never/less 

than once 

a week

1 to 2 

times a 

week

3 to 4 

times a 

week

5 or more 

times a 

week

Never/less 

than once 

a week

1 to 2 

times a 

week

3 to 4 

times a 

week

5 or more 

times a 

week

Total 8.2 13.8 40.1 37.9 3.4 8.5 40.7 47.4 3.0 8.0 37.6 51.3

Race/ethnicity1

White 10.7 16.5 40.5 32.3 3.9 10.2 45.7 40.2 3.2 10.0 42.1 44.7

Black 4.4 10.0 43.7 41.9 2.2! 4.4 39.2 54.2 2.8 ! 4.4 37.3 55.4

Hispanic 4.3 10.0 36.4 49.3 1.6! 6.7 28.3 63.4 2.1 4.5 28.8 64.5

Asian 5.3 11.0 32.3 51.5 3.2 6.3 33.8 56.7 0.8 ! 4.9 24.5 69.8

Other 13.7! 16.3 45.5 24.5 11.9! 12.8 45.4 29.8 8.0 ! 14.4 ! 34.5 43.0

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third the estimate. 1

 Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Black includes African American. Asian includes Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. Other includes American Indian, Alaska 

Native, and non-Hispanic children of more than one race. 

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. In this table, homework refers to work assigned by the school and not extra work provided by the parent. Standard errors can be 

found at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009033. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K), “Spring Teacher 

Questionnaire,” spring 2000, spring 2002, and spring 2004. 

 
Expectations and Reports of Homework for Public School 

Students in the First, Third, and Fifth Grades 

U.S. Department of Education 

ED Pubs 

8242-B Sandy Court 

Jessup, MD 20794-1398

NCES 2009–033

The Issue Brief series presents information on education topics of current interest.

Issue

Brief