Amount?

Is there an optimum amount of homework?

Yes.  But what is optimum depends on the student’s age (Harris Cooper, PhD., 1989, 2007).  Cooper suggests 10 minutes per grade per weeknight. So…

grade 6 = 60 minutes a weeknight

grade 7 =  70 minutes a weeknight

Cooper and his colleagues analyzed dozens of homework studies conducted between 1987 and 2006 to examine whether homework is beneficial and what amount of homework is appropriate for our children.  He found very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school. Even in high school the strongest relationship between homework and achievement was found among twelfth grade students who reported doing 7 or 12 hours of homework per week.  This result might suggest that the optimal amount of homework for twelfth graders is 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night.