I have heard many times that giving school homework to children and adolescents is negative for them because they would get stressed. I have also heard that children spend too many hours at school and when they finish school they only need to rest and get bored; otherwise it is negative for them (Ceapa llama a los padres a secundar una ‘huelga’ de deberes el mes de noviembre (20minutos.es))
On the other hand, I found a study that pointed out the benefits of extending students’ learning time outside of the formal school. (Morlà-Morlà, T., Ríos, O., Mara, L. C., & Garcia, C. (2020). Impact of the extension of learning time on the learning space of the platform for people affected by mortgages Tarragona. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 24, 100369. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210656119300248)
Do you have any evidence about this?
Scientific evidence shows that extending learning time consists of education and training activities after regular school hours. The completion of homework tasks accelerates the learning of all students without distinction. As example:
Having more learning moments, with different people, in different spaces can never be worse. Homework is another opportunity for learning; but it may also reinforce socio-economic disparities in student achievement. However, I have found studies that claim that the impact on learning is small. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3700582
Nevertheless, the PISA results indicate that: “When comparing students of similar socio-economic backgrounds who attend similarly resourced schools, those who attend schools where students spend more time doing homework perform better in mathematics than those who attend schools whose students devote less time to homework.”: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/does-homework-perpetuate-inequities-in-education_5jxrhqhtx2xt-en
So, I believe that the conditions that make homework an effective learning moment for all students must be improved. The involvement of parents in homework is one of them, but not all parents have time, money or knowledge for give support. Many high-income students tend to have learning extension activities such as music, idioms, robotics, sports, etc. On the other hand, others with lower incomes may lack these activities. Therefore, whether or not homework is sent, inequalities in learning can occur.
So one way to avoid this inequalities is to provide support. Homework clubs can be held for adults and peers to help complete and understand homework interactively: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098650209604958
Other times, there are governments that offer staff to help with homework: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2096531120970951
“It is a widely held belief that increased family involvement enhances student academic achievement. When considering children with special needs, involvement is not only beneficial; it is often an essential ingredient in a child’s success. Families of children with special needs are often limited by time constraints that inhibit school involvement. This leads to the need to extend learning opportunities to families of children with special needs as a means of increasing levels of involvement in their children’s education. This article describes a collaborative project between teachers at a local elementary school in North Carolina and members of their Parent-Teacher Association. The Home Learning Tool Kit served as a bridge between home and school, thereby assisting in educating families about their children’s academic progress. The project focused on extending learning opportunities to families as a means of increasing their levels of involvement in their children’s education.”
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1053451208326049