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Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

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From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [ 1 ]

While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word “homework” dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [ 45 ]

In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [ 45 ]

In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]

Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [ 3 ] [ 45 ]

A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [ 4 ] [ 44 ]

Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, “Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?” While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [ 47 ]

Is Homework Beneficial?

Pro 1 Homework improves student achievement. Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicated that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” [ 6 ] Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take-home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. [ 10 ] Read More

Pro 2 Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills. Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, “at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum.” [ 11 ] [ 49 ] Elementary school students who were taught “strategies to organize and complete homework,” such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [ 17 ] Research by the City University of New York noted that “students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework,” such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, “are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes.” [ 18 ] Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that “homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 49 ] Read More

Pro 3 Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning. Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [ 12 ] Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [ 20 ] Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: “Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students.” [ 21 ] Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, “Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them.” [ 12 ] Read More

Con 1 Too much homework can be harmful. A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were “often or always stressed by schoolwork.” High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, “Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.” [ 27 ] Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, “More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies.” [ 48 ] Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Read More

Con 2 Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap. Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as “the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology.” For students, this is often called the homework gap. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] 30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [ 51 ] A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it “potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position.” [ 39 ] Read More

Con 3 Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that “homework had no association with achievement gains” when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7 ] Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [ 41 ] Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: “They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework.” [ 42 ] In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, “I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside.” He explains, “just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen.” [ 52 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

1. Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).

2. If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).

3. How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.

Take Action

1. Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.

2. Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.

3. Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality .

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

More School Debate Topics

Should K-12 Students Dissect Animals in Science Classrooms? – Proponents say dissecting real animals is a better learning experience. Opponents say the practice is bad for the environment.

Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? – Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.

Should Corporal Punishment Be Used in K-12 Schools? – Proponents say corporal punishment is an appropriate discipline. Opponents say it inflicts long-lasting physical and mental harm on students.

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The Great British Homework Debate 2024 – Is It Necessary At Primary School?

Alexander Athienitis

The homework debate is never much out of the news. Should homework be banned? Is homework at primary school a waste of time? Do our children get too much homework?

Not long ago, UK-based US comedian Rob Delaney set the world alight with a tweet giving his own personal view of homework at primary school. We thought, as an organisation that provides maths homework support on a weekly basis, it was time to look at the facts around the homework debate in primary schools as well as, of course, reflecting the views of celebrities and those perhaps more qualified to offer an opinion!

Here’s how Rob Delaney kicked things off

Gary Lineker leant his support with the following soundbite:

And even Piers Morgan weighed in, with his usual balance of tact and sensitivity:

A very experienced and knowledgeable Headteacher, Simon Smith, who has a well-earned following on Twitter (for someone working in education, not hosting Match of the Day) also put his neck on the line and, some might think controversially, agreed with the golden-heeled Crisp King of Leicester…

Fortunately Katharine Birbalsingh, Conservative Party Conference keynote speaker and Founding Headteacher of the Michaela School, was on hand to provide the alternative view on the importance of homework. Her op-ed piece in the Sun gave plenty of reasons why homework should not be banned.

She was informative and firm in her article stating: “Homework is essential for a child’s education because revisiting the day’s learning is what helps to make it stick.”

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How much homework do UK primary school children get?

Sadly, there’s little data comparing how much homework primary school-aged children in the UK and across the globe complete on a weekly basis. A study of teenagers used by The Telegraph shows that American high-schoolers spend an average of 6.1 hours per week compared with 4.9 hours per week of homework each week for UK-based teens.

Up until 2012, the Department of Education recommended an hour of homework a week for primary school Key Stage 1 children (aged 4 to 7) and half an hour a day for primary school Key Stage 2 children (aged 7-11). Many primary schools still use this as a guideline.

Teachers, parents and children in many schools across the land have seen more changes of homework policy than numbers of terms in some school years.

A ‘no-homework’ policy pleases only a few; a grid of creative tasks crowd-sourced from the three teachers bothered to give their input infuriates many (parents, teachers and children alike). For some parents, no matter how much homework is set, it’s never enough; for others, even asking them to fill in their child’s reading record once a week can be a struggle due to a busy working life.

Homework is very different around the world

We’d suggest that Piers Morgan’s argument for homework in comparing the UK’s economic and social progress with China’s in recent years based on total weekly homework hours is somewhat misguided – we can’t put their emergence as the world’s (if not already, soon to be) leading superpower exclusively down to having their young people endure almost triple the number of hours spent completing homework as their Western counterparts.

Nonetheless, there’s certainly a finer balance to strike between the 14 hours a week suffered by Shanghainese school-attendees and none whatsoever. Certainly parents in the UK spend less time each week helping their children than parents in emerging economies such as India, Vietnam and Colombia (Source: Varkey Foundation Report).

Disadvantages of homework at primary school

Delaney, whose son attends a London state primary school, has made it plain that he thinks his kids get given too much homework and he’d rather have them following more active or creative pursuits: drawing or playing football. A father of four sons and a retired professional footballer Gary Linaker was quick to defend this but he also has the resources to send his children to top boarding schools which generally provide very structured homework or ‘prep’ routines.

As parents Rob and Gary are not alone. According to the 2018 Ofsted annual report on Parents Views  more than a third of parents do not think homework in primary school is helpful to their children. They cite the battles and arguments it causes not to mention the specific challenges it presents to families with SEND children many of whom report serious damage to health and self-esteem as a result of too much or inappropriate homework.

It’s a truism among teachers that some types of homework tells you very little about what the child can achieve and much more about a parent’s own approach to the work. How low does your heart sink when your child comes back with a D & T project to create Stonehenge and you realise it’s either an all-nighter with glue, cardboard and crayons for you, or an uncompleted homework project for your child!

Speaking with our teacher hats on, we can tell you that homework is often cited in academic studies looking at academic progress in primary school-aged children as showing minimal to no impact.

Back on Twitter, a fellow teacher was able to weigh-in with that point:

Benefits of homework at primary school

So what are the benefits of homework at primary school? According to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (the key research organisations dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement) the impact of homework at primary is low, but it also doesn’t cost much.

They put it at a “+2 months” impact against a control of doing nothing. To put this into context, 1-to-1 tuition is generally seen as a +5 months impact but it’s usually considered to be expensive.

“There is some evidence that when homework is used as a short and focused intervention it can be effective in improving students’ attainment … overall the general benefits are likely to be modest if homework is more routinely set.”

Key to the benefit you’ll see from homework is that the task is appropriate and of good quality. The quantity of homework a pupil does is not so important. In this matter Katharine Birbalsingh is on the money. Short focused tasks which relate directly to what is being taught, and which are built upon in school, are likely to be more effective than regular daily homework.

In our view it’s about consolidation. So focusing on a few times tables that you find tricky or working through questions similar to what you’ve done in class that day or week often can be beneficial. 2 hours of worksheets on a Saturday when your child could be outside having fun and making friends probably isn’t. If you really want them to be doing maths, then do some outdoor maths with them instead of homework !

At Third Space Learning we believe it’s all about balance. Give the right sort of homework and the right amount at primary school and there will be improvements, but much of it comes down to parental engagement.

One of our favourite ways to practise maths at home without it become too onerous is by using educational games. Here are our favourite fun maths games , some brilliant KS2 maths games , KS1 maths games and KS3 maths games for all maths topics and then a set of 35 times tables games which are ideal for interspersing with your regular times tables practice. And best of all, most of them require no more equipment than a pen and paper or perhaps a pack of cards.

Homework and parents

One of the key benefits cited by EEF is in regard to parental engagement. Time after time, the greatest differentiator between children who make great progress at school – and those, frankly – who don’t is due to the same factor in the same studies: parental engagement .

It is a fair assumption that if a parent is engaged in their child’s learning, they’re probably going to be the same parents who encourage and support their child when they’re completing their homework.

Whereas parents who are disengaged with their child’s school and schooling – for whatever reason (sorry, Piers, it’s rarely due to laziness), are highly unlikely to be aware of what homework gets set each week, let alone to be mucking in with making sure it gets handed in completed and on time.

We also encounter time and again, the issue of parents’ own lack of confidence in maths. A survey by Pearson found that:

• 30 percent of parents “don’t feel confident enough in their own maths skills to help their children with their primary school maths homework”
• 53 per cent insisted they struggled to understand the new maths teaching methods used in modern classrooms. Fortunately that’s what we’re here to address.

Setting the right homework at primary school can be tricky

Although we disagree with Piers, we can see what he may be driving at in terms of setting appropriate homework.

The question quickly becomes what would Piers think of as being ‘interesting’ homework, and if all four of his children would agree upon the same thing being ‘interesting’.

That’s the problem.

One would imagine Piers would find it hard enough finding one task to satisfy the interest of all of his four children – it’s almost impossible to find a task that will engage the interest of 30 or more children in their out of school hours.

Each with different emotional, behavioural and learning needs, then sprinkle in the varying levels of poverty each family suffers (be it financial or in terms of time), and you can see how it isn’t just about being a good or bad teacher – whatever that means – in regards to being able to set Morgan-approved homework tasks.

What does this mean for my child?

Ultimately, the question at the top of mind whenever a parent thinks about homework is a more general one – am I doing the best for my child?

Although the world is changing at a faster pace than ever before in human history, what’s best for children hasn’t changed that much (if at all).

One-to-one support is best, and young people benefit most from adult-child conversations where they acquire new vocabulary and language structures to form and share their thoughts and opinions.

These insights – that one-to-one support is best and that regular, structured adult-child conversations are life-changing within a child’s development – are what inspired us to create Third Space Learning.

A platform where children can engage with a community of specialist tutors in a safe, structured learning environment where they are able to engage in one-to-one conversations that enable them to progress in their learning with confidence.

• How to help your child with their maths homework – A parents guide
• The Best Homework Hacks: 18 Tips And Tricks To Help Busy Parents Get It Done Faster!
• The 20 Most Recommended Teaching Blogs for UK Teachers and School Leaders

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Since 2013 these personalised one to one lessons have helped over 150,000 primary and secondary students become more confident, able mathematicians.

Learn about our experience with schools or request a personalised quote for your school to speak to us about your school’s needs and how we can help.

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Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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Student Opinion

Should We Get Rid of Homework?

Some educators are pushing to get rid of homework. Would that be a good thing?

By Jeremy Engle and Michael Gonchar

Do you like doing homework? Do you think it has benefited you educationally?

Has homework ever helped you practice a difficult skill — in math, for example — until you mastered it? Has it helped you learn new concepts in history or science? Has it helped to teach you life skills, such as independence and responsibility? Or, have you had a more negative experience with homework? Does it stress you out, numb your brain from busywork or actually make you fall behind in your classes?

Should we get rid of homework?

In “ The Movement to End Homework Is Wrong, ” published in July, the Times Opinion writer Jay Caspian Kang argues that homework may be imperfect, but it still serves an important purpose in school. The essay begins:

Do students really need to do their homework? As a parent and a former teacher, I have been pondering this question for quite a long time. The teacher side of me can acknowledge that there were assignments I gave out to my students that probably had little to no academic value. But I also imagine that some of my students never would have done their basic reading if they hadn’t been trained to complete expected assignments, which would have made the task of teaching an English class nearly impossible. As a parent, I would rather my daughter not get stuck doing the sort of pointless homework I would occasionally assign, but I also think there’s a lot of value in saying, “Hey, a lot of work you’re going to end up doing in your life is pointless, so why not just get used to it?” I certainly am not the only person wondering about the value of homework. Recently, the sociologist Jessica McCrory Calarco and the mathematics education scholars Ilana Horn and Grace Chen published a paper, “ You Need to Be More Responsible: The Myth of Meritocracy and Teachers’ Accounts of Homework Inequalities .” They argued that while there’s some evidence that homework might help students learn, it also exacerbates inequalities and reinforces what they call the “meritocratic” narrative that says kids who do well in school do so because of “individual competence, effort and responsibility.” The authors believe this meritocratic narrative is a myth and that homework — math homework in particular — further entrenches the myth in the minds of teachers and their students. Calarco, Horn and Chen write, “Research has highlighted inequalities in students’ homework production and linked those inequalities to differences in students’ home lives and in the support students’ families can provide.”

Mr. Kang argues:

But there’s a defense of homework that doesn’t really have much to do with class mobility, equality or any sense of reinforcing the notion of meritocracy. It’s one that became quite clear to me when I was a teacher: Kids need to learn how to practice things. Homework, in many cases, is the only ritualized thing they have to do every day. Even if we could perfectly equalize opportunity in school and empower all students not to be encumbered by the weight of their socioeconomic status or ethnicity, I’m not sure what good it would do if the kids didn’t know how to do something relentlessly, over and over again, until they perfected it. Most teachers know that type of progress is very difficult to achieve inside the classroom, regardless of a student’s background, which is why, I imagine, Calarco, Horn and Chen found that most teachers weren’t thinking in a structural inequalities frame. Holistic ideas of education, in which learning is emphasized and students can explore concepts and ideas, are largely for the types of kids who don’t need to worry about class mobility. A defense of rote practice through homework might seem revanchist at this moment, but if we truly believe that schools should teach children lessons that fall outside the meritocracy, I can’t think of one that matters more than the simple satisfaction of mastering something that you were once bad at. That takes homework and the acknowledgment that sometimes a student can get a question wrong and, with proper instruction, eventually get it right.

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The great homework debate

by: Christina Tynan-Wood | Updated: June 15, 2024

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Your first grader is in the middle of a tea party with six of her stuffed animals. It seems to be going well, despite a recent argument between the stuffed giraffe and his zebra stepbrother. You are enjoying eavesdropping on the dialogue as you clean up the dinner dishes, but it’s time for homework. You dutifully get your child set up at her study spot and redirect her attention to a worksheet of math facts. “I hate homework!” she wails , after an hour of struggle and avoidance. Exhausted and frustrated, you are inclined to agree with her .

Your child is not the only one howling about this nightly ritual. The debate over homework has been going on for decades, with the pendulum swinging back and forth between more and less homework for American students. Adding new fuel to the debate is that today’s kids are getting more homework in earlier grades. “The amount of homework that younger kids – ages 6 to 9 – have to do has gone up astronomically since the late ’80s,” says Alfie Kohn, author of the 2006 book The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing .

Homework detractors point to research that shows homework has no demonstrated benefits for students in the early elementary grades. They say younger students are not developmentally ready to learn the time management and work habits that nightly homework is assumed to teach, and that having grades depend on homework penalizes low-income students who may not have the resources at home to support nightly study sessions. On the pro-homework side are educators and parents who say that homework is necessary for reinforcing the lessons learned during the school day and that doing homework prepares kids for the work they’ll have in middle school, high school, and college.

Too young for nightly homework

Kohn falls solidly in the no-homework camp. He argues that homework in the elementary school years is more likely to drive students away from learning than to improve academic outcomes. What’s more, he says, time spent on homework is time not spent doing important activities like play, rest, and family time. He’s not alone in his view.

“The research clearly shows that there is no correlation between academic achievement and homework, especially in the lower grades,” says Denise Pope, senior lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education and the author of the 2015 book, Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy Successful Kids .

“Homework only really helps in high school,” agrees Heather Shumaker, author of It’s OK to Go Up the Slide . “In elementary school, there is no evidence that it has academic benefit. And yet, we are piling it on more and more, younger and younger.”

Some elementary schools have made headlines in recent years by announcing no-homework policies. Gaithersburg Elementary School in Maryland issued a ban on homework in 2012, asking students to read at home each evening instead. Last year, the principal of New York elementary school P.S. 116 sent home a letter to parents explaining why students would not be assigned any homework.

But it’s not clear how widespread the trend is. “We tried to study what school districts have homework policies. But there are thousands of school districts in the U.S. It is very difficult to know what schools are doing,” says Gerald Le Tendre, Head of Education Policy Studies at Pennsylvania State University and co-author of Promoting and Sustaining a Quality Teacher Workforce .

The pro-homework camp

Parents are among the most vocal detractors of banning or reducing homework in the elementary school grades. “Some teachers would like to not give homework,” says Shumaker. “But they are pressured to do it by either by administrators or parents. Parents want what is best for their kids. And many of them think having homework is it.”

Le Tendre agrees. “The amount of homework gets equated with some sort of academic rigor,” he explains. “Though I have seen nothing to support that idea.” But that doesn’t mean that all work done at home is bad. “If you have a highly motivated kid who loves mathematics and loves spending hours every night on Kahn Academy, they can get substantial benefit from doing homework,” says Le Tendre.

Studies show that homework has positive effects for certain students under certain conditions. For example, students with learning disabilities can benefit from homework if they have the support they need to complete it. Middle and high school students benefit from doing homework, though high school students get more benefit more than middle schoolers, and more homework definitely isn’t better — too much homework (more than about an hour and a half a night for middle schoolers and more than two and a half hours for high schoolers) has been shown to negatively affect academic performance.

And if the assigned homework is to spend time reading for pleasure, no one is likely to argue with that. “One thing we know does have a correlation with academic achievement is free reading time,” says Pope. “We know that that is something we want schools to encourage.”

In praise of purposeful homework

Points and counterpoints aside, elementary school homework is probably not going to disappear any time soon. But that doesn’t mean that your child should struggle with those worksheets beyond a reasonable amount of time. The National PTA’s research-based recommendation is ten to twenty minutes of homework a night in first grade and an additional ten minutes per grade level thereafter. If your child’s homework takes longer than that, tell their teacher. (The teacher can’t know that homework is a tear-filled, hours-long event that is making your child dread school if you don’t tell her.) Work with the teacher to make sure that the homework your child receives is appropriate for them. Homework should be challenging enough to be thought-provoking, rather than just busy work, and your child should be able to complete it independently and successfully most of the time.

Make sure you understand the teacher’s goal for assigning homework. Is the purpose of a particular assignment to review a concept covered in class? Get extra practice at a skill your child is working on mastering? Explore a topic further, according to your child’s interest? When homework is purposeful and assigned in an amount and at a difficulty level that is appropriate for your child, it will likely be easier to incorporate into your home life — and less likely to negatively affect your child’s attitude toward school.

And happily, if your child’s homework is to read for pleasure, you won’t have to ask her to put away her toys and sit down to a worksheet. Ask her to read a story to her friends while they have tea instead. Everyone will be happier.

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Is homework a necessary evil?

After decades of debate, researchers are still sorting out the truth about homework’s pros and cons. One point they can agree on: Quality assignments matter.

By Kirsten Weir

March 2016, Vol 47, No. 3

Print version: page 36

• Schools and Classrooms

Homework battles have raged for decades. For as long as kids have been whining about doing their homework, parents and education reformers have complained that homework's benefits are dubious. Meanwhile many teachers argue that take-home lessons are key to helping students learn. Now, as schools are shifting to the new (and hotly debated) Common Core curriculum standards, educators, administrators and researchers are turning a fresh eye toward the question of homework's value.

But when it comes to deciphering the research literature on the subject, homework is anything but an open book.

The 10-minute rule

In many ways, homework seems like common sense. Spend more time practicing multiplication or studying Spanish vocabulary and you should get better at math or Spanish. But it may not be that simple.

Homework can indeed produce academic benefits, such as increased understanding and retention of the material, says Duke University social psychologist Harris Cooper, PhD, one of the nation's leading homework researchers. But not all students benefit. In a review of studies published from 1987 to 2003, Cooper and his colleagues found that homework was linked to better test scores in high school and, to a lesser degree, in middle school. Yet they found only faint evidence that homework provided academic benefit in elementary school ( Review of Educational Research , 2006).

Then again, test scores aren't everything. Homework proponents also cite the nonacademic advantages it might confer, such as the development of personal responsibility, good study habits and time-management skills. But as to hard evidence of those benefits, "the jury is still out," says Mollie Galloway, PhD, associate professor of educational leadership at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. "I think there's a focus on assigning homework because [teachers] think it has these positive outcomes for study skills and habits. But we don't know for sure that's the case."

Even when homework is helpful, there can be too much of a good thing. "There is a limit to how much kids can benefit from home study," Cooper says. He agrees with an oft-cited rule of thumb that students should do no more than 10 minutes a night per grade level — from about 10 minutes in first grade up to a maximum of about two hours in high school. Both the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Association support that limit.

Beyond that point, kids don't absorb much useful information, Cooper says. In fact, too much homework can do more harm than good. Researchers have cited drawbacks, including boredom and burnout toward academic material, less time for family and extracurricular activities, lack of sleep and increased stress.

In a recent study of Spanish students, Rubén Fernández-Alonso, PhD, and colleagues found that students who were regularly assigned math and science homework scored higher on standardized tests. But when kids reported having more than 90 to 100 minutes of homework per day, scores declined ( Journal of Educational Psychology , 2015).

"At all grade levels, doing other things after school can have positive effects," Cooper says. "To the extent that homework denies access to other leisure and community activities, it's not serving the child's best interest."

Children of all ages need down time in order to thrive, says Denise Pope, PhD, a professor of education at Stanford University and a co-founder of Challenge Success, a program that partners with secondary schools to implement policies that improve students' academic engagement and well-being.

"Little kids and big kids need unstructured time for play each day," she says. Certainly, time for physical activity is important for kids' health and well-being. But even time spent on social media can help give busy kids' brains a break, she says.

All over the map

But are teachers sticking to the 10-minute rule? Studies attempting to quantify time spent on homework are all over the map, in part because of wide variations in methodology, Pope says.

A 2014 report by the Brookings Institution examined the question of homework, comparing data from a variety of sources. That report cited findings from a 2012 survey of first-year college students in which 38.4 percent reported spending six hours or more per week on homework during their last year of high school. That was down from 49.5 percent in 1986 ( The Brown Center Report on American Education , 2014).

The Brookings report also explored survey data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which asked 9-, 13- and 17-year-old students how much homework they'd done the previous night. They found that between 1984 and 2012, there was a slight increase in homework for 9-year-olds, but homework amounts for 13- and 17-year-olds stayed roughly the same, or even decreased slightly.

Yet other evidence suggests that some kids might be taking home much more work than they can handle. Robert Pressman, PhD, and colleagues recently investigated the 10-minute rule among more than 1,100 students, and found that elementary-school kids were receiving up to three times as much homework as recommended. As homework load increased, so did family stress, the researchers found ( American Journal of Family Therapy , 2015).

Many high school students also seem to be exceeding the recommended amounts of homework. Pope and Galloway recently surveyed more than 4,300 students from 10 high-achieving high schools. Students reported bringing home an average of just over three hours of homework nightly ( Journal of Experiential Education , 2013).

On the positive side, students who spent more time on homework in that study did report being more behaviorally engaged in school — for instance, giving more effort and paying more attention in class, Galloway says. But they were not more invested in the homework itself. They also reported greater academic stress and less time to balance family, friends and extracurricular activities. They experienced more physical health problems as well, such as headaches, stomach troubles and sleep deprivation. "Three hours per night is too much," Galloway says.

In the high-achieving schools Pope and Galloway studied, more than 90 percent of the students go on to college. There's often intense pressure to succeed academically, from both parents and peers. On top of that, kids in these communities are often overloaded with extracurricular activities, including sports and clubs. "They're very busy," Pope says. "Some kids have up to 40 hours a week — a full-time job's worth — of extracurricular activities." And homework is yet one more commitment on top of all the others.

"Homework has perennially acted as a source of stress for students, so that piece of it is not new," Galloway says. "But especially in upper-middle-class communities, where the focus is on getting ahead, I think the pressure on students has been ratcheted up."

Yet homework can be a problem at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum as well. Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, Internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs, says Lea Theodore, PhD, a professor of school psychology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. They are less likely to have computers or a quiet place to do homework in peace.

"Homework can highlight those inequities," she says.

Quantity vs. quality

One point researchers agree on is that for all students, homework quality matters. But too many kids are feeling a lack of engagement with their take-home assignments, many experts say. In Pope and Galloway's research, only 20 percent to 30 percent of students said they felt their homework was useful or meaningful.

"Students are assigned a lot of busywork. They're naming it as a primary stressor, but they don't feel it's supporting their learning," Galloway says.

"Homework that's busywork is not good for anyone," Cooper agrees. Still, he says, different subjects call for different kinds of assignments. "Things like vocabulary and spelling are learned through practice. Other kinds of courses require more integration of material and drawing on different skills."

But critics say those skills can be developed with many fewer hours of homework each week. Why assign 50 math problems, Pope asks, when 10 would be just as constructive? One Advanced Placement biology teacher she worked with through Challenge Success experimented with cutting his homework assignments by a third, and then by half. "Test scores didn't go down," she says. "You can have a rigorous course and not have a crazy homework load."

Still, changing the culture of homework won't be easy. Teachers-to-be get little instruction in homework during their training, Pope says. And despite some vocal parents arguing that kids bring home too much homework, many others get nervous if they think their child doesn't have enough. "Teachers feel pressured to give homework because parents expect it to come home," says Galloway. "When it doesn't, there's this idea that the school might not be doing its job."

Galloway argues teachers and school administrators need to set clear goals when it comes to homework — and parents and students should be in on the discussion, too. "It should be a broader conversation within the community, asking what's the purpose of homework? Why are we giving it? Who is it serving? Who is it not serving?"

Until schools and communities agree to take a hard look at those questions, those backpacks full of take-home assignments will probably keep stirring up more feelings than facts.

Further reading

• Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76 (1), 1–62. doi: 10.3102/00346543076001001
• Galloway, M., Connor, J., & Pope, D. (2013). Nonacademic effects of homework in privileged, high-performing high schools. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81 (4), 490–510. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2012.745469
• Pope, D., Brown, M., & Miles, S. (2015). Overloaded and underprepared: Strategies for stronger schools and healthy, successful kids . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Credit: August de Richelieu

Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

Joyce epstein, co-director of the center on school, family, and community partnerships, discusses why homework is essential, how to maximize its benefit to learners, and what the 'no-homework' approach gets wrong.

By Vicky Hallett

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein , co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools , which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program. For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions:

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education. By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas. To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way. Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools , a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on "no homework" policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level. "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement . However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school. One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

Posted in Voices+Opinion

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Should homework be banned?

Social media has sparked into life about whether children should be given homework - should students be freed from this daily chore? Dr Gerald Letendre, a professor of education at Pennsylvania State University, investigates.

We’ve all done it: pretended to leave an essay at home, or stayed up until 2am to finish a piece of coursework we’ve been ignoring for weeks. Homework, for some people, is seen as a chore that’s ‘wrecking kids’ or ‘killing parents’, while others think it is an essential part of a well-rounded education. The problem is far from new: public debates about homework have been raging since at least the early-1900s, and recently spilled over into a Twitter feud between Gary Lineker and Piers Morgan.

Ironically, the conversation surrounding homework often ignores the scientific ‘homework’ that researchers have carried out. Many detailed studies have been conducted, and can guide parents, teachers and administrators to make sensible decisions about how much work should be completed by students outside of the classroom.

So why does homework stir up such strong emotions? One reason is that, by its very nature, it is an intrusion of schoolwork into family life. I carried out a study in 2005, and found that the amount of time that children and adolescents spend in school, from nursery right up to the end of compulsory education, has greatly increased over the last century . This means that more of a child’s time is taken up with education, so family time is reduced. This increases pressure on the boundary between the family and the school.

Plus, the amount of homework that students receive appears to be increasing, especially in the early years when parents are keen for their children to play with friends and spend time with the family.

Finally, success in school has become increasingly important to success in life. Parents can use homework to promote, or exercise control over, their child’s academic trajectory, and hopefully ensure their future educational success. But this often leaves parents conflicted – they want their children to be successful in school, but they don’t want them to be stressed or upset because of an unmanageable workload.

However, the issue isn’t simply down to the opinions of parents, children and their teachers – governments also like to get involved. In the autumn of 2012, French president François Hollande hit world headlines after making a comment about banning homework, ostensibly because it promoted inequality. The Chinese government has also toyed with a ban, because of concerns about excessive academic pressure being put on children.

The problem is, some politicians and national administrators regard regulatory policy in education as a solution for a wide array of social, economic and political issues, perhaps without considering the consequences for students and parents.

Does homework work?

Homework seems to generally have a positive effect for high school students, according to an extensive range of empirical literature. For example, Duke University’s Prof Harris Cooper carried out a meta-analysis using data from US schools, covering a period from 1987 to 2003. He found that homework offered a general beneficial impact on test scores and improvements in attitude, with a greater effect seen in older students. But dig deeper into the issue and a complex set of factors quickly emerges, related to how much homework students do, and exactly how they feel about it.

In 2009, Prof Ulrich Trautwein and his team at the University of Tübingen found that in order to establish whether homework is having any effect, researchers must take into account the differences both between and within classes . For example, a teacher may assign a good deal of homework to a lower-level class, producing an association between more homework and lower levels of achievement. Yet, within the same class, individual students may vary significantly in how much homework improves their baseline performance. Plus, there is the fact that some students are simply more efficient at completing their homework than others, and it becomes quite difficult to pinpoint just what type of homework, and how much of it, will affect overall academic performance.

Over the last century, the amount of time that children and adolescents spend in school has greatly increased

Gender is also a major factor. For example, a study of US high school students carried out by Prof Gary Natriello in the 1980s revealed that girls devote more time to homework than boys, while a follow-up study found that US girls tend to spend more time on mathematics homework than boys. Another study, this time of African-American students in the US, found that eighth grade (ages 13-14) girls were more likely to successfully manage both their tasks and emotions around schoolwork, and were more likely to finish homework.

So why do girls seem to respond more positively to homework? One possible answer proposed by Eunsook Hong of the University of Nevada in 2011 is that teachers tend to rate girls’ habits and attitudes towards work more favourably than boys’. This perception could potentially set up a positive feedback loop between teacher expectations and the children’s capacity for academic work based on gender, resulting in girls outperforming boys. All of this makes it particularly difficult to determine the extent to which homework is helping, though it is clear that simply increasing the time spent on assignments does not directly correspond to a universal increase in learning.

Can homework cause damage?

The lack of empirical data supporting homework in the early years of education, along with an emerging trend to assign more work to this age range, appears to be fuelling parental concerns about potential negative effects. But, aside from anecdotes of increased tension in the household, is there any evidence of this? Can doing too much homework actually damage children?

Evidence suggests extreme amounts of homework can indeed have serious effects on students’ health and well-being. A Chinese study carried out in 2010 found a link between excessive homework and sleep disruption: children who had less homework had better routines and more stable sleep schedules. A Canadian study carried out in 2015 by Isabelle Michaud found that high levels of homework were associated with a greater risk of obesity among boys, if they were already feeling stressed about school in general.

For useful revision guides and video clips to assist with learning, visit BBC Bitesize . This is a free online study resource for UK students from early years up to GCSEs and Scottish Highers.

It is also worth noting that too much homework can create negative effects that may undermine any positives. These negative consequences may not only affect the child, but also could also pile on the stress for the whole family, according to a recent study by Robert Pressman of the New England Centre for Pediatric Psychology. Parents were particularly affected when their perception of their own capacity to assist their children decreased.

What then, is the tipping point, and when does homework simply become too much for parents and children? Guidelines typically suggest that children in the first grade (six years old) should have no more that 10 minutes per night, and that this amount should increase by 10 minutes per school year. However, cultural norms may greatly affect what constitutes too much.

A study of children aged between 8 and 10 in Quebec defined high levels of homework as more than 30 minutes a night, but a study in China of children aged 5 to 11 deemed that two or more hours per night was excessive. It is therefore difficult to create a clear standard for what constitutes as too much homework, because cultural differences, school-related stress, and negative emotions within the family all appear to interact with how homework affects children.

Should we stop setting homework?

In my opinion, even though there are potential risks of negative effects, homework should not be banned. Small amounts, assigned with specific learning goals in mind and with proper parental support, can help to improve students’ performance. While some studies have generally found little evidence that homework has a positive effect on young children overall, a 2008 study by Norwegian researcher Marte Rønning found that even some very young children do receive some benefit. So simply banning homework would mean that any particularly gifted or motivated pupils would not be able to benefit from increased study. However, at the earliest ages, very little homework should be assigned. The decisions about how much and what type are best left to teachers and parents.

As a parent, it is important to clarify what goals your child’s teacher has for homework assignments. Teachers can assign work for different reasons – as an academic drill to foster better study habits, and unfortunately, as a punishment. The goals for each assignment should be made clear, and should encourage positive engagement with academic routines.

Parents should inform the teachers of how long the homework is taking, as teachers often incorrectly estimate the amount of time needed to complete an assignment, and how it is affecting household routines. For young children, positive teacher support and feedback is critical in establishing a student’s positive perception of homework and other academic routines. Teachers and parents need to be vigilant and ensure that homework routines do not start to generate patterns of negative interaction that erode students’ motivation.

Likewise, any positive effects of homework are dependent on several complex interactive factors, including the child’s personal motivation, the type of assignment, parental support and teacher goals. Creating an overarching policy to address every single situation is not realistic, and so homework policies tend to be fixated on the time the homework takes to complete. But rather than focusing on this, everyone would be better off if schools worked on fostering stronger communication between parents, teachers and students, allowing them to respond more sensitively to the child’s emotional and academic needs.

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Homework could have an impact on kids’ health. Should schools ban it?

Professor of Education, Penn State

Disclosure statement

Gerald K. LeTendre has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

Penn State provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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Reformers in the Progressive Era (from the 1890s to 1920s) depicted homework as a “sin” that deprived children of their playtime . Many critics voice similar concerns today.

Yet there are many parents who feel that from early on, children need to do homework if they are to succeed in an increasingly competitive academic culture. School administrators and policy makers have also weighed in, proposing various policies on homework .

So, does homework help or hinder kids?

For the last 10 years, my colleagues and I have been investigating international patterns in homework using databases like the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) . If we step back from the heated debates about homework and look at how homework is used around the world, we find the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher social inequality.

Does homework result in academic success?

Let’s first look at the global trends on homework.

Undoubtedly, homework is a global phenomenon ; students from all 59 countries that participated in the 2007 Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS) reported getting homework. Worldwide, only less than 7% of fourth graders said they did no homework.

TIMSS is one of the few data sets that allow us to compare many nations on how much homework is given (and done). And the data show extreme variation.

For example, in some nations, like Algeria, Kuwait and Morocco, more than one in five fourth graders reported high levels of homework. In Japan, less than 3% of students indicated they did more than four hours of homework on a normal school night.

TIMSS data can also help to dispel some common stereotypes. For instance, in East Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan – countries that had the top rankings on TIMSS average math achievement – reported rates of heavy homework that were below the international mean.

In the Netherlands, nearly one out of five fourth graders reported doing no homework on an average school night, even though Dutch fourth graders put their country in the top 10 in terms of average math scores in 2007.

Going by TIMSS data, the US is neither “ A Nation at Rest” as some have claimed, nor a nation straining under excessive homework load . Fourth and eighth grade US students fall in the middle of the 59 countries in the TIMSS data set, although only 12% of US fourth graders reported high math homework loads compared to an international average of 21%.

So, is homework related to high academic success?

At a national level, the answer is clearly no. Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement .

But, the TIMSS can’t be used to determine if homework is actually helping or hurting academic performance overall , it can help us see how much homework students are doing, and what conditions are associated with higher national levels of homework.

We have typically found that the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher levels of social inequality – not hallmarks that most countries would want to emulate.

Impact of homework on kids

TIMSS data also show us how even elementary school kids are being burdened with large amounts of homework.

Almost 10% of fourth graders worldwide (one in 10 children) reported spending multiple hours on homework each night. Globally, one in five fourth graders report 30 minutes or more of homework in math three to four times a week.

These reports of large homework loads should worry parents, teachers and policymakers alike.

Empirical studies have linked excessive homework to sleep disruption , indicating a negative relationship between the amount of homework, perceived stress and physical health.

What constitutes excessive amounts of homework varies by age, and may also be affected by cultural or family expectations. Young adolescents in middle school, or teenagers in high school, can study for longer duration than elementary school children.

But for elementary school students, even 30 minutes of homework a night, if combined with other sources of academic stress, can have a negative impact . Researchers in China have linked homework of two or more hours per night with sleep disruption .

Even though some cultures may normalize long periods of studying for elementary age children, there is no evidence to support that this level of homework has clear academic benefits . Also, when parents and children conflict over homework, and strong negative emotions are created, homework can actually have a negative association with academic achievement.

Should there be “no homework” policies?

Administrators and policymakers have not been reluctant to wade into the debates on homework and to formulate policies . France’s president, Francois Hollande, even proposed that homework be banned because it may have inegaliatarian effects.

However, “zero-tolerance” homework policies for schools, or nations, are likely to create as many problems as they solve because of the wide variation of homework effects. Contrary to what Hollande said, research suggests that homework is not a likely source of social class differences in academic achievement .

Homework, in fact, is an important component of education for students in the middle and upper grades of schooling.

Policymakers and researchers should look more closely at the connection between poverty, inequality and higher levels of homework. Rather than seeing homework as a “solution,” policymakers should question what facets of their educational system might impel students, teachers and parents to increase homework loads.

At the classroom level, in setting homework, teachers need to communicate with their peers and with parents to assure that the homework assigned overall for a grade is not burdensome, and that it is indeed having a positive effect.

Perhaps, teachers can opt for a more individualized approach to homework. If teachers are careful in selecting their assignments – weighing the student’s age, family situation and need for skill development – then homework can be tailored in ways that improve the chance of maximum positive impact for any given student.

I strongly suspect that when teachers face conditions such as pressure to meet arbitrary achievement goals, lack of planning time or little autonomy over curriculum, homework becomes an easy option to make up what could not be covered in class.

Whatever the reason, the fact is a significant percentage of elementary school children around the world are struggling with large homework loads. That alone could have long-term negative consequences for their academic success.

• Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
• Elementary school
• Academic success

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Are You Down With or Done With Homework?

• Posted January 17, 2012
• By Lory Hough

The debate over how much schoolwork students should be doing at home has flared again, with one side saying it's too much, the other side saying in our competitive world, it's just not enough.

It was a move that doesn't happen very often in American public schools: The principal got rid of homework.

This past September, Stephanie Brant, principal of Gaithersburg Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Md., decided that instead of teachers sending kids home with math worksheets and spelling flash cards, students would instead go home and read. Every day for 30 minutes, more if they had time or the inclination, with parents or on their own.

"I knew this would be a big shift for my community," she says. But she also strongly believed it was a necessary one. Twenty-first-century learners, especially those in elementary school, need to think critically and understand their own learning — not spend night after night doing rote homework drills.

Brant's move may not be common, but she isn't alone in her questioning. The value of doing schoolwork at home has gone in and out of fashion in the United States among educators, policymakers, the media, and, more recently, parents. As far back as the late 1800s, with the rise of the Progressive Era, doctors such as Joseph Mayer Rice began pushing for a limit on what he called "mechanical homework," saying it caused childhood nervous conditions and eyestrain. Around that time, the then-influential Ladies Home Journal began publishing a series of anti-homework articles, stating that five hours of brain work a day was "the most we should ask of our children," and that homework was an intrusion on family life. In response, states like California passed laws abolishing homework for students under a certain age.

But, as is often the case with education, the tide eventually turned. After the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, a space race emerged, and, writes Brian Gill in the journal Theory Into Practice, "The homework problem was reconceived as part of a national crisis; the U.S. was losing the Cold War because Russian children were smarter." Many earlier laws limiting homework were abolished, and the longterm trend toward less homework came to an end.

The debate re-emerged a decade later when parents of the late '60s and '70s argued that children should be free to play and explore — similar anti-homework wellness arguments echoed nearly a century earlier. By the early-1980s, however, the pendulum swung again with the publication of A Nation at Risk , which blamed poor education for a "rising tide of mediocrity." Students needed to work harder, the report said, and one way to do this was more homework.

For the most part, this pro-homework sentiment is still going strong today, in part because of mandatory testing and continued economic concerns about the nation's competitiveness. Many believe that today's students are falling behind their peers in places like Korea and Finland and are paying more attention to Angry Birds than to ancient Babylonia.

But there are also a growing number of Stephanie Brants out there, educators and parents who believe that students are stressed and missing out on valuable family time. Students, they say, particularly younger students who have seen a rise in the amount of take-home work and already put in a six- to nine-hour "work" day, need less, not more homework.

Who is right? Are students not working hard enough or is homework not working for them? Here's where the story gets a little tricky: It depends on whom you ask and what research you're looking at. As Cathy Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework , points out, "Homework has generated enough research so that a study can be found to support almost any position, as long as conflicting studies are ignored." Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth and a strong believer in eliminating all homework, writes that, "The fact that there isn't anything close to unanimity among experts belies the widespread assumption that homework helps." At best, he says, homework shows only an association, not a causal relationship, with academic achievement. In other words, it's hard to tease out how homework is really affecting test scores and grades. Did one teacher give better homework than another? Was one teacher more effective in the classroom? Do certain students test better or just try harder?

"It is difficult to separate where the effect of classroom teaching ends," Vatterott writes, "and the effect of homework begins."

Putting research aside, however, much of the current debate over homework is focused less on how homework affects academic achievement and more on time. Parents in particular have been saying that the amount of time children spend in school, especially with afterschool programs, combined with the amount of homework given — as early as kindergarten — is leaving students with little time to run around, eat dinner with their families, or even get enough sleep.

Certainly, for some parents, homework is a way to stay connected to their children's learning. But for others, homework creates a tug-of-war between parents and children, says Liz Goodenough, M.A.T.'71, creator of a documentary called Where Do the Children Play?

"Ideally homework should be about taking something home, spending a few curious and interesting moments in which children might engage with parents, and then getting that project back to school — an organizational triumph," she says. "A nag-free activity could engage family time: Ask a parent about his or her own childhood. Interview siblings."

Instead, as the authors of The Case Against Homework write, "Homework overload is turning many of us into the types of parents we never wanted to be: nags, bribers, and taskmasters."

Leslie Butchko saw it happen a few years ago when her son started sixth grade in the Santa Monica-Malibu (Calif.) United School District. She remembers him getting two to four hours of homework a night, plus weekend and vacation projects. He was overwhelmed and struggled to finish assignments, especially on nights when he also had an extracurricular activity.

"Ultimately, we felt compelled to have Bobby quit karate — he's a black belt — to allow more time for homework," she says. And then, with all of their attention focused on Bobby's homework, she and her husband started sending their youngest to his room so that Bobby could focus. "One day, my younger son gave us 15-minute coupons as a present for us to use to send him to play in the back room. … It was then that we realized there had to be something wrong with the amount of homework we were facing."

Butchko joined forces with another mother who was having similar struggles and ultimately helped get the homework policy in her district changed, limiting homework on weekends and holidays, setting time guidelines for daily homework, and broadening the definition of homework to include projects and studying for tests. As she told the school board at one meeting when the policy was first being discussed, "In closing, I just want to say that I had more free time at Harvard Law School than my son has in middle school, and that is not in the best interests of our children."

One barrier that Butchko had to overcome initially was convincing many teachers and parents that more homework doesn't necessarily equal rigor.

"Most of the parents that were against the homework policy felt that students need a large quantity of homework to prepare them for the rigorous AP classes in high school and to get them into Harvard," she says.

Stephanie Conklin, Ed.M.'06, sees this at Another Course to College, the Boston pilot school where she teaches math. "When a student is not completing [his or her] homework, parents usually are frustrated by this and agree with me that homework is an important part of their child's learning," she says.

As Timothy Jarman, Ed.M.'10, a ninth-grade English teacher at Eugene Ashley High School in Wilmington, N.C., says, "Parents think it is strange when their children are not assigned a substantial amount of homework."

That's because, writes Vatterott, in her chapter, "The Cult(ure) of Homework," the concept of homework "has become so engrained in U.S. culture that the word homework is part of the common vernacular."

These days, nightly homework is a given in American schools, writes Kohn.

"Homework isn't limited to those occasions when it seems appropriate and important. Most teachers and administrators aren't saying, 'It may be useful to do this particular project at home,'" he writes. "Rather, the point of departure seems to be, 'We've decided ahead of time that children will have to do something every night (or several times a week). … This commitment to the idea of homework in the abstract is accepted by the overwhelming majority of schools — public and private, elementary and secondary."

Brant had to confront this when she cut homework at Gaithersburg Elementary.

"A lot of my parents have this idea that homework is part of life. This is what I had to do when I was young," she says, and so, too, will our kids. "So I had to shift their thinking." She did this slowly, first by asking her teachers last year to really think about what they were sending home. And this year, in addition to forming a parent advisory group around the issue, she also holds events to answer questions.

Still, not everyone is convinced that homework as a given is a bad thing. "Any pursuit of excellence, be it in sports, the arts, or academics, requires hard work. That our culture finds it okay for kids to spend hours a day in a sport but not equal time on academics is part of the problem," wrote one pro-homework parent on the blog for the documentary Race to Nowhere , which looks at the stress American students are under. "Homework has always been an issue for parents and children. It is now and it was 20 years ago. I think when people decide to have children that it is their responsibility to educate them," wrote another.

And part of educating them, some believe, is helping them develop skills they will eventually need in adulthood. "Homework can help students develop study skills that will be of value even after they leave school," reads a publication on the U.S. Department of Education website called Homework Tips for Parents. "It can teach them that learning takes place anywhere, not just in the classroom. … It can foster positive character traits such as independence and responsibility. Homework can teach children how to manage time."

Annie Brown, Ed.M.'01, feels this is particularly critical at less affluent schools like the ones she has worked at in Boston, Cambridge, Mass., and Los Angeles as a literacy coach.

"It feels important that my students do homework because they will ultimately be competing for college placement and jobs with students who have done homework and have developed a work ethic," she says. "Also it will get them ready for independently taking responsibility for their learning, which will need to happen for them to go to college."

The problem with this thinking, writes Vatterott, is that homework becomes a way to practice being a worker.

"Which begs the question," she writes. "Is our job as educators to produce learners or workers?"

Slate magazine editor Emily Bazelon, in a piece about homework, says this makes no sense for younger kids.

"Why should we think that practicing homework in first grade will make you better at doing it in middle school?" she writes. "Doesn't the opposite seem equally plausible: that it's counterproductive to ask children to sit down and work at night before they're developmentally ready because you'll just make them tired and cross?"

Kohn writes in the American School Board Journal that this "premature exposure" to practices like homework (and sit-and-listen lessons and tests) "are clearly a bad match for younger children and of questionable value at any age." He calls it BGUTI: Better Get Used to It. "The logic here is that we have to prepare you for the bad things that are going to be done to you later … by doing them to you now."

According to a recent University of Michigan study, daily homework for six- to eight-year-olds increased on average from about 8 minutes in 1981 to 22 minutes in 2003. A review of research by Duke University Professor Harris Cooper found that for elementary school students, "the average correlation between time spent on homework and achievement … hovered around zero."

So should homework be eliminated? Of course not, say many Ed School graduates who are teaching. Not only would students not have time for essays and long projects, but also teachers would not be able to get all students to grade level or to cover critical material, says Brett Pangburn, Ed.M.'06, a sixth-grade English teacher at Excel Academy Charter School in Boston. Still, he says, homework has to be relevant.

"Kids need to practice the skills being taught in class, especially where, like the kids I teach at Excel, they are behind and need to catch up," he says. "Our results at Excel have demonstrated that kids can catch up and view themselves as in control of their academic futures, but this requires hard work, and homework is a part of it."

Ed School Professor Howard Gardner basically agrees.

"America and Americans lurch between too little homework in many of our schools to an excess of homework in our most competitive environments — Li'l Abner vs. Tiger Mother," he says. "Neither approach makes sense. Homework should build on what happens in class, consolidating skills and helping students to answer new questions."

So how can schools come to a happy medium, a way that allows teachers to cover everything they need while not overwhelming students? Conklin says she often gives online math assignments that act as labs and students have two or three days to complete them, including some in-class time. Students at Pangburn's school have a 50-minute silent period during regular school hours where homework can be started, and where teachers pull individual or small groups of students aside for tutoring, often on that night's homework. Afterschool homework clubs can help.

Some schools and districts have adapted time limits rather than nix homework completely, with the 10-minute per grade rule being the standard — 10 minutes a night for first-graders, 30 minutes for third-graders, and so on. (This remedy, however, is often met with mixed results since not all students work at the same pace.) Other schools offer an extended day that allows teachers to cover more material in school, in turn requiring fewer take-home assignments. And for others, like Stephanie Brant's elementary school in Maryland, more reading with a few targeted project assignments has been the answer.

"The routine of reading is so much more important than the routine of homework," she says. "Let's have kids reflect. You can still have the routine and you can still have your workspace, but now it's for reading. I often say to parents, if we can put a man on the moon, we can put a man or woman on Mars and that person is now a second-grader. We don't know what skills that person will need. At the end of the day, we have to feel confident that we're giving them something they can use on Mars."

Read a January 2014 update.

Homework Policy Still Going Strong

Ed. Magazine

The magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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21 Reasons Why Homework Should Be Banned

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

The homework debate has strong arguments on both sides. Commonly-cited reasons why homework should be banned include the idea that it is often counterproductive, stifles students’ creativity, and limits their freedom outside the classroom.

Students already have up to 7 hours of schoolwork to complete 5 days a week; adding more contributes to increased anxiety, burnout, and overall poor performance.

But arguments for homework include the fact it does increase student grades (Cooper, Robinson & Patall, 2006), it instils discipline, and it helps to reinforce what was learned into long-term memory.

The following are common arguments for banning homework – note that this is an article written to stimulate debate points on the topic, so it only presents one perspective. For the other side of the argument, it’s worth checking out my article on the 27 pros and cons of homework .

Reasons Why Homework Should Be Banned

1. it contributes to increased anxiety.

If there’s one word that describes middle-school and high-school students, it’s anxiety. In my homework statistics article , I cite research showing that 74% of students cite homework as a source of stress.

They have so much to juggle, from the novelty of adolescence to the realization that they must soon start preparing for college and their life after (Pressman et al., 2015).

It’s a lot to manage, and adding homework that reduces their free time and makes them even more restricted is downright harmful. The natural outcome of this dogpile of pressure is anxiety, and many students often feel overwhelmed, both by the hours and hours of coursework in a day and the extensive homework they are assigned (Galloway, Conner & Pope, 2013).

Because teachers often don’t communicate with one another over curricula, major assignments can overlap such that students have to tackle numerous large projects at once, which contributes to severe anxiety over good grades.

In response to this, some students check out of school entirely, letting their academic future go to waste. While, of course, it’s not fair to strawman and say that homework is to blame for all these cases, it may indeed by a contributing factor.

2. It Offers Less Social Time

Homework cuts out free time. Children already spend the better part of their day learning in a school environment, and when they come home, they need to socialize.

Whether it’s family or friends, a social balance is important. Depending on the coursework they’re assigned, homework can detrimentally affect students’ social life, which feed back into more of our first gripe about homework: its anxiety-inducing nature.

Furthermore, social time is extremely important for children to grow up well-balanced and confident. If a child is highly intelligent (book smart) but lacks to social skills we might call street smarts , they may struggle in adulthood.

3. It Detracts from Play Time

Play is extremely important for children’s physical, social, and cognitive development . In fact, children naturally learn through play .

So, when children get home from school, they need a few hours to play. They’re actually learning when playing! If playing with friends, they’re learning social skills; but playing alone also stimulates creative and analytical thinking skills.

Play is also a different type of learning than the learning that commonly happens at school. So, allowing children to play at home gives their brain a break from ‘school learning’ and lets them learn through active and even relaxing methods.

4. It Discourages Physical Exercise and Contributes to Obesity

Exercise is an important part of life for everyone, but especially for children. Developing a positive self-image and disciplining oneself is an important skill to learn, one that becomes much more difficult when homework is in the picture.

Homework can demand a lot of attention that kids could be spending exercising or socializing. These two important life pursuits can be left by the wayside, leaving students feeling confused, depressed, and anxious about the future.

Physical exercise should be considered a key feature of a child’s holistic development. It helps keep children healthy, can reduce anxiety, and support healthy immune systems. It also helps with physical development such as supporting fine and gross motor skills .

In fact, some scholars (Ren et al., 2017) have even identified excessive homework as a contributing factor for childhood obesity.

5. It Disrupts Sleep Patterns

Everyone knows the trope of a college student staying up late to finish their homework or cram for a test.

While it would be unfair to credit homework exclusively for an unhealthy sleep schedule, the constant pressure to finish assignments on time often yields one of two results.

Students can either burn the midnight oil to make sure their homework is done, or they can check out of school entirely and ignore their academic interests. Neither is an acceptable way to live.

This point is particularly pertinent to teenagers. They are not lazy; teens need 12-13 hours of sleep every day because their bodies are changing so dramatically.

To pile additional homework on them that interferes with the circadian rhythm is not just unhelpful—it may be downright harmful (Yeo et al., 2020).

6. It Involves Less Guidance

If there’s one thing that’s beneficial about the in-person learning experience, it’s the ability to raise one’s hand and let the teacher know when something is unclear or difficult to understand.

That handheld process isn’t available for homework; in fact, homework matters little in the grand scheme of learning. It’s just busywork that’s supposed to help students consolidate their knowledge.

In reality, homework becomes something that students resent and can fill them with feelings of frustration—something that would be much more readily addressed if the same content was covered in-person with a teacher to guide the student through the assignment.

7. It’s Regularly Rote Learning

In most subjects, homework isn’t reflective of the skills students need to learn to thrive in the workforce. Instead, it often simply involves rote learning (repetition of tasks) that is not seen as the best way to learn.

A main goal of education is to train up vocational professionals with defined skills. But more often than not, homework winds up as a bland set of word problems that have no basis in the real world.

Walking through real-world examples under the guidance of a teacher is much more beneficial to student learning.

8. It Can Detract from a Love of Learning

If you know what it’s like to doze off during a boring class or meeting, then you can relate to the difficulty students have paying attention in class.

That motivation starts to dwindle when students must complete assignments on their own time, often under immense pressure.

It’s not a healthy way to inspire kids to learn about different subjects and develop a love of learning.

Students already need to sit through hours and hours of class on end in-person. This learning time should be used more effectively to eliminate the need for home.

When children finally get out of class at the end of the day, they need to socialize and exercise, not spend even longer staring at a book to complete a bunch of unhelpful practice questions.

9. It Convolutes the Subject

Another important consideration about homework is that it can often be counterproductive.

That’s because teachers don’t always use the full curriculum material for their teaching, and they may choose to develop their own homework rather than to use the resources offered by the curriculum provider.

This homework can often be off-subject, extremely niche, or unhelpful in explaining a subject that students are studying.

Students who don’t understand a subject and don’t have resources to rely on will eventually give up. That risk becomes even more prevalent when you factor in the scope, complexity, and type of assignment.

Students need to be taught in a safe environment where they can feel free to ask questions and learn at their own pace. Of course, there’s no fairytale way to perfect this ideal, but what is clear is that homework is not beneficial to the learning environment for many students.

10. It’s Not What Kids Want

Lastly, homework should be banned because it’s generally not what students want. From elementary to college level, most students harbor some sort of resentment towards homework.

It might be easy to dismiss this to say that the students “aren’t living in the real world.” The truth of the matter is that the real world is a lot more nuanced, creative, and diverse than the repetitive, broad, and often stagnant homework.

It’s easy to understand why most students wish that more time in school had been spent on learning how to live rather than trying to figure out how many apples Johnny had. Subjects like car maintenance, entrepreneurship, computer skills, socialization, networking, tax filing, finances, and survival are touched on at best and ignored at worst.

It’s not enough for students to be able to regurgitate information on a piece of paper; in the end, the education system should teach them how to be self-sufficient, something that might be much easier to do if resources were divested from homework and poured into more beneficial subject material.

Consider these 11 Additional Reasons

• Decreases time with parents – Homework may prevent parents and children from spending quality time together.
• Hidden costs – Families often feel pressure to purchase internet and other resources to help their children to complete their homework.
• Is inequitable – some children have parents to help them while others don’t. Similarly, some children have internet access to help while others don’t (see: Kralovec & Buell, 2001).
• Easy to cheat – Unsupervised homework time makes it easy for children to simply cheat on their work so they can get on with play time!
• Lack of downtime – Children need time where they aren’t doing anything. Time that is unstructured helps them to develop hobbies and interests .
• Detracts from reading – Children could be spending their time reading books and developing their imaginations rather than working on repetitive homework tasks.
• Take up parental time – Parents, who have just spent all day working, are increasingly expected to spend their time doing ‘teaching’ with their children at home.
• Discourages club membership – If children are too busy with homework, they may not be able to join clubs and sporting groups that can help them make friends and develop extracurricular skills.
• Makes it hard for college students to make a living – In college, where homework is extensive, students often can’t juggle homework with their weekend and night-time jobs. As a result, it pushes them further into student poverty.
• Contributes to poor work-life culture – From early ages, we’re sending a message to children that they should take their work home with them. This can spill over into the workplace, where they’ll be expected to continue working for their company even after the workday ends.
• Can reinforce faulty learning – When children learn in isolation during homework time, they may end up practicing their work completely wrong! They need intermittent support to make sure their practice is taking them down the right path.

Students may need to demonstrate their understanding of a topic to progress; that, at least, is a reflection of the real world. What’s not helpful is when students are peppered day and night with information that they need to regurgitate on a piece of paper.

For positive outcomes to come from homework, parents and teachers need to work together. It depends a lot on the type of homework provided as well as the age of the student and the need to balance homework with time to do other things in your life.

Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987–2003.  Review of educational research ,  76 (1), 1-62.

Galloway, M., Conner, J., & Pope, D. (2013). Nonacademic effects of homework in privileged, high-performing high schools.  The journal of experimental education ,  81 (4), 490-510. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2012.745469

Kralovec, E., & Buell, J. (2001).  The end of homework: How homework disrupts families, overburdens children, and limits learning . Beacon Press.

Pressman, R. M., Sugarman, D. B., Nemon, M. L., Desjarlais, J., Owens, J. A., & Schettini-Evans, A. (2015). Homework and family stress: With consideration of parents’ self confidence, educational level, and cultural background.  The American Journal of Family Therapy ,  43 (4), 297-313. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2015.1061407

Ren, H., Zhou, Z., Liu, W., Wang, X., & Yin, Z. (2017). Excessive homework, inadequate sleep, physical inactivity and screen viewing time are major contributors to high paediatric obesity.  Acta Paediatrica ,  106 (1), 120-127. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13640

Yeo, S. C., Tan, J., Lo, J. C., Chee, M. W., & Gooley, J. J. (2020). Associations of time spent on homework or studying with nocturnal sleep behavior and depression symptoms in adolescents from Singapore.  Sleep Health ,  6 (6), 758-766. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2020.04.011

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5 thoughts on “21 Reasons Why Homework Should Be Banned”

very helpful website thanks

my topic on publics speaking is on banning homework it really helps

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Pros and cons of school assignments: Should kids have homework?

Do you think homework is good for kids? Should it be abolished? Find out the pros and cons of homework for students and join our education poll and debate. 

Should kids have homework? 

Pros and cons of homework.

Some researchers have identified a strong correlation between homework and academic success. Harris  Cooper, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, led a  meta-analysis  in 2006, " Does homework improve academic achievement?, " which showed that homework can improve students' scores on class tests. The study demonstrated that accross different topics, including Math, English, American History, and Social studies, student who had done homework performed better than their classmates who had not. 

In addition to improving grades and results in standardized tests, there are many other pros to homework such as:

• Homework provides parents with the opportunity to participate in their children's education.
• Possibility for kids to further explore a subject at their own pace. Not all children have the same capacity to assimilate all the information covered in class.
• School assignments can help develop a sense of responsibility and time management.
• It facilitates rote learning.
• It reduces the time kids spend watching TV as well as playing video games and with their cell phones .
• Homework is an opportunity to practice some research and study skills and deepen understanding of some concepts which cannot be fully developed in class.

However, some voices have started to point out some disadvantages of doing homework and questioned the traditional education model in place. Some of them claim that homework should be abolished. The publication   “The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning” by Kralovec and Buell (2000) has brought into the discussion a very interesting new angle. Kralovec and Buell argue that homework contributes to a competitive culture that overvalues work to the detriment of personal and family well-being . Moreover, there are several other problems associated to homework, such as:

• Homework is very unfair because economically disadvantaged students can’t study at home with the same conditions and support as the wealthier children.
• Too many school  assignments  can excessively reduce the time for playing, doing sports or simply interacting socially with friends and family. Homework can also interfere with kids' household chores .
• Cheating is easy. Often students simply plagiarize their assignments from others or from the Internet and therefore the learning objectives of homework are not fulfilled. In occasions parents or older relatives do children's coursework.
• Sometimes homework is not well designed and do not really contribute to learning. In other cases homework is not marked shortly after being submitted and, therefore, feedback does not reach students as soon as it should. Students may get frustrated and lose interest.
•  It may keep students up late at night, reduce their sleeping time and therefore their performance in class the following day.
• As Galloway et al (2013) show, homework can be a source of stress and physical health problems for children.

To summarize, there are several pros and cons to the use of homework as educational tool for children. What side of the debate are you on? Do you think homework is overall good or bad for the development and education of children? Vote and tell us why (see below).

Watch these videos on the homework debate:

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Is Homework Valuable or Not? Try Looking at Quality Instead

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Is there an end in sight to the “homework wars?”

Homework is one those never-ending debates in K-12 circles that re-emerges every few years, bringing with it a new collection of headlines. Usually they bemoan how much homework students have, or highlight districts and even states that have sought to cap or eliminate homework .

Now, a new analysis from the Center for American Progress suggests a more fruitful way of thinking about this problem. Maybe, it suggests, what we should be doing is looking at what students are routinely being asked to do in take-home assignments, how well that homework supports their learning goals (or doesn’t), and make changes from there.

The analysis of nearly 200 pieces of homework concludes that much of what students are asked to do aligns to the Common Core State Standards—a testament to how pervasive the standards are in the U.S. education system, even though many states have tweaked, renamed, or replaced them. However, most of the homework embodied basic, procedural components of the standards, rather than the more difficult skills—such as analyzing or extending their knowledge to new problems.

“We were surprised by the degree of alignment. And we were also surprised by the degree that the homework was rote, and how much some of this stuff felt like Sudoku,” said Ulrich Boser, a senior fellow at CAP. “It made the homework debate make a lot more sense about why parents are frustrated.”

It is also similar to the findings of groups like the Education Trust, which have found that classwork tends to be aligned to state standards, but not all that rigorous.

Collecting Homework Samples

The CAP analysis appears to be one of the first studies to look at homework rigor using a national survey lens. Many studies of homework are based on one school or one district’s assignments, which obviously limits their applicability. Attempts to synthesize all this research have led to some hard-to-parse conclusions. One of the most cited studies concludes there’s some connection for grades 6-12 between homework and test scores, but less so for elementary students, and less of an impact on actual grades.

Another problem is that students’ experiences with homework seem to vary so dramatically: A Brookings Institution report based on survey data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress concluded that, while on average students aren’t overburdened by homework, a subset of students do appear to get hours upon hours.

The CAP analysis, instead, was based on getting a sample of parents from across the country to send in examples of their children’s homework. The researchers used MTurk, a crowdsourcing service offered by Amazon.com to recruit parents. Of the 372 parents who responded, the researchers got a pile of 187 useable assignments. Next, John Smithson, an emeritus researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had teams grade them on a taxonomy looking at both the content and the “cognitive demand,” or difficulty, of the work. The index fell on a 1 to 10 scale, with a score 4 to 6 range considered as “good” alignment.

The results? On average, math assignments fell within this range, while the ELA ones were slightly weaker, in the 3 to 5 range.

But the real eye-opening graphic is this one, which shows that by far the assignments were mostly low-level.

This makes some logical sense when you think about it. Just as with teaching and testing, it is much easier to write homework assignments prioritizing basic arithmetic drills and fill-in-the-blank vocabulary words than ones that get students to “prove” or “generalize” some tenet. (I suspect prepackaged curricula, too, probably lean more toward rote stuff than cognitively demanding exercises.)

Here’s another explanation: Many teachers believe homework should be for practicing known content, not learning something new. This is partially to help close the “homework gap” that surfaces because some students can access parent help or help via technology, while other students can’t. It’s possible that teachers are purposefully giving lower-level work to their students to take home for this reason.

To be sure, Boser said, it’s not that all lower-level work is intrinsically bad: Memorization does have a place in learning. But assignments like color-in-the-blank and word searches are probably just a waste of students’ time. “Homework assignments,” the study says, “should be thought-provoking.”

Study Limitations

The study does come with some significant limitations, so you must use caution in discussing its results. The surveyed population differs from the population at large, overrepresenting mothers over fathers and parents of K-5 students, and underrepresenting black parents. Also, the majority of the assignments the parents sent in came from the elementary grades.

The report makes suggestions on how districts can strategically improve the quality of their homework, rather than deciding to chuck it out altogether.

One is to is to audit homework assignments to make sure they’re actually useful at building some of the more difficult skills. Another is to extend the “curriculum revolution” of the last decade, which has focused more attention on the quality and alignment of textbooks and materials, to homework. A third is to use appropriate technology so students can access out-of-school supports for challenging homework.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.

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School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: June 19, 2024

Published: January 23, 2020

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

Photo by  energepic.com  from  Pexels

Why should students have homework.

Homework has been a long-standing part of the education system. It helps reinforce what students learn in the classroom, encourages good study habits, and promotes a deeper understanding of subjects. Studies have shown that homework can improve students’ grades and skills. Here are some reasons why homework is important:

1. Homework Encourages Practice

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

While homework has its benefits, there are also many arguments against it. Some believe that homework can cause increased stress, limit time for extracurricular activities, and reduce family time. Studies and expert opinions highlight the drawbacks of too much homework, showing how it can negatively affect students’ well-being and academic experience. Here are some reasons why homework might be bad:

1. Homework Encourages A Sedentary Lifestyle

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad.

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

FAQ Section

What are the benefits of assigning homework to students.

Homework reinforces what students learn in the classroom, helps develop good study habits, and promotes a deeper understanding of subjects. It also encourages practice, improves time management skills, and encourages parents to participate in their children’s education.

How much homework is too much for students?

Generally, it is recommended that students receive no more than 10 minutes of homework per grade level per day. For example, a first grader should have no more than 10 minutes of homework, while a fifth grader should have no more than 50 minutes.

What are the potential drawbacks of excessive homework assignments?

Excessive homework can lead to increased stress, a sedentary lifestyle, lack of free time for extracurricular activities, and diminished family time. It can also create a negative attitude towards school and learning.

How does homework impact students’ stress levels and well-being?

Too much homework can significantly increase stress levels and negatively affect students’ well-being. It can lead to anxiety, burnout, and reduced time for physical activity and relaxation.

Does homework promote independent thinking and problem-solving skills?

Yes, homework can promote independent thinking and problem-solving skills by encouraging students to tackle assignments on their own, manage their time effectively, and find solutions to problems without immediate assistance from teachers.

Are there any long-term effects of excessive homework on students?

Excessive homework over long periods can lead to chronic stress, burnout, and a negative attitude towards education. It can also hinder the development of social skills and reduce opportunities for self-discovery and creative pursuits.

How can technology enhance or supplement traditional homework practices?

Technology can provide interactive and engaging ways to complete homework, such as educational apps, online resources, and virtual collaboration tools. It can also offer personalized learning experiences and immediate feedback.

Are there any innovative approaches to homework that schools are adopting?

Some schools are adopting innovative approaches like flipped classrooms, where students watch lectures at home and do hands-on classroom activities. Project-based learning and personalized assignments tailored to individual student needs are also becoming more popular.

How do educators balance the workload with diverse student needs?

Educators can balance the workload by differentiating assignments, considering the individual needs and abilities of students, and providing flexible deadlines. Communication with students and parents helps to ensure that homework is manageable and effective for everyone.

At UoPeople, our blog writers are thinkers, researchers, and experts dedicated to curating articles relevant to our mission: making higher education accessible to everyone.

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Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, the homework debate: the case against homework.

This post has been updated as of December 2017.

It’s not uncommon to hear students, parents, and even some teachers always complaining about homework. Why, then, is homework an inescapable part of the student experience? Worksheets, busy work, and reading assignments continue to be a mainstay of students’ evenings.

Whether from habit or comparison with out-of-class work time in other nations, our students are getting homework and, according to some of them, a LOT of it. Educators and policy makers must ask themselves—does assigning homework pay off?

Is there evidence that homework benefits students younger than high school?

The Scholastic article Is Homework Bad? references Alfie Kohn’s book The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing , in which he says, “There is no evidence to demonstrate that homework benefits students below high school age.”

The article goes on to note that those who oppose homework focus on the drawbacks of significant time spent on homework, identifying one major negative as homework’s intrusion into family time. They also point out that opponents believe schools have decided homework is necessary and thus assign it simply to assign some kind of homework, not because doing the work meets specifically-identified student needs.

“Busy work” does not help students learn

Students and parents appear to carry similar critiques of homework, specifically regarding assignments identified as busy work—long sheets of repetitive math problems, word searches, or reading logs seemingly designed to make children dislike books.

When asked how homework can negatively affect children, Nancy Kalish, author of The Case Against Homework: How Homework is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It , says that many homework assignments are “simply busy work” that makes learning “a chore rather than a positive, constructive experience.”

Commenters on the piece, both parents and students, tended to agree. One student shared that on occasion they spent more time on homework than at school, while another commenter pointed out that, “We don’t give slow-working children a longer school day, but we consistently give them a longer homework day.”

Without feedback, homework is ineffective

The efficacy of the homework identified by Kalish has been studied by policy researchers as well. Gerald LeTendre, of Penn State’s Education Policy Studies department points out that the shotgun approach to homework, when students all receive the same photocopied assignment which is then checked as complete rather than discussed individually with the student, is “not very effective.”  He goes on to say that, “If there’s no feedback and no monitoring, the homework is probably not effective.”

Researchers from the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia had similar findings in their study, “ When Is Homework Worth The Time ?” According to UVAToday, these researchers reported no “substantive difference” in the grades of students related to homework completion.

As researcher Adam Maltese noted, “Our results hint that maybe homework is not being used as well as it could be.” The report further suggested that while not all homework is bad, the type and quality of assignments and their differentiation to specific learners appears to be an important point of future research.

If homework is assigned, it should heighten understanding of the subject

The Curry School of Education report did find a positive association between standardized test performance and time spent on homework, but standardized test performance shouldn’t be the end goal of assignments—a heightened understanding and capability with the content material should.

As such, it is important that if/when teachers assign homework assignments, it is done thoughtfully and carefully—and respectful of the maximum times suggested by the National Education Association, about 10 minutes per night starting in the first grade, with an additional 10 minutes per year after.

Continue reading — The Homework Debate: How Homework Benefits Students

Monica Fuglei is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a current adjunct faculty member of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, where she teaches composition and creative writing.

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25 Reasons Homework Should Be Banned (Busywork Arguments)

As students across the globe plow through heaps of homework each night, one question lingers in the minds of educators, parents, and students alike: should homework be banned?

This question is not new, yet it continues to spark lively debate as research findings, anecdotal evidence, and personal experiences paint a complex picture of the pros and cons of homework.

On one hand, proponents of homework argue that it reinforces classroom learning, encourages a disciplined work ethic, and provides teachers with valuable insight into student comprehension. They see homework as an extension of classroom instruction that solidifies and enriches learning while fostering important skills like time management and self-discipline. It also offers an opportunity for parents to be involved in their children's education.

However, some people say there are a lot of downsides. They argue that excessive homework can lead to stress and burnout, reduce time for extracurricular activities and family interactions, exacerbate educational inequalities, and even negatively impact students' mental health.

This article presents 25 reasons why we might need to seriously consider this radical shift in our educational approach. But first, lets share some examples of what homework actually is.

Examples of Homework

These examples cover a wide range of subjects and complexity levels, reflecting the variety of homework assignments students might encounter throughout their educational journey.

• Spelling lists to memorize for a test
• Math worksheets for practicing basic arithmetic operations
• Reading assignments from children's books
• Simple science projects like growing a plant
• Basic geography assignments like labeling a map
• Art projects like drawing a family portrait
• Writing book reports or essays
• Advanced math problems
• Research projects on various topics
• Lab reports for science experiments
• Reading and responding to literature
• Preparing presentations on various topics
• Advanced math problems involving calculus or algebra
• Reading classic literature and writing analytical essays
• Research papers on historical events
• Lab reports for advanced science experiments
• Foreign language exercises
• Preparing for standardized tests
• College application essays
• Extensive research papers
• In-depth case studies
• Advanced problem-solving in subjects like physics, engineering, etc.
• Thesis or dissertation writing
• Extensive reading and literature reviews
• Internship or practicum experiences

Lack of proven benefits

Homework has long been a staple of traditional education, dating back centuries. However, the actual efficacy of homework in enhancing learning outcomes remains disputed. A number of studies indicate that there's no conclusive evidence supporting the notion that homework improves academic performance, especially in primary education . In fact, research suggests that for younger students, the correlation between homework and academic achievement is weak or even negative .

Too much homework can often lead to increased stress and decreased enthusiasm for learning. This issue becomes particularly pressing when considering the common 'more is better' approach to homework, where the quantity of work given to students often outweighs the quality and effectiveness of the tasks. For instance, spending countless hours memorizing facts for a history test may not necessarily translate to better understanding or long-term retention of the subject matter.

However, it's worth noting that homework isn't completely devoid of benefits. It can help foster self-discipline, time management skills, and the ability to work independently. But, these positive outcomes are usually more pronounced in older students and when homework assignments are thoughtfully designed and not excessive in volume.

When discussing the merits and drawbacks of homework, it's critical to consider the nature of the assignments. Routine, repetitive tasks often associated with 'drill-and-practice' homework, such as completing rows of arithmetic problems or copying definitions from a textbook, rarely lead to meaningful learning. On the other hand, assignments that encourage students to apply what they've learned in class, solve problems, or engage creatively with the material can be more beneficial.

Increased stress

Homework can often lead to a significant increase in stress levels among students. This is especially true when students are burdened with large volumes of homework, leaving them with little time to relax or pursue other activities. The feeling of constantly racing against the clock to meet deadlines can contribute to anxiety, frustration, and even burnout.

Contrary to popular belief, stress does not necessarily improve performance or productivity. In fact, high levels of stress can negatively impact memory, concentration, and overall cognitive function. This counteracts the very purpose of homework, which is intended to reinforce learning and improve academic outcomes.

However, one might argue that homework can teach students about time management, organization, and how to handle pressure. These are important life skills that could potentially prepare them for future responsibilities. But it's essential to strike a balance. The pressure to complete homework should not come at the cost of a student's mental wellbeing.

Limited family time

Homework often infringes upon the time students can spend with their families. After spending the entire day in school, children come home to yet more academic work, leaving little room for quality family interactions. This limited family time can hinder the development of important interpersonal skills and familial bonds.

Moreover, family time isn't just about fun and relaxation. It also plays a crucial role in the social and emotional development of children. Opportunities for unstructured play, family conversations, and shared activities can contribute to children's well-being and character building.

Nonetheless, advocates of homework might argue that it can be a platform for parental involvement in a child's education. While this may be true, the involvement should not transform into parental control or cause friction due to differing expectations and pressures.

Reduced physical activity

Homework can often lead to reduced physical activity by eating into the time students have for sports, recreation, and simply being outdoors. Physical activity is essential for children's health, well-being, and even their academic performance. Research suggests that physical activity can enhance cognitive abilities, improve concentration, and reduce symptoms of ADHD .

Homework, especially when it's boring and repetitive, can deter students from engaging in physical activities, leading to a sedentary lifestyle. This lack of balance between work and play can contribute to physical health problems such as obesity, poor posture, and related health concerns.

Homework proponents might point out that disciplined time management could allow students to balance both work and play. However, given the demanding nature of many homework assignments, achieving this balance is often easier said than done.

Negative impact on sleep

A significant concern about homework is its impact on students' sleep patterns. Numerous studies have linked excessive homework to sleep deprivation in students. Children often stay up late to complete assignments, reducing the amount of sleep they get. Lack of sleep can result in a host of issues, from poor academic performance and difficulty concentrating to physical health problems like weakened immunity.

Even the quality of sleep can be affected. The stress and anxiety from a heavy workload can lead to difficulty falling asleep or restless nights. And let's not forget that students often need to wake up early for school, compounding the negative effects of late-night homework sessions.

On the other hand, some argue that homework can teach children time management skills, suggesting that effective organization could help prevent late-night work. However, when schools assign excessive amounts of homework, even the best time management might not prevent encroachment on sleep time.

Homework can exacerbate existing educational inequalities. Not all students have access to a conducive learning environment at home, necessary resources, or support from educated family members. For these students, homework can become a source of stress and disadvantage rather than an opportunity to reinforce learning.

Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds might need to contribute to household chores or part-time work, limiting the time they have for homework. This can create a gap in academic performance and grades, reflecting not on the students' abilities but their circumstances.

While homework is meant to level the playing field by providing additional learning time outside school, it often does the opposite. It's worth noting that students from privileged backgrounds can often access additional help like tutoring, further widening the gap.

Reduced creativity and independent thinking

Homework, particularly when it involves rote learning or repetitive tasks, can stifle creativity and independent thinking. Students often focus on getting the "right" answers to please teachers rather than exploring different ideas and solutions. This can hinder their ability to think creatively and solve problems independently, skills that are increasingly in demand in the modern world.

Homework defenders might claim that it can also promote independent learning. True, when thoughtfully designed, homework can encourage this. But, voluminous or repetitive tasks tend to promote compliance over creativity.

Diminished interest in learning

Overburdening students with homework can diminish their interest in learning. After long hours in school followed by more academic tasks at home, learning can begin to feel like a chore. This can lead to a decline in intrinsic motivation and an unhealthy association of learning with stress and exhaustion.

In theory, homework can deepen interest in a subject, especially when it involves projects or research. Yet, an excess of homework, particularly routine tasks, might achieve the opposite, turning learning into a source of stress rather than enjoyment.

Inability to pursue personal interests

Homework can limit students' ability to pursue personal interests. Hobbies, personal projects, and leisure activities are crucial for personal development and well-being. With heavy homework loads, students may struggle to find time for these activities, missing out on opportunities to discover new interests and talents.

Supporters of homework might argue that it teaches students to manage their time effectively. However, even with good time management, an overload of homework can crowd out time for personal interests.

Excessive workload

The issue of excessive workload is a common complaint among students. Spending several hours on homework after a full school day can be mentally and physically draining. This workload can lead to burnout, decreased motivation, and negative attitudes toward school and learning.

While homework can help consolidate classroom learning, too much can be counterproductive. It's important to consider the overall workload of students, including school, extracurricular activities, and personal time, when assigning homework.

Limited time for reflection

Homework can limit the time students have for reflection. Reflection is a critical part of learning, allowing students to digest and integrate new information. With the constant flow of assignments, there's often little time left for this crucial process. Consequently, the learning becomes superficial, and the true understanding of subjects can be compromised.

Although homework is meant to reinforce what's taught in class, the lack of downtime for reflection might hinder deep learning. It's important to remember that learning is not just about doing, but also about thinking.

Increased pressure on young children

Young children are particularly vulnerable to the pressures of homework. At an age where play and exploration are vital for cognitive and emotional development, too much homework can create undue pressure and stress. This pressure can instigate a negative relationship with learning from an early age, potentially impacting their future attitude towards education.

Advocates of homework often argue that it prepares children for the rigors of their future academic journey. However, placing too much academic pressure on young children might overshadow the importance of learning through play and exploration.

Lack of alignment with real-world skills

Traditional homework often lacks alignment with real-world skills. Assignments typically focus on academic abilities at the expense of skills like creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. These are crucial for success in the modern workplace and are often under-emphasized in homework tasks.

Homework can be an opportunity to develop these skills when properly structured. However, tasks often focus on memorization and repetition, rather than cultivating skills relevant to the real world.

Loss of motivation

Excessive homework can lead to a loss of motivation. The constant pressure to complete assignments and meet deadlines can diminish a student's intrinsic motivation to learn. This loss of motivation might not only affect their academic performance but also their love of learning, potentially having long-term effects on their educational journey.

Some believe homework instills discipline and responsibility. But, it's important to balance these benefits against the potential for homework to undermine motivation and engagement.

Disruption of work-life balance

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is as important for students as it is for adults. Overloading students with homework can disrupt this balance, leaving little time for relaxation, socializing, and extracurricular activities. All of these are vital for a student's overall development and well-being.

Homework supporters might argue that it prepares students for the workloads they'll face in college and beyond. But it's also crucial to ensure students have time to relax, recharge, and engage in non-academic activities for a well-rounded development.

Impact on mental health

There's a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of excessive homework on students' mental health. The stress and anxiety from heavy homework loads can contribute to issues like depression, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. Student well-being should be a top priority in education, and the impact of homework on mental health cannot be ignored.

While some might argue that homework helps students develop resilience and coping skills, it's important to ensure these potential benefits don't come at the expense of students' mental health.

Limited time for self-care

With excessive homework, students often find little time for essential self-care activities. These can include physical exercise, proper rest, healthy eating, mindfulness, or even simple leisure activities. These activities are critical for maintaining physical health, emotional well-being, and cognitive function.

Some might argue that managing homework alongside self-care responsibilities teaches students valuable life skills. However, it's important that these skills don't come at the cost of students' health and well-being.

Decreased family involvement

Homework can inadvertently lead to decreased family involvement in a child's learning. Parents often feel unqualified or too busy to help with homework, leading to missed opportunities for family learning interactions. This can also create stress and conflict within the family, especially when parents have high expectations or are unable to assist.

Some believe homework can facilitate parental involvement in education. But, when it becomes a source of stress or conflict, it can discourage parents from engaging in their child's learning.

Reinforcement of inequalities

Homework can unintentionally reinforce inequalities. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds might lack access to resources like private tutors or a quiet study space, placing them at a disadvantage compared to their more privileged peers. Additionally, these students might have additional responsibilities at home, further limiting their time to complete homework.

While the purpose of homework is often to provide additional learning opportunities, it can inadvertently reinforce existing disparities. Therefore, it's essential to ensure that homework doesn't favor students who have more resources at home.

Reduced time for play and creativity

Homework can take away from time for play and creative activities. These activities are not only enjoyable but also crucial for the cognitive, social, and emotional development of children. Play allows children to explore, imagine, and create, fostering innovative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Some may argue that homework teaches discipline and responsibility. Yet, it's vital to remember that play also has significant learning benefits and should be a part of every child's daily routine.

Increased cheating and academic dishonesty

The pressure to complete homework can sometimes lead to increased cheating and academic dishonesty. When faced with a large volume of homework, students might resort to copying from friends or searching for answers online. This undermines the educational value of homework and fosters unhealthy academic practices.

While homework is intended to consolidate learning, the risk of promoting dishonest behaviors is a concern that needs to be addressed.

Strained teacher-student relationships

Excessive homework can strain teacher-student relationships. If students begin to associate teachers with stress or anxiety from homework, it can hinder the development of a positive learning relationship. Furthermore, if teachers are perceived as being unfair or insensitive with their homework demands, it can impact the overall classroom dynamic.

While homework can provide an opportunity for teachers to monitor student progress, it's important to ensure that it doesn't negatively affect the teacher-student relationship.

Negative impact on family dynamics

Homework can impact family dynamics. Parents might feel compelled to enforce homework completion, leading to potential conflict, stress, and tension within the family. These situations can disrupt the harmony in the household and strain relationships.

Homework is sometimes seen as a tool to engage parents in their child's education. However, it's crucial to ensure that this involvement doesn't turn into a source of conflict or pressure.

Cultural and individual differences

Homework might not take into account cultural and individual differences. Education is not a one-size-fits-all process, and what works for one student might not work for another. Some students might thrive on hands-on learning, while others prefer auditory or visual learning methods. By standardizing homework, we might ignore these individual learning styles and preferences.

Homework can also overlook cultural differences. For students from diverse cultural backgrounds, certain types of homework might seem irrelevant or difficult to relate to, leading to disengagement or confusion.

Encouragement of surface-level learning

Homework often encourages surface-level learning instead of deep understanding. When students are swamped with homework, they're likely to rush through assignments to get them done, rather than taking the time to understand the concepts. This can result in superficial learning where students memorize information to regurgitate it on assignments and tests, instead of truly understanding and internalizing the knowledge.

While homework is meant to reinforce classroom learning, the quality of learning is more important than the quantity. It's important to design homework in a way that encourages deep, meaningful learning instead of mere rote memorization.

Related posts:

• Diathesis-Stress Model (Definition + Examples)
• HPA Axis (Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Axis)
• General Adaptation Syndrome Theory
• Careers in Psychology
• The Stress Response (General Adaptation Syndome)

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The Science of Learning Blog

September 13, 2011, the great homework debate: is homework helpful or harmful to students, by  cory armes, m.ed..

Sometimes, I feel as if I have been doing homework my entire life.  As a child growing up, I moved from worksheets, dioramas and book reports to essays, major projects and term papers.  When I began teaching, I had lessons to prepare and my students’ homework became my homework for grading.  (And, on occasion, it was quite obvious that I was putting a bit more effort into MY homework than they put into theirs!)  As my children reached school age, “Mom’s rules” on homework included:  homework comes first, don’t wait until the last minute on a project, etc.  But somehow their homework still bled over into my life…

So, how important is this icon of education?  Is homework helpful or harmful?  Is it something that, as many students claim, just eats up their time and energy for no real purpose?  Do we, as educators, need new practices that move away from homework or are we simply afraid to change, stuck on those famous eight words, “But, we’ve never done it that way before…”?

In support of the view of homework as helpful, many educators stress that specifically aligning homework to the learning task is part of the strategy for building understanding.  The website Focus on Effectiveness cites several studies showing that in elementary school, homework helps build learning and study habits (Cooper, 1989; Cooper, Lindsay, Nye, & Greathouse, 1998; Gorges & Elliot, 1999).  Also noted is the point that 30 minutes of daily homework in high school can increase a student’s GPA up to half a point (Keith 1992).  Many students need time and experience to develop the study habits that support learning, and homework can provide that as well as the ability to cope with mistakes and difficulty (Bempechat, 2004).  Those teachers who take the time to add instructive comments to their feedback to homework get the greatest return on their efforts in after-school work. (Walberg, 1999).

But what about the students who are doing it wrong and then have to “unlearn” incorrect information?  When considering the view that homework is harmful, author and speaker Alfie Kohn states that there is no real evidence showing homework to be beneficial to elementary students.  In an EdWeek article, he writes that he found no correlation between homework and improved standardized assessment scores.  Regarding secondary students, Kohn said that there is a slight correlation between homework and improved test scores and grades but there is no evidence that the improvement is because of homework rather than other activities.  Stating that there is no proof that homework benefits students in other ways such as good study habits, independence or self discipline, Kohn could find no disadvantage to reducing or even eliminating homework altogether but finds the homework trend continues to grow. 

So, what is the answer – is homework helpful or harmful?  Do we continue current practices or throw homework out altogether? 

A balanced perspective most likely is the best response.  Time spent on homework should align with the student’s age – a short time spent in elementary school, up to 90 minutes for middle school or junior high aged students and between 1½ and 2 ½ hours per night (not per subject!) in high school (Harris, 2006). Another suggestion is to multiply the student’s grade by ten to determine the appropriate number of minutes of homework per night (example – a fifth grader should have no more than 50 minutes of homework per night). If we want the best results, we’ll keep homework time within these time ranges with allowances made for individual needs of students and families. 

Key takeaways:

• Remember the main purposes of homework:  to build rote memorization and automaticity; to provide time to deepen understanding though elaboration and to increase readiness for new information.
• Assign homework that includes very few concepts so students can learn them on a deeper level (Healy, 1990).
• Match homework to the learning goal for a more focused learning experience.
• Provide appropriate and timely feedback.  Students need to know what was correct, what needs to be changed, etc., and they need this information sooner rather than later.  Waiting several days or even weeks to provide feedback limits or even eliminates the effectiveness of the assignment.
• Parental involvement should be limited to facilitating the completion of homework – not teaching content or doing the work for a child.   Parents who get too involved in an assignment inhibit rather than enhance learning.

Related Reading:

Students who Struggle in the Mainstream: What their Homework Patterns May Tell You

Building a Foundation for School Readiness for Low Income Children  

5 comments on “The Great Homework Debate: Is Homework Helpful or Harmful to Students?”

Homework doesn't teach you as much as real life experiences. I know this first hand. If you are given an asignment over fire safety you wont learn as much through that as you will through having to learn it first hand.

Hello! Elizabeth Maya Walter thats not a very good exmaple to use considering the fact that kids are taught fire saftey pretty much everywhere. Plus first hand expriences are ment to give people more experince than reading off a newspaper or book.

Does the same concept apply for skydiving or flying a plane? If you are given a assignment to help teach you how to skydive or fly a plane you just ignore it and hope of the best? Your statement applies to some instances but not all.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

HOMEWORK IS GREAT!

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The homework debate, october 30, 2017, suzanne zimbler.

In July 2017, families in Marion County, Florida, got some surprising news about the school year ahead. “Traditional homework as we know it will disappear, at least for elementary students,” school superintendent Heidi Maier said in a voice message to parents. “Instead of working on classroom assignments at home, we want students reading,” she said.

More than 20,000 students attend the county’s 31 elementary schools. Dara Mehr, a fifth grader, is one of them. Last year, Dara had two or three hours of homework a night. “I would have 12 math questions and six or seven pages of work to do for reading,” she told TIME for Kids.

Now Dara’s only homework is to read for 30 minutes. She enjoys having more time for activities like painting and playing video games. But her mom, Kayla Mehr, misses last year’s assignments. “The kids knew that once they finished those worksheets, they were done,” she says, referring to Dara and her sister, Neveah, a second grader. “Sometimes, getting them to sit down and read for 30 minutes is a challenge.”

Support for homework has gone up and down through the years (see “Homework History”). “In the 1900s, a lot of parents thought that homework just occupied children’s time [when] they could be doing chores,” says Fass. More than a century later, many still question the role that homework should have in kids’ lives.

Finding a Balance

Harris Cooper is a professor at Duke University and the author of The Battle over Homework. He has analyzed more than 50 studies on homework. In his view, homework has a positive effect on achievement. “The effect gets larger as kids move through the grades. But even in the early grades, homework has a positive effect on simple skills.” Examples include spelling and math facts.

But he warns that homework can have a negative impact as well. “If there’s too much of it or if it’s too difficult, it can lead to frustration and to kids voicing concern about their abilities,” he says. “And that’s not a good thing.”

Last year, Kelly Elementary School in Holyoke, Massachusetts, made headlines for eliminating homework. Jackie Glasheen, the principal at the time, told ABC News that she wanted kids to have more quality time with family. “We want them to engage with their families, talk about their school days, and go to bed,” she said.

But this year, the school has a new principal, Isamar Vargas. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade have homework once again. But they receive only one assignment per day.

Vargas explained that the school takes a balanced approach. “We want to build responsibility and structure,” she says. “But we don’t want to take away the important time that children have with their families or practicing sports.”

Kelly Elementary won’t be the only school to experiment with its policies. “One thing you can know is that this is part of a long history of conflict over homework,” says Fass, the Berkeley professor. “And that can be expected to continue.”

Homework History

Attitudes toward homework have changed throughout U.S. history.

In the coming years, do you think support for homework will rise or fall?

1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first satellite. The space race is on. Homework for math and science increases.

1966: The National Education Association suggests no homework in early grades and “limited amounts” in upper elementary.

1983: President Ronald Reagan’s Education Department releases a report on problems with schools. It creates pressure to get tough.

1990s: Global competition is on the rise. Support for homework in the U.S. is strong. Elementary students receive more homework than they had in the past.

Assessment: Click here for a printable quiz. Teacher subscribers can find the answer key in this week's Teacher's Guide.

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LARRY KUDLOW: Trump's debate performance last night just changed the course of this entire election

Trump's debate performance was a game-changer, kudlow says.

Larry Kudlow: Trump's debate performance was a game-changer

FOX Business host Larry Kudlow says former President Trump's performance was 'masterful' on 'Kudlow.'

Trump's debate performance last night just changed the course of this entire election and that's the subject of the riff. On the day after the Presidential debate, most of the media focus is on the catastrophic performance of Joe Biden, who imploded before our eyes. He looked old, hard to understand, confused, and resorted to mudslinging and name-calling as the debate wore on and perhaps Mr. Biden realized he was digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself. 

Ok, I don't really blame the media for focusing on this -- and the related question for the morning after, is how the Democrats are going to replace Joe Biden, but (and it is a big but) Biden's crash and burn should not obscure just how masterful Donald Trump's performance was. 

He kept his cool and had a straight CEO-type demeanor. He was sharp and he was energetic, but his content on issues across the board that voters truly care about was superb. He crushed it on inflation, taxes, regulations and jobs. 

Katie Pavlich: Biden admitted inflation was not a problem under Trump

 'Kudlow' panelists Katie Pavlich and Brian Kilmeade analyze the impact of the CNN Presidential Debate on voters.

INFLATION MEASURE CLOSELY WATCHED BY THE FED RISES 2.6% IN MAY

In other words, the positive, optimistic, prosperity and opportunity message is always a political winner. Take a listen to Mr. Trump in the early part of the debate: 

DONALD TRUMP: "The only thing he was right about is I gave you the largest tax cut in history. I also gave you the largest regulation cut in history. That's why we had all the jobs." 

Biden was really helpless since the facts are so clear. Biden tried the usual lies about inheriting inflation and a disastrous economy, but Trump easily vanquished those arguments with some factoids and a strong narrative. 

Mr. Trump clearly had done his homework. He was ready. Joe Biden spent a week at Camp David in an airplane hangar rehearsal twice a day with 16 or more advisers and was completely befuddled and unable to put two sentences together to defend his record in the face of Trump's relentless attacks. 

Many of us hope Mr. Trump will continue his campaign message that successful policies to grow the economy and keep the peace would bring unity.  

DONALD TRUMP: "My retribution is going to be success. What we did was incredible. We rebuilt the military. We got the largest tax cut in history, the largest regulation cut in history. The reason he's got jobs is because I cut the regulations that gave jobs, but he's putting a lot of those regulations back on all of the things that we've done." 

Time and again, Trump returned to the issues of Biden's border catastrophe and the related crime wave that has threatened public safety all across the country. Again and again, Mr. Trump talked about the border and the economy, his meat and potatoes and Biden was unable to deal with it. Then Biden starts slinging mud, calling Trump names, and, of course,   bringing up January 6, 2021. 

On this point, Trump delivered an absolutely brilliant response, which may well have been the most bone-crushing, game-changing moment of the debate night. Take a listen: 

DONALD TRUMP : "On January 6, we had a great border, nobody coming through a very few. On January 6, we were energy independent. On January 6 we had the lowest taxes ever. We had the lowest regulations ever. On January 6, we were respected all over the world."  

At that point, the match should have been called off. It was a TKO -- technical knockout and thereafter Biden literally sunk to grade-school name-calling and virtual gibberish. On abortion, Mr. Trump was equally deft, defending the Supreme Court decision to move the matter to the states and then the former president emphasized his view to preserve exclusions for rape, incest, and life of the mother, but then Trump correctly pointed out how radical and extreme the Democrats are on this issue. Take a listen: 

DONALD TRUMP: "The problem they have is they're radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth, after birth. If you look at the former governor of Virginia, he was willing to do this. He said, we’ll put the baby aside and will determine what we do with the baby, meaning we'll kill the baby." 

Then Mr. Biden launched into an incredibly offensive and irrational stream of consciousness about the dangers for young women. Take a listen to this: 

JOE BIDEN: "And the idea that she was murdered by a, by a, by an immigrant coming in, they talk about that, but here's the deal. There's a lot of young women to be raped by their in-laws, by, the by, by their spouses, brothers and sisters, by or just it's, it's just ridiculous." 

I have no idea what he was talking about or what the relevance was, or if it had anything to do with abortion, but Mr. Trump quickly riposted with the migrant crime wave which has swept the country as a result of Mr. Biden's open border policy and, unfortunately, we have seen all sorts of violence, rape and murder. 

That stymied Biden even more. This debate will be a game-changer and will threaten Biden's candidacy, but the reality is, Biden was thrashed by Donald Trump on the issues. Mr. Biden may have had a cold, he may be too old, he may be cognitively impaired, he may have dementia. I can't attest to any of those medical issues. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP          

What I do know is this: the last two years in his campaign to return to the White House, Donald Trump has emphasized issues of economic prosperity, higher take-home pay for working folks of all stripes and colors, closing the border, restoring public safety and returning to an America First "peace through strength" foreign policy. 

It's an optimistic, mainstream, common-sense platform that is going to carry him back to the White House. You wait and see. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the June 28, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."   

Presidential debate live updates: the Biden-Trump faceoff is over, but the wider debate is just beginning

This live blog is no longer being updated. The NPR Politics Podcast will be out with a new episode overnight. For more post-debate updates and analysis on Friday morning, check back on NPR.org, tune into NPR’s Morning Edition and subscribe to NPR’s Up First and Politics newsletters . 

Trump and Biden faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election with new rules, high stakes and no live audience. The candidates traded insults, went down tangents and argued about golf .

Both candidates had shaky moments — Trump repeatedly dodged committing to accepting the election results , while Biden’s raspy voice and sometimes rambling answers likely did little to assuage critics’ concerns about his age.

• Immigration , the economy and foreign policy dominated the 90-minute debate. Other key topics, like abortion , young voters and climate change , got much less airtime.
• Interruptions were relatively few, thanks to the new rules around muting candidates’ mics . But moderators did little to fact check or follow up on what was said. 
• The insults got personal: Each candidate called the other the worst president in history. Trump insulted Biden’s cognitive abilities and golf game, while Biden went after his weight and appearance. 
• Trump’s campaign immediately declared victory , while the Biden campaign focused on substance over style. Biden himself gave a more upbeat report at a campaign event right after the debate. 
• The first debate may be over, but the political calendar is still chock-full for the summer .

The live blog is closing down, but NPR's coverage will continue bright and early

By Rachel Treisman

This live blog is wrapping up, but we'll have plenty more post-debate coverage and analysis for you early birds in the hours ahead — from a new overnight episode of the NPR Politics Podcast to Morning Edition to takeaways on NPR.org

Thanks for sticking with us, and see you back here soon!

NPR Special Coverage: Abortion a miss for both candidates

By Clayton Kincade

The issue of abortion was expected to be a big win of the night for President Biden, but neither candidate made cohesive arguments about their policy stances. NPR’s Steve Inskeep said that this portion of the debate was hard to follow, as each candidate failed to push forward their views in an appropriate manner.

NPR’s Elissa Nadworny said that Biden looked "uncomfortable” when talking about abortion, mentioning his stumbles when Trump asked him about his stance on late-term abortions. Nadworny attributed this fault to the fact that the issue has been more closely tied to Vice President Kamala Harris during his presidency, who has frequently spoken on the issue in recent months.

NPR’s Deepa Shivaram also noted that Biden did not mention Trump's relation to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , which overturned Roe v. Wade . Trump has campaigned on the Dobbs decision during this election cycle and takes credit for appointing three conservative-leaning justices to the court.

On the other hand, Trump repeated false claims about abortion and seemed hesitant to tie himself to the current Supreme Court.

Trump claimed that doctors have adopted the widespread practice of executing babies born alive after a failed abortion, but Nadworny said that it has only happened 143 times in 12 years, according to CDC data.

NPR Special Coverage: One of Biden's biggest vulnerabilities on full display — his age

By Jeongyoon Han

While Biden seemed to gain more energy throughout the course of the debate, one of Biden's biggest weaknesses with voters — his age — did not do him any favors tonight.

"He wasn't able to parry the attacks from former President Trump in the way that he would want to, wasn't able to deliver the attacks back on him to be able to pivot," NPR's Domenico Montanaro told host Steve Inskeep.

"There have to be a lot of Democrats wondering what it would be like to have a different candidate on that stage," Montanaro said.

White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram added that Biden's performance tonight stood in stark contrast to his State of the Union delivery.

"That's not really the Biden we saw tonight," Shivaram said.

Shivaram noted Biden was slower to respond to Trump and missed key opportunities to go on the offensive.

"He didn't really have the bandwidth to respond on the issues that he really needed to hammer home," she added, including on abortion, the economy, and democracy.

Biden gives supporters an upbeat recap after the debate

By Barbara Sprunt

Tamara Keith

Immediately after the debate, Biden made a stop at a nearby hotel ballroom where a few hundred supporters had watched his performance.

Entering the room to chants of “four more years,” Biden — more energetic than he had been on the debate stage — gave brief remarks.

"Look, folks: what's going to happen over the next couple of days is they're going to be out there fact-checking all the things he said. I can't think of one thing he said that was true," he said, referring to Trump.

"We're going to beat this guy. We need to beat this guy," he said.

Biden campaign focuses on substance of debate, sidestepping the performance problems

By Tamara Keith

After the debate, the Biden campaign didn't send out a statement instantly declaring victory, as Trump's did.

Given Biden’s cold-weakened voice, stumbles and at-times halting answers, the Biden campaign emphasized substance rather than style.

The campaign pointed to the fact that Trump refused to say he would accept the election results if he loses, his January 6th denialism and his promise of retribution for his political enemies.

“Trump’s performance tonight reminded the American people why they fired him four years ago, and reinforced just how high the stakes are this November for the future of our country,” said top campaign adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon.

But none of that stopped a full-fledged freak-out from Democrats who had been hoping to see a better performance from the president.

Speaking on CNN, Kate Bedingfield, a long-time Biden aide now working for the network, described Biden’s debate performance as “disappointing.”

“His biggest issue was to prove to the American people that he had the energy, the stamina — and he didn’t do that,” said Bedingfield.

But another Biden campaign official posted that despite it all, the president was having a record fundraising day.

Twitter: Doing twitter stuff. Biden supporters: Doing the work, powering us to our best grassroots fundraising day of the cycle by far. — Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) June 28, 2024

Missing from the debate? A mention of young voters

By Elena Moore

President Biden has been struggling in the polls with younger voters — a key group that overwhelmingly backed him four years ago and one he is counting on again this year.

The president did not directly address young voters during the debate. However, he did mention his newly unveiled Climate Corps jobs and training program — which plans to offer thousands of climate and conservation jobs for young Americans.

Former President Donald Trump also did not address young Americans — but his campaign is not relying on massive youth support in the same way, given that younger voters typically vote for Democrats.

Trump's campaign is already declaring victory

Moments after the debate wrapped, the Trump campaign sent an email to supporters touting his "historic debate victory."

Co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said Trump delivered "the greatest debate performance and victory in history to the largest voter audience in history, making clear exactly how he will improve the lives of every American."

In contrast, they said, Biden "showed exactly why he deserves to be fired."

"Despite taking a week-long vacation at Camp David to prepare for the debate, Biden was unable to defend his disastrous record on the economy and the border," they added, accusing him of lying, inventing stories and not articulating "a single plan to make things less expensive and keep our people safe."

The debate had shaky moments for both candidates. Trump made outsized claims and again refused to commit to accepting the election results regardless of the winner, while Biden's visible stumbles likely did little to assuage critics' concerns about his age and mental fitness.

There's a lot on the political calendar before the next debate. See key dates here

Trump will likely announce his pick for vice president in the coming weeks. There will also be a vice presidential debate this summer. The date has not been finalized, but Vice President Harris agreed to one held either July 23 or Aug. 13.

On the legal front, Trump will appear for sentencing in his criminal trial on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention, which begins on July 15 in Milwaukee. A month later, the Democratic National Convention will kick off on Aug. 19 in Chicago.

Trump and Biden will debate a second time on Sept. 10.

Fact check on addiction and the opioid crisis

By Brian Mann

CNN's Jake Tapper asked both candidates about the addiction and overdose crisis that worsened under the Trump and Biden administrations. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are dying every year of drug overdoses.

“We were doing very well on addiction until the COVID came along,” Trump said during the debate. “We had two and a half, almost three years of like nobody’s ever had before any country in every way.”

In fact, drug deaths rose during the first two years of Trump’s term, declined slightly and then surged again during COVID.

The increase in fatal overdoses accelerated sharply during Biden’s first term. Public health experts blame the rise on the pandemic and on the spread of street fentanyl.

Biden answered the question by arguing that a bipartisan border deal opposed by Trump would have paid for better security and new high-tech surveillance equipment designed to detect smuggled fentanyl.

“I want to make sure we use the machinery that can detect fentanyl,” Biden said. “We need those machines.”

Critics have been skeptical of Biden’s border plan, saying it’s unlikely that it would significantly slow fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.

Debate moderators let whoppers and insults fly

At the start of the debate, CNN's Jake Tapper described how he and co-moderator Dana Bash would be approaching their roles: “Our job is to facilitate a debate between the two candidates tonight,” he said.

Throughout the debate, Bash and Tapper mainly opted not to follow up or fact-check, sticking to the allotted times and often moving on to another topic. Biden struggled with this format, while Trump often filled his speaking time with wide-ranging comments and accusations that were unrelated to the question he had been asked.

Whoppers and insults were often followed with a pause of the mics being cut and a “thank you, next question.”

Finally, 90 minutes into the debate, Bash followed up three times when Trump failed to answer a question about whether he would accept the results of the election in November, something he refused to do four years ago. Trump never did fully commit to accepting the 2024 election results.

Heading into the debate, CNN political director David Chalian told AP that fact-checking wasn’t the role of the moderators.

“They are not here to participate in this debate,” Chalian said. “They are here to facilitate a debate between Trump and Biden.”

The debate is done, but NPR's coverage is not

The debate is over, after much anticipation and 90 minutes of back and forth.

But our coverage is still going strong. Tune into NPR — online, on your local station or on the NPR app — for analysis from our political reporters until 11 p.m. ET. Click here to listen .

Trump says he'd be enjoying himself if Biden 'was a great president'

Towards the end of the debate, Trump suggested multiple times that he didn't necessarily want to be onstage — or in the presidential race at all.

Instead of answering the first (of three) questions about whether he would accept the election results regardless of the winner, Trump at one point returned to the topic of Biden.

"I'll tell you something, I wish he was a great president, because I wouldn't be here right now," he said. "I'd be at one of my many places, enjoying myself. I wouldn't be under indictment because I wouldn't have been his political ... opponent, because he indicted me, because I was his opponent."

He continued along those lines, adding at one point, "I would rather have that I wouldn't be here. I don't mind being here. The only reason I'm here is he's so bad at president."

Several minutes later, Trump — still dodging the election question — doubled down on that point.

"I wasn't really going to run until I saw the horrible job he did. He's destroying our country," he said. "I would be very happy to be someplace else, in a nice location."

Debate briefly derailed by golf as candidates spar over age

Age is one of the biggest issues in this campaign, with the oldest-ever president (Biden, 81) squaring off against the second-oldest (Trump, 78.)

Asked about his age, Trump bragged that he passed two cognitive tests and had recently won golf tournaments.

"To do that, you have to be quite smart, and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way," he said. Trump claimed that Biden "can't hit a ball 50 yards."

Biden quickly replied, "Take a look at what he is," a dig at Trump's weight and appearance.

Biden said he'd be willing to play golf against Trump, and bragged about the impressive golf handicap he had when he was vice president.

"I'd be happy to have a driving contest with him," Biden said.

Trump avoids committing to accepting the election results

Addressing one of voters' primary concerns about Trump, Bash asked him to pledge tonight "that once all legal challenges have been exhausted, that you will accept the results of this election, regardless of who wins, and you will say right now that political violence in any form is unacceptable?"

Trump didn't exactly do so.

"Well, I shouldn't have to say that," he said. "But of course, I believe that it's totally unacceptable. And if you would see my statements that I made on Twitter at the time, and also my statement that I made in the Rose Garden, you would say it's one of the strongest statements you've ever seen, in addition to the speech I made in front of, I believe, the largest crowd I've ever spoken to."

Trump then went on a tangent about Jan. 6 and foreign policy, before Bash returned with a follow up: Would he accept the election results regardless of the winner?

"Just to finish what I said, If I might, Russia, they took a lot of land from Bush," Trump answered. "They took a lot of land from Obama and Biden. They took no land, nothing from Trump, nothing."

Bash tried a third time: "The question was, will you accept the results of the election, regardless of who wins? Yes or No."

Trump answered with remarks similar to those he made on the debate stage in 2020 — before he was charged with working to overturn the election results and trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

"If it's a fair and legal and good election, absolutely," he said. "I would have much rather accepted these, but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous, and if you want, we'll have a news conference on it in a week, or we'll have another one of these on in a week. But I will absolutely, there's nothing I'd rather do."

What will the candidates do to slow the climate crisis?

By Ximena Bustillo

Neither candidate had direct answers to how they plan to slow the climate crisis in their second terms.

Trump boasted having the “best environmental numbers ever,” after at first avoiding the question. But Trump has a history of casting doubt on the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change.

“I want absolutely immaculate clean water, and I want absolutely clean air. And we had it,” Trump said. Still, Trump has campaigned on the promise to “drill, baby, drill” and ending various energy efficiency and rescinding foreign and domestic climate policies .

Biden used the question to boast about passing the “most extensive climate change legislation in history,” referencing the Inflation Reduction Act — which Trump and various Republicans have vowed to repeal — and criticizing Trump for pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord, a decision Trump still stands by.

Biden directly addresses concerns about his age

When asked about voters' concerns about his age, Biden — who would be 86 at the end of his second term — said he spent half his career as the "youngest person in politics."

Biden was 29 when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, making him the seventh-youngest person ever elected to be senator. "Now I'm the oldest," Biden said.

"This guy's three years younger and a lot less competent," Biden added.

One more commercial break and then it's almost over

We're now in the final commercial break, with minutes left in the debate.

Trump denies his Charlottesville, Va., comments 

About 40 minutes into the debate, Biden reiterated that he decided to run for president in 2020 in part because of former Trump’s response to the deadly violence at the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

Trump said at the time that there were “very fine people on both sides,” and Biden has likened that comment to Trump siding with white supremacists.

"What American president would ever say, Nazis coming out of fields, carrying torches, singing the same antisemitic bile, carrying swastikas, are fine people?" Biden said during the debate.

Trump, in response, argued that Biden "made up the Charlottesville story.”

Though Trump did not link the “fine people” to white supremacists, he did, in fact, say the statement.

Below is a quote from Trump’s press conference after the rally and subsequent violence between demonstrators and counter-protesters.

TRUMP: You had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group, excuse me, excuse me, I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park, from Robert E. Lee to another name.

Trump attacks Biden for not 'draining the swamp'

Trump claimed that Biden has not fired “enough” people as president, bragging about his own layered history of firing senior officials while as president.

Trump is notorious for running on the catchphrase of “draining the swamp” in 2016, which refers to the idea that Washington is inherently corrupt . Trump fired many officials during his time as president, such as terminating former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and former Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who served on the National Security Council.

Trump also said that Biden “hasn’t fired anybody,” which is false. Biden fired former Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton after bipartisan criticism that Blanton wasted taxpayer money, among other complaints.

Who are you calling the worst president in history?

Each candidate has now called the other "the worst president in history."

Trump has made the claim twice, both in the context of Biden's stance on immigration. Biden fired back later, saying "159 presidential scholars voted him the worst president in the history of United States of America."

He was mostly right, off by just a few numbers: As NPR reported back in February , 154 historians and presidential experts ranked Trump dead last of all U.S. presidents.

The 2024 edition of the Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey has Biden in 14th place, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan. Trump comes in 45th, behind fellow impeachee Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, the perennial cellar-dweller in such ratings due to his pre-Civil War leadership.

Biden doubled down later, though he said "don't hold me to the exact number."

"They've had meetings, and they voted who was the worst president in American history," he added. "They said he was the worst in all of American history. That's a fact. That's not conjecture."

Trump shot back that "we have other things that they rate him the worst, because what he's done is so bad." Despite his muted mic, Biden can be seen — and heard slightly on Trump's mic — saying "show me."

Trump continued on that he was actually rated "one of the best," and said "if I'm given another four years, I will be the best."

Trump namedrops one VP contender: Tim Scott

While the moderators asked Trump what he would do about climate change, Trump pivoted back to the topic of Black voters and criminal justice to respond to Biden's answer on Black Americans.

In answering the question, Trump commended South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott for implementing opportunity zones in the state as an economic development initiative.

"Tim Scott was incredible. He did a great job. Great senator from South Carolina," Trump said of Scott.

Scott ran for the 2024 Republican nomination before dropping out in January. In recent weeks, he was one of eight people Trump requested financial documents from as he decides who his running mate will be. Scott has ardently supported Trump in his bid for the presidency and made numerous TV appearances to defend Trump's record.

Trump's criminal conviction and alleged affair

Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts — but he still says he did nothing wrong.

In May, Trump became the first former or sitting president to both be tried on criminal charges and to be found guilty. A 12-person New York jury convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsified business records.

Still, Trump has long argued without evidence that the trial, the prosecution and the verdict was politically motivated against him.

“We have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong,” Trump said during the CNN presidential debate.

In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the Justice Department said it found no emails about the Trump probe between Justice Department leadership and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office who prosecuted him. The letter underscored that the District Attorney’s office is a separate entity from the DOJ.

Biden argued that Trump has also received multiple civil penalties — citing other New York trials Trump has been found liable in. These included when Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting columnist E. Jean Carroll. Biden also accused Trump of having the “morals of an alley cat” for allegedly having an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Trump denied the alleged affair, which was at the center of the criminal conviction. The falsified business records were the invoices, ledgers and checks used to pay his former lawyer Michael Cohen for originally paying Daniels to keep quiet about the alleged affair as Trump ran for president in 2016.

Here's what recent polling shows about Black voters' preferences

When asked about the climate crisis, Trump swiftly pivoted to other topics: police, criminal justice and Black voter support.

He said he has "the best numbers with them in maybe ever," based on his work in criminal justice and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And he said the opposite of Biden: "He's lost much of the Black population because he's done a horrible job for Black people."

Black voters were critical to Biden's win in 2020. He has intensified his push to court them in recent months, with signs that support from people of color may be dropping this time around.

A Pew Research Center survey released last month shows early signs of where Black voters stand:

Black voters remain largely aligned with the Democratic Party (83% identify with or lean to the Democrats), and 77% of Black registered voters say they would prefer to vote for Biden over Trump in 2024.

Black voters are simultaneously critical of Trump, with 72% believing he was a poor or terrible president.

Even so, 49% of Black voters ay they would replace both Biden and Trump with different candidates if they had the ability to decide, which Pew notes is similar to the share of all voters who say this.

No, the Southwest border is not open

By Sergio Martínez-Beltrán

Trump has accused Biden of opening the U.S. borders to unauthorized migrants.

“He decided to open up our border, open up our country,” Trump said tonight.

While it is true that under President Biden unauthorized crossings hit an all-time high and, at times, the number of migrants overwhelmed certain border communities, the border is not open.

In fact, the border is arguably more reinforced than ever.

The federal government has added more sections of the U.S. Southern border walls, and there have been more military operations at the border. Biden has also severely restricted asylum claims between ports of entry, blocking most unauthorized migrants from attaining asylum.

The administration has also increased the number of expedited removals.

Biden has tried to work with Congress to overhaul the immigration system, but a majority of Republican lawmakers have not advanced the proposals.

And now back to the action

The first of two commercial breaks has ended. Over the next 30+ minutes we're expecting more questions, answers and closing statements.

It's time for a commercial break

We're now in a commercial break, the first of two planned for the evening. It's not clear when the next one will be, but the debate is slated to end at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Some of the topics covered so far include the economy, immigration, abortion and democracy. Stay tuned for more.

Biden asks Trump to disavow the Proud Boys, again

While talking about democracy and Jan. 6, Biden asked Trump point blank to denounce the Proud Boys — in a flashback to their first presidential debate in 2020 .

At that debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked whether Trump would denounce white supremacists, and Trump asked for a name. Both Wallace and Biden suggested the Proud Boys.

“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said, in what sounded more like a call to action, and quickly became part of the far-right extremist group’s new social media logo .

Biden recalled that moment onstage tonight, as Trump visibly rolled his eyes. Then Biden addressed him directly.

"Will you denounce these guys?" he asked, a few times.

Trump seemed momentarily at a loss for words. The moderators jumped in to change the subject, asking Trump instead about comments he made recently about going after his political opponents.

Trump falsely accuses Biden of orchestrating his prosecutions

By Shannon Bond

Asked about Trump supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump accused Biden of weaponizing the government to persecute a political opponent.

Trump and his supporters have repeatedly accused Biden of orchestrating his prosecutions.

That includes the false claim that the president was behind Trump’s historic conviction in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. That case was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is an official of New York state, not the federal government .

Biden and Trump spar over 'suckers and losers' comment

Biden used a recent trip he made to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France to call Trump a loser.

More than 2,200 Marines who died in the World War I battle at Bellau Wood in France are buried at Aisne-Marne. Trump was supposed to visit the cemetery in 2018, but bailed on the stop when rain prevented him from taking Marine One.

The White House at the time explained that it would have taken too long to motorcade. But it was later reported in the Atlantic and confirmed on the record by Trump’s then chief of staff that he didn’t want to go and described the war dead as “suckers” and “losers.”

Biden recounted this, landing the line: “You're the sucker. You're the loser.” Loser is an insult Biden has increasingly hurled at Trump. Trump said it was a “made up quote” published in a “third rate magazine that’s failing.”

Trump says he'll end the Russia-Ukraine war before he even takes office

Trump, like many Republicans , expressed discontent with how much money the U.S. is spending to support Ukraine defending itself against Russia.

Then he went a step further, saying he would be able to end the war himself.

"I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelenskyy as president-elect before I take office on January 20," Trump said. "I'll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled. And I'll get it settled fast before I take office."

Trump has said before that he would end the conflict, but has not elaborated because, as he's put it, he doesn't want to reveal his hand before negotiations.

Trump blames Biden for enabling foreign wars, which Biden calls 'malarkey'

Trump blamed Biden for the wars in Europe and the Middle East, saying the U.S.' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Russia.

Thirteen U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians were killed in the withdrawal, widely considered a low point in Biden's presidency. It was planned and announced by Trump before he left office, and the Biden administration officially blames the " conditions created by [Biden's] predecessor " for how it went.

Trump continued laying into Biden, at one point saying "the whole world is blowing up under him."

"The difference is he never would have invaded Ukraine, never, just like Israel would have never been invaded in a million years by Hamas," Trump said.

Biden, in response, said "I've never heard so much malarkey in my whole life."

Unauthorized crossings hit all-time high under Biden tenure. The numbers have also gone down

Immigration has been a big point of debate tonight for Trump and Biden.

Under President Biden’s tenure, unauthorized crossing hit a record-high. But over the last few months, Biden has implemented a handful of policies aimed at reducing the number of crossings, and asylum claims, at the Southern border.

One June 4, Biden severely restricted asylum, making it really difficult for migrants to successfully claim fear of persecution if turned back to their home countries.

The Biden administration has said that since the policy went into effect, there has been a 40% decrease in unauthorized crossings . But that’s not surprising — historically, these policies deter migrants for a short period of time. Eventually the numbers tend to go up.

Why Biden's voice is so raspy

President Biden’s voice is noticeably hoarse in tonight’s debate — the result of a cold, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But a raspy voice is something that has vexed Biden throughout his presidency, particularly at the beginning of remarks, when he often has to clear his throat multiple times.

During his first year in office, Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor did an extensive work-up of what he described as the “increasing frequency and severity of ‘throat clearing’ and coughing during speaking engagements.”

He concluded , in consultation with multiple specialists, that the throat clearing was caused by gastrointestinal reflux.

Trump accuses Biden of opening the Southern border to migrants who commit crimes. Data shows otherwise

Throughout his reelection campaign, Trump has said that Biden has allowed criminals to come into the U.S. without authorization.

“They are killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen before,” Trump said tonight.

Republicans have been saying the same, particularly after two Venezuelan immigrants were charged with capital murder for killing a 12-year-old girl.

But data from Northwestern University shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. born people .

The muted mics were a big question heading into the debate. They seem to be working

We're more than 30 minutes into the debate, and both Trump and Biden's mics were muted at least once. Both have visibly talked over their allotted without being heard by the viewing public.

How immigration helps grow the economy

By Scott Horsley

Increased immigration – both legal and illegal – has helped to grow the labor force in recent years, allowing employers to keep adding jobs at a rapid clip without putting too much upward pressure on prices.

Over the last 12 months, for example, the foreign-born workforce has grown by 740,000 while the native-born workforce added just 134,000 people.

Trump jumps from topic to topic in answering question about the economy

Trump delivered an assortment of statements on several issues to the singular question, "Why does Trump believe top earners and corporations should pay even less in taxes than they do now?"

In answering the original question, Trump stated that tax cuts he implemented boosted the economy. But then he pivoted, stating that Biden implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that was highly unpopular. He also alleged that Biden was bringing "illegal immigrants" into the country and that Biden has been weaponizing the electoral process to his own political benefit.

Medication abortions more than half of all abortions in U.S.

By Elissa Nadworny

Medication abortions make up more than half of all abortions in the U.S. Telehealth, where people can get abortion pills by mail, is a big factor in the fact that the number of abortions in the US has gone up nationwide , despite many state bans.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a challenge to the FDA’s rules for prescribing and dispensing abortion pills .

But lawyers who brought that case say they're working on strategies to bring additional legal challenges.

Biden appears to lose his train of thought

Early in the debate, Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while answering a question about tax cuts.

He accused Trump of implementing tax cuts to benefit the wealthy, and pledged he would fix the tax system by making them pay more. Then he stumbled, paused and trailed off.

"We'd be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with look, if we finally beat Medicare," he said.

Critics have often held up Biden's public pauses and gaffes to argue that the 81-year-old is too old for the job. His performance tonight is being closely watched by those eager to jump on his stumbles.

Fact-checking Trump's abortion claims

Trump has accused doctors of executing babies who are born alive after a failed abortion attempt many times.

Federal data suggests that very few U.S. babies are born alive as a result of a failed abortion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 143 deaths during a 12 year period ending in 2014 involving infants born alive during attempted abortions.

The majority of abortions in the U.S. happen in the first trimester (first 12 weeks of pregnancy). Only about 1.3% take place after 21 weeks, according to the CDC , and many are not viable or may endanger the mother.

Here's how long each candidate has to answer questions

Each candidate has two minutes to answer a question, plus one minute for responses and rebuttals. They may also get an additional minute for clarifications, at the discretion of the moderators.

At the end, each will have two minutes for closing statements. Trump will go last, as determined by a coin flip ahead of time — Biden won and chose his podium placement instead (on the right-hand side) of the viewers.

Biden and Trump disagree about extending 2017 tax cuts

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center , more than half the savings from the 2017 tax cut went to the top 10% of earners, and more than a quarter went to the top 1%.

Large parts of the 2017 tax cut are due to expire next year. Trump has proposed extending all of them, and while also calling for additional, unspecified tax cuts.

Biden has proposed extending the tax cuts for everyone making less than $400,000 a year (97% of the population) while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Under Biden, the IRS has also beefed up tax enforcement to ensure that wealthier people and businesses pay what they owe. GOP lawmakers have criticized that effort, and it would likely be reversed in a second Trump administration.

First question at the debate: inflation

The debate kicked off with a question about why prices are so high — one of voters' top concerns.

Inflation soared to a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022, according to the consumer price index. While inflation has since fallen to 3.3%, prices are still climbing faster than most people would like.

The pandemic roiled the economy, tangling supply chains. Government spending in the U.S. under both Biden and Trump also may have contributed, putting more money in people’s pockets and enabling them to keep spending in the face of high prices.

While high prices are a source of frustration for many Americans, the average worker has more buying power today than they did before the pandemic. Since February 2020 (just before the pandemic took hold in the U.S.) consumer prices have risen 21% while average wages have risen 22%.

Many prices were depressed early in the pandemic, however, so the comparison is less flattering if you start the clock when Biden took office. Since early 2021, consumer prices have risen 19% while average wages have risen 16%. Wage gains have been outpacing price increases for the last year, so that gap should eventually close.

The federal debt has grown under both Trump and Biden

The federal debt grew substantially under both Trump and Biden. While the pandemic accounts for much of that red ink, both presidents have overseen large deficits, including periods before and after the pandemic when the economy was in good shape.

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget , the federal debt grew by $7.2 trillion during Trump’s time in office, while another $6 trillion has been added so far on Biden’s watch.

Thanks to rising interest rates, the cost of carrying that debt has soared in recent years. This year, the government will pay an estimated $892 billion in interest on the debt – more than it spends on national defense.

Where the candidates stand on tariffs

Donald Trump raised tariffs sharply while he was in office, and he’s pledged to go further if he returns to the White House. During his first term, Trump imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, washing machines, solar panels and numerous products from China. Many trading partners retaliated, slapping tariffs of their own on U.S. exports. Farmers and manufacturers suffered as a result .

Despite the fallout, Biden has left most of the Trump tariffs in place, while adding his own, additional levies on targeted goods from China such as electric vehicles.

In a second term, Trump has proposed adding a 10% tariff on all imports, with a much higher levy on all Chinese goods. Researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate such import taxes would cost the average family $1700 a year .

Biden and Trump are both taking credit for creating jobs. Here are the numbers

Trump had a solid record of job growth during his first three years in office, when employers added 6.6 million jobs.

Unfortunately, those gains and more were wiped out by the pandemic, which briefly drove the unemployment rate up to 14.8%.

Although employment began to rebound by the summer of 2020, there were still 2.7 million fewer jobs when Trump left office than when he entered the White House four years earlier.

The United States has continued to add jobs since then – a whopping 15.6 million jobs since Joe Biden was sworn in as president. The unemployment rate has been at or below 4% for the last two and a half years.

The debate is officially underway

The moderators are onstage, the candidates are behind the lecterns, and the debate is officially underway.

A reminder: It's set to run for 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks. We'll bring you updates and context here on this live blog, and you can also tune into your NPR station (or stream us live on the NPR app) to hear the CNN debate live, followed by analysis from NPR political reporters.

Biden mocks Trump claim that he's on performance-enhancing drugs

President Biden is poking fun at a conspiracy theory that Former President Donald Trump and his allies have been pushing ahead of the debate: that Biden is using performance-enhancing drugs.

In a post on the social media site X in the moments before the debate began, Biden posed with a can of Biden-branded water.

I don't know what they've got in these performance enhancers, but I'm feeling pretty jacked up. Try it yourselves, folks. See you in a bit: https://t.co/vD3mL9slj1 pic.twitter.com/Li4EM9mzve — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2024

Trump has increasingly turned to the false claim that Biden is using performance-enhancing drugs before events like this debate so that people don't realize how old he is.

A Biden campaign spokesperson said Trump was resorting to "desperate, obviously false lies" to distract from his positions on abortion rights and other issues.

The drugs line has become something of a go-to explanation anytime Biden exceeds the very low bar Trump sets for him.

“Many media outlets on the right suggested stridently that President Biden’s only chance for winning tonight's debate with Donald Trump was for his doctors to inject him with some type of magical chemical concoction that would make him peppy and vigorous,” said Howard Polskin, who monitors conservative media for his newsletter and website TheRighting .

Trump started talking about drug testing after Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this year, saying he was “high as a kite.”

But you can go even further back to September 2020 , before his debates with Biden that fall, to find Trump demanding his opponent take a drug test.

Trump also used the line against Hillary Clinton after a 2016 debate.

Debate prep: Where the candidates stand on foreign policy

When it comes to foreign policy, a lot has changed since Trump and Biden last took the debate stage — and there's a lot on the table for them to discuss tonight.

Morning Edition spoke with NPR White House correspondents Franco Ordoñez and Asma Khalid about some of the hot-button global issues that could come up tonight, and what viewers should keep in mind going into the debate.

Trump argues that the world is a more dangerous place since he was in office. He says Biden allowed Russia to attack Ukraine, and blames him for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Trump also blames Biden for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, in which 13 U.S. service members and some 170 Afghan civilians were killed — even though that was a plan Trump himself put in motion.

That was also the moment when Biden's approval rating "first began to dip underwater," Khalid notes.

"I think that's worth keeping in mind because Biden really came into office as the adult in the room — the man who could provide stability, both here at home, globally, after some of the more chaotic moments under the Trump presidency," she adds.

Can Biden still make the case for himself as the adult in the room?

Biden has helped defend Ukraine — and by extension, Europe — without committing any U.S. troops on the ground, and worked to strengthen NATO and rebuild alliances in the continent that were broken under Trump.

"There's no question that Europe sees the United States as being more dependable," Ordoñez says. "That said, what Trump is saying about too much war is resonating with a lot of the American public, and that has been an effective message for him."

Biden's response to the Israel-Hamas war, in particular, has cost him some support — at least during the primary season — among people of color and young voters , who were key to his win in 2020.

Ordoñez says Trump has said in interviews he has a plan to resolve those issues quickly, but can't say what they are because that would "reveal his hand and he wouldn't be able to negotiate once he's in power."

For more context, check out these stories:

• Trump could — and wants to — shake up U.S. foreign policy even more in a second term
• Will the generational divide on support for Israel impact the presidential election?
• How 2 unexpected wars are defining Biden's presidency
• What a second Biden or Trump presidency could mean for American allies and foes

As Trump takes to the stage, his signature style may be muted

By Franco Ordoñez

When President Biden and former President Donald Trump face off Thursday , it will mark the first time a sitting president and a former president have ever debated.

The Trump campaign has been trying to frame this election as a contest between strength and weakness.

Those efforts could be undercut by a new format designed to avoid the chaos that marked their first faceoff.

Trump has given little indication that he plans to play along.

"How should I handle him?" Trump asked supporters this weekend in Philadelphia. "Should I be tough and nasty? ... Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?"

Their first debate four years ago quickly unraveled into a mess of angry insults and personal attacks as Trump sought to bulldoze over Biden, questioning what he said.

It’s largely because of those interruptions that this debate switches up that format. There will be no audience. And host broadcaster CNN will mute microphones.

The change is largely expected to hurt Trump.

Here's why .

How Trump and Biden were greeted by their supporters in Atlanta

Biden arrived in Atlanta just after 3 p.m. As he made his way downtown, he was greeted by supporters downtown holding "Biden Harris" and " Dark Brandon " signs.

Atlanta, it’s good to be back! I met some incredible supporters who are fired up ahead of tonight’s debate. Let’s finish the job. pic.twitter.com/hGDGtuvnC8 — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 27, 2024

The president then entered a nearby hotel for a closed-door meeting, according to White House pool reporters.

Trump landed in Atlanta a few hours later, around 5:30 p.m. Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that he "descended the stairs alone and waved to supporters without speaking and got into his awaiting vehicle."

GPB reports that around 7 p.m., Trump supporters gathered on an overpass in Midtown Atlanta, waving flags and chanting at the cars driving below them on the interstate.

. @realDonaldTrump en route to @CNN Debate in Atlanta, Georgia… pic.twitter.com/HfxKv5B4su — Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) June 27, 2024

Follow GPB's debate live blog here .

When and how to watch tonight's debate

The CNN presidential debate starts at 9 p.m. ET and will run for 90 minutes. It will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at the network’s studios in Atlanta.

The debate will be available on CNN and the streaming platform Max, formerly known as HBO. Viewers without a cable login can also watch on CNN’s website .

You can follow NPR's live blog for updates during the debate and watch the livestream that CNN is making available to other media organizations. That stream will include CNN's commercials and branding; NPR.org will carry that livestream as a public service.

Plus, tune into your NPR station, our online radio player or the NPR app to catch live radio coverage of the debate starting at 9:00 p.m. ET, followed by analysis from NPR reporters.

5 big questions ahead of the debate

By Domenico Montanaro

Tonight’s debate between President Biden and former President Trump is the first major moment of the general election with only one other debate scheduled. Here are 5 questions to think about ahead of tonight’s debate:

It’s getting old to talk about Biden’s age, but will he show vigor and be on top of the job to reassure voters he is up to the job?

If you watch conservative media, Biden is often described as senile, which has lowered the bar for him at every other major public event, like State of the Union addresses. He’ll have to do it again, but Trump and conservatives have lowered the bar to the point that Biden might only need to step over it. Because of it, Trump has resorted to baselessly alleging that Biden uses performance-enhancing agents. This will likely be the largest single audience of any day in this campaign yet, so Biden having a good, energetic performance would likely do a lot to reassure his base, which he desperately needs. 

Can Trump look like he has a coherent grasp of the issues – or will he be unhinged, as he has in past debates?

Trump has said in recent days that he has been preparing his whole life and doesn’t need to hunker down for a week or two to prepare, which is what Biden has been doing. Often a president is the one who stumbles in the first debate in a reelect, but Trump also may be rusty, considering he chose not to participate in any primary debates. He’s never been a policy wonk, and his conspiracy theories, like about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, are rabbit holes that have turned off swing voters in recent elections.

What issues will the moderators focus on?

Expect inflation, abortion, foreign policy, immigration and Trump’s conduct, including his felony conviction and promise to pardon Jan. 6ers to be a major part of the debate. But what gets more time and focus? Polling shows Trump is currently trusted more on inflation, foreign policy and immigration, but Biden gets higher marks on handling abortion rights, and majorities think the investigations into Trump have been fair – despite his cries of political targeting. And how will the moderators handle fact checking? CNN has indicated it would be leaving that to the candidates.

Who will control the debate?

The moderators? Biden? Trump? Someone will affect the flow and that could show which candidate is more of the alpha. Trump has often run over moderators and candidates in past debates. Will new rules rein him in?

Who will the new rules benefit?

There won’t be a studio audience and candidates will be muted when the other candidate is talking. In theory, that should help Biden get his point across without the rampant interruptions of the 2020 debates when Biden told Trump to “shut up, man.” Or will it have an inverse effect by helping Trump look more sedate? 

Debate prep: What to know about abortion and the election

Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of temporarily allowing abortions in medical emergencies in the state of Idaho.

The decision shines an even brighter spotlight on the issue of abortion, a key issue for many voters, especially in the two years since the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections.

White House correspondents Franco Ordoñez and Asma Khalid appeared on Morning Edition to talk about the candidates' positions on abortion ahead of the CNN presidential debate.

Khalid says the Biden campaign makes two central arguments.

They tie the fall of Roe v. Wade to Trump, saying he hand-picked the three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn that decision. And they argue that Trump would further restrict access to reproductive rights, like IVF and contraception.

"I was out covering Kamala Harris, the vice president, at a campaign rally in Maryland this week," Khalid adds. "She said explicitly that Donald Trump, if he gets the chance, would sign a national ban on abortion that could outlaw abortion in every single state in the country."

Trump, for his part, insists he wants to keep the issue of abortion with states.

"This is an issue that Trump does not really want to talk about," Ordoñez says. "I mean, this is an issue that's been very difficult for him and very difficult for Republicans. He knows, politically, that extremely well."

At the same time, Biden and the Democrats broadly see abortion as one of their biggest strengths. Abortion has been a winning issue for the party since 2022.

"The question here is whether Biden on the debate stage can connect himself directly to that issue," Khalid adds. "So does it mean that voters who support abortion will also come out and support the Democratic candidate for president?"

Check out these stories for more:

• 6 key facts about abortion laws and the 2024 election
• As abortion looks like a key issue in 2024, voters more divided by party than ever
• How political stances on abortion have shifted — for Biden, Trump and voters
• Trump's anti-abortion stance helped him win in 2016. Will it hurt him in 2024?
• Most Americans say criminalizing abortion is wrong — and are divided on deportation

Biden hopes to draw a contrast with Trump in 3 main areas

By Asma Khalid

President Biden has said that his aim with the debate is to draw a contrast with Donald Trump.

“Say what I think. Let him say what he thinks,” Biden told ABC News anchor David Muir in a recent interview. “Remind people what he says, and what I believe and what he believes.”

A Biden campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss debate plans, said the president will be focused on drawing distinctions with Trump in three main areas of focus for his campaign:

• Abortion — the campaign has sought to  pin the blame for the loss of abortion rights  on Trump, who named conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which overturned  Roe v. Wade  two years ago.
• Democracy — Biden has argued Trump is a threat to democracy, focusing on the Jan. 6 riot of Trump supporters at the Capitol, where lawmakers were formalizing the 2020 election results.
• Economy — Biden wants to raise taxes on billionaires, and says his opponent would give tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations.

Read more here on Biden's debate prep.

Debate prep: What the economy has — and could — look like under Biden and Trump

One of the topics likely to get a lot of attention tonight is the economy, a consistently key concern for many voters.

Morning Edition 's Steve Inskeep spoke this week with economic correspondent Scott Horsley and political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben to get a sense of what the candidates might say — and what viewers should keep in mind.

Horsley puts it this way:

"Presidents always get more credit and blame for economic conditions than they should. But Trump had a pretty good track record during his first three years in office. His trade war did some damage. Exports suffered, but the economy did add 6.6 million jobs in those three years. Of course, then the pandemic hit, unemployment soared, and Trump was the first president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer jobs in the country than when he came in."

"Now, under Biden, the economy's added more than 15 million jobs. Unemployment's been at or below 4% for the last two and a half years. It's a record that would be the envy of almost any president. But of course, it's been marred by high inflation."

Inflation hit a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022 and has since come down by some two-thirds, though people still feel squeezed by the prices of everyday goods, especially groceries .

Kurtzleben says that high inflation helps explain the steady stream of polls showing Americans' negative economic outlook — including the most recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll that shows a majority of Americans saying Trump (54%) would tackle the economy better than Biden (45%).

"The curious thing is, Trump kind of gets a pass on pandemic job losses because voters say, hey, he didn't cause the pandemic," Horsley adds. "Voters don't give Biden the same kind of pass on inflation, even though it's also at least partly the byproduct of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine."

So how would another Trump or Biden presidency change things?

As far as Trump:

• Horsley says some of his proposed economic policies would "probably make inflation worse," like the blanket 10% tariff and mass deportations he's called for while campaigning.
• Trump is also regularly calling to "drill, baby drill" — increase U.S. oil and gas production to lower their costs, but Kurtzleben says it's not clear that would work.
• Many of the Trump-era 2017 tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025. Trump wants to extend them for everyone and cut taxes even further.

As far as Biden:

• Biden has made systematic proposals for saving ordinary people money, as Kurtzleben puts it, like cutting insulin prices for seniors and eliminating " junk fees ."
• Biden wants to extend the 2017 tax cuts for people earning under $400,000 while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Here's some more background reading to whet your appetite:

• Four 'American Indicators' share their view of the U.S. economy — and their politics
• Biden has taken more action on climate than any president. His pitch? It creates jobs
• As the election nears, an analysis of Donald Trump’s economic proposals
• What Would The Economy Look Like If Donald Trump Gets A Second Term?
• Voters in this 'boomerang' county say they're nostalgic for the Trump economy
• Biden touts economic 'comeback' in election-year pitch to skeptical voters

Why did Biden and Trump break up with the group that plans debates?

For more than three decades, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) ran the debate process, scheduling the events and setting the ground rules.

But not this year. President Biden and former President Donald Trump parted ways with the CPD this spring.

Both campaigns complained the CPD was planning debates for too late in the season, well after many Americans vote in early voting.

Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon also pushed for a simplified format, with no live audience and muted microphones unless candidates are directed to speak –- choices she said allow voters to focus on the subject matter. The CPD typically holds debates at a college or university in front of a packed crowd.

“The Commission’s model of building huge spectacles with large audiences at great expense simply isn’t necessary or conducive to good debates,” O’Malley Dillon wrote to the CPD.

The Trump campaign agreed to the switch in rules. Leading up to the decision to debate on CNN, Trump had vowed to faceoff against Biden "anytime, anywhere, anyplace."

There have also been feuds with CPD in the past. Both campaigns criticized the CPD’s handling of the 2020 debates. Plus, in the spring of 2022, the Republican National Committee announced it would be leaving the CPD, accusing the organization of bias .

In an  interview with NPR , Frank Fahrenkopf, the co-chair of the commission, said that it was created as a neutral body "to avoid the haggling over key issues like the number of debates, schedule, format and moderators," he said. "The debates belong to the American public, not to the campaign or the parties."

RFK Jr. didn't make the debate stage, but plans to participate in his own way

By Stephen Fowler

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s longshot presidential bid has hit several roadblocks in recent days: After not hitting polling thresholds and not being on enough state ballots, he will not be on this week’s presidential debate stage .

The latest fundraising reports show the campaign does not have much money in the bank, but Kennedy’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy is not worried about the prospects for the future of the campaign.

In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, she insists there will be a “three-way debate” Thursday, falsely claiming that the independent presidential candidate met the criteria published by CNN to appear on the debate stage alongside President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Later Tuesday afternoon, the campaign announced "The Real Debate" counter-programming, in which Kennedy will "answer the same debate questions live" on a website and streaming on the X social media site.

"I'm going to be on that debate stage with or without their permission," RFK said in a video.

When asked what Kennedy would do on Thursday instead of attending the debate, his campaign manager teased the debate counter-programming announced Tuesday.

“Well, look, I think that the American people want leaders who believe in their ability to make up their own mind, and one way or another, there will be a three-way debate on Thursday,” Amaryllis Fox Kennedy said.

Read more here about the debate qualifications and ensuing drama.

This debate will be different from those in the past. Here are the new rules

Typically, presidential debates occur in front of a live audience, often in an event space on a college or university campus, and are coordinated by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD.)

But not this year. Both candidates have said they will not participate in the CPD’s previously scheduled and announced debates, lobbying for earlier matchups .

Instead, Biden and Trump will take part in Thursday’s debate on CNN and then a second in September hosted by ABC News.

Biden and Trump have agreed to the following rules :

• Microphones will be muted unless a candidate is directed to speak.
• Candidates are not allowed to bring prewritten notes or props. They will receive a pen and paper and a bottle of water.
• A coin toss determined podium positions and the order of closing statements. According to CNN, Biden’s campaign won the coin toss and chose the podium to the viewers' right. As a result, the Trump team chose to deliver the final closing statement of the evening.

Frat boys and RFK supporters are partying near the debate site

ATLANTA — The debate is being held in CNN's Techwood Studios in midtown Atlanta.

Much of the surrounding area is closed and Atlanta's notoriously bad traffic was a little worse as the two presidential candidates arrived. The studio is adjacent to the campus of Georgia Tech, with the school's basketball arena serving as spin room and media work area for hundreds of reporters.

Even inside the security perimeter, life goes on. Supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — who did not qualify for the debate — put up a lemonade stand, while nearby, fraternity members engaged in a little day drinking.

Happy presidential debate day. Most of midtown ATL is locked down as Biden and Trump arrive, but the men of Georgia Tech’s Kappa Sigma chapter darty on undeterred. They’re near the media rideshare drop off, as what appears to be RFK supporters have a setup as well. pic.twitter.com/vP5Vi9mLXi — stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) June 27, 2024

The debate will be a politics-themed social event at these D.C. bars

Food and drink establishments across the nation's capital are gearing up for a night of watch parties, four years after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to tune in from home.

Mexican restaurant Johnny Pistolas will hold a watch party with aptly named $10 drink specials: the Filibuster Buzz, the Bipartisan Breeze and Swing State Sangria.

At Union Pub in Capitol Hill, attendees can partake in a "red vs blue" drink poll: They can order a vodka-based drink with either red grenadine or blue curacao. The most popular one wins.

"Yes, there will be a drinking game companion!" it wrote on Instagram.

Elsewhere, Shaw's Tavern plans to air the debate inside and on the patio, with half-priced bottles of wine available all night.

The restaurant and bookstore chain Busboys and Poets will hold parties at all of its locations to watch the debate and celebrate the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange .

It says the event is free and open to all, and co-hosted by Make All Votes Count DC , a local group promoting a ranked choice voting ballot initiative.

"This event is your chance to engage in thought-provoking discussions, soak in the intensity of the debate, and be a part of history in the making," the chain advertises on its website.

Other local watering holes are offering happy hour pricing and drink specials, as The Hill , the Washingtonian and Washington Post report.

Biden's debate prep involved catching up on Trump's recent remarks

Last Thursday, President Biden arrived at the presidential retreat in the woods of Maryland, known as Camp David , to prepare for the debate.

It’s a secluded site other recent presidents have also used to get ready during their reelection campaigns.

“Biden’s a really big homework guy,” said Jim Messina, who ran former President Barack Obama’s reelection bid in 2012.

But one big challenge for Biden is that he has had less time to do the homework than he did four years ago.

This month alone, he has made two diplomatic trips to Europe, for the G7 summit and for the anniversary of D-Day. And his family has been focused on the trial and conviction of his son Hunter Biden on gun charges.

Biden prepared for the debate in part by catching up on what Trump has been saying in his rallies and interviews — events that Biden has been too busy to watch in real time, a second person involved in debate planning told NPR, also speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy.

Read the full story here .

Georgia, where the debate is happening, could decide the election

By Sam Gringlas

Just under 12,000 votes separated Joe Biden and Donald Trump when they last appeared on the ballot in Georgia.

Four years later, the rivals are sharing the debate stage in Atlanta as they fight for the slice of Georgia voters who could swing the presidential election.

Some of those voters with outsize influence live in Alpharetta, a suburb of Atlanta where new subdivisions keep sprouting and have helped turn this formerly Republican stronghold purple.

Reading a novel on a lounge chair in the sun at Alpharetta’s Wills Park Pool, Kerry Webster is the kind of voter Biden and Trump need to persuade.

Webster says she is unhappy with her choices for president. And though she voted for Trump in 2020, he has since been convicted on 34 felony counts and faces more charges, including in Georgia.

A grand jury indicted Trump just a few miles from the debate stage on charges that he attempted to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election result.

"He's a conniver. He's not really a good person — he's really not," Webster said. "But the economy was better, and Biden, I don't know if he does a lot for us, hate to say."

But Webster does not plan to watch Thursday's debate. Despite living in a state and a suburban community that helped decide the presidency in 2020, she says she feels unmotivated about her options and has wondered whether her vote matters much.

Prasad and Mansi Vichare are watching their kids splashing nearby as a DJ bumps Taylor Swift on repeat and older kids leap from a tall diving board for prizes. The Vichares identify as political independents. And though they plan to vote, they think debates are mostly a useless exercise.

"To be honest, they're a waste, but that's just my opinion," Prasad said. "I'm indifferent," added Mansi, who believes the candidates just tell people what they think they want to hear. "I feel like it's somewhat fake, and so I don't know if it's really that helpful."

Read more here about what the Biden and Trump camps are doing to try to win over Georgia voters.

A Trump will be spinning for Biden tonight

Campaigns bring people into their debate “spin rooms” to send a signal about who their candidates have in their corners.

Tonight, President Biden’s campaign will have Mary Trump, the former president’s outspoken niece, on hand in Atlanta to offer her analysis to reporters there.

A psychologist by training, Mary Trump wrote a book , published in 2020, that aired her family’s dirty laundry. Now the Biden campaign is giving her a big platform to share her concerns about her uncle.

“For my whole life I have witnessed my uncle’s narcissism and cruelty,” said Mary Trump in a statement released by the campaign. "His sense of inferiority has always driven his jealousy and his pathological need to dominate others and this is information that is crucially important for the American people to have in advance of the most important election of our lifetimes.”

Trump is no stranger to inviting splashy guests to debate spin rooms. In 2016, immediately following the release of the Access Hollywood video , he attempted to create a distraction by inviting women who had accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual assault.

Tonight, there’s widespread speculation that Trump’s spin room operation may also be the ultimate vice presidential audition , as he's said his pick for a running mate will be there.

There are no reporters in the room. That's a break with precedent

There will be plenty of cameras in the debate room tonight, but in a break with precedent, no independent reporters will be there to bear witness.

Going back decades, a pool of 13 journalists travel with the president wherever he goes, and have eyes on him whenever he is in public. It includes a television crew, print and wire reporters and photographers, and a radio reporter.

The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) spent weeks advocating for the pool to be allowed into the CNN studio where the debate is happening. CNN and the campaigns agreed to allow still photographers in. But as for the rest of the pool, CNN ultimately decided to only permit a single print reporter to enter “during a commercial break to briefly observe the setting," the WHCA said in a statement.

WHCA respectfully requests that CNN grant access to the WH print pool reporter for the duration of the debate. Access matters. Independent observation matters. Precedent matters. pic.twitter.com/wNxf8du4t1 — Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) June 27, 2024

However, while the two men are actually debating, the print pool reporter won’t be there to note off-camera or off-mic interactions for the rest of the press corps.

“We don’t know how this will play out in real time,” said WHCA president Kelly O’Donnell, noting that there is no audience and that CNN will mute the candidates’ microphones when it isn’t their turn to speak.

COVID tests and crosstalk: What happened the last time Trump and Biden debated

Biden and Trump are set to go one-on-one on the debate stage Thursday for the first time in four years.

It's likely to be a memorable night if 2020 is any indication. Here’s a look at what happened last time the two took the stage together.

Trump derailed the first debate

The first round of debates in September 2020 was, by many accounts, a disaster. NPR’s Domenico Montanaro called it “maybe the worst presidential debate in American history.”

Trump arrived on the debate stage trailing in the polls and, apparently, jonesing for drama. He interrupted Biden constantly, peppering him with questions and personal slights despite moderator Chris Wallace’s pleas for order.

Biden tried to ignore Trump talking over him throughout — but called him a “clown” more than once. At one point he had clearly had enough.

“Will you shut up, man?” he said exasperatedly, as Trump continued accusing him of wanting to pack the Supreme Court. “This is so unpresidential.”

Trump even bulldozed over Wallace, prompting the then-Fox News anchor to declare, “Mr. President, I am the moderator of this debate and I would like you to let me ask my question and then you can answer.”

Still, a few substantive moments stood out amidst the chaos and crosstalk. When asked to disavow white supremacist groups, Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by,” and he refused to commit to urging his supporters to stay peaceful during the counting of votes.

The second debate was scrapped over COVID concerns

Their next debate, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, was scrapped altogether due to disagreement between the campaigns and the Commission on Presidential Debates over COVID-19 protocols .

Trump refused to debate virtually after he was diagnosed with the virus himself.

At the time, questions were mounting about whether Trump had taken a test — and gotten a positive result — before his first debate with Biden. It later became apparent that he had.

On Oct. 8, the commission announced it would shift to a virtual debate due to health and safety concerns. Trump’s team countered that he would be cleared for public events by then, saying there was “ no medical reason ” why the debate couldn’t be held in person.

Trump ultimately pulled out of the virtual debate, calling it “a waste of time.”

Each candidate ended up holding individual town halls — Trump on NBC News, Biden on ABC News — on Oct. 15, both airing at the same time.

The final debate was a little less dramatic

Trump and Biden returned to the debate stage in Nashville on Oct. 22, less than two weeks from Election Day.

By that point, more than 40 million Americans had already cast their votes by mail, Biden held a 10-point lead in an average of national polls, and only a small sliver of voters appeared willing to be persuaded .

The debate proved much less dramatic than the first round, partly due to new rules that kept each candidate’s microphone muted during the first two minutes of their opponent’s speaking time, and the no-nonsense approach of moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News.

Montanaro wrote, “Even Biden appeared bored, and near the end of the debate checked his watch.”

Both candidates were relatively restrained when talking about issues — COVID, healthcare and the economy dominated the conversation — though things got more personal as the night went on.

Read the full recap here .

Trump hasn't announced who it is, but says his VP pick will be in attendance

Trump has been hinting for months that he knows who his running mate will be, fueling speculation and (ever-shrinking) shortlists.

The former president even told NBC News over the weekend that the person he has in mind will "most likely" be in attendance, although there will be no studio audience.

"They’ll be there,” he said. “I think we have a lot of people coming.”

Trump has previously said he'll announce his VP pick during the Republican National Convention in mid-July.

Some of the top contenders, as NPR has reported , include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Other possible picks include some of Trump's former primary rivals, like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Many of those elected officials have made the cable TV rounds in recent weeks to sing Trump's praises.

It's a fitting form of vetting for a presidential candidate who rose to fame in part as the host of a reality show competition — and for a VP who will likely get a lot of airtime.

The stakes for the VP slot are high, especially since Trump has been the de-facto Republican nominee since the race started. His second-in-command will shape the future of the MAGA movement and potentially woo harder-to-reach voting blocs, like moderates.

Choosing a vice president generally comes down to strategy. NPR's Ron Elving says Trump's likely priorities should be doing no harm, followed by creating some form of unity in the Republican Party.

"Trump doesn't need any more controversy," Elving adds. "He doesn't need anybody who carries any baggage of his own or her own."

Read more from Elving about the stakes of VP selection over the decades — and how Trump is putting his spin on a familiar storyline.

Who's watching this debate anyway? Recent polling holds some clues

If you're planning on watching tonight's debate, you're not alone.

A NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll released last week found that a majority of Americans — 61% — plan to watch most or all of the debate.

Another 24% say they will not be watching the debate, but plan to pay close attention to the news coverage of it. If that's you, hi and thanks for being here!

A smaller sliver, 14%, have no plans to watch or pay attention to the debate.

The survey found that independents (56%) are less likely than Republicans (70%) or Democrats (67%) to tune in.

And that's notable, since independents could play a major role in deciding the election. The Marist poll has Biden and Trump tied evenly at 49% among registered voters nationwide.

Who will be on stage?

Biden and Trump are the only presidential candidates who qualified for the debate stage.

Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. failed to meet the threshold , which required candidates to poll at 15% or higher in four national surveys and appear on enough state ballots that could theoretically push them past the needed 270 Electoral College votes to secure the presidency.

Legal dramas, policy questions and undecided voters: What we're watching for

Candidates will likely speak to recent respective legal dramas.

The debate comes about a month after Trump was found guilty of 34 criminal charges in New York, becoming the first U.S. president in history to be convicted of felony crimes.

On a less historic note, Biden’s son, Hunter, who is not running for office, was convicted on felony gun charges in Delaware in mid-June and faces a second federal trial in September over failing to pay his taxes.

Biden will also likely address concerns over his age and ability to serve a second term. At 81, he is the oldest sitting president in U.S. history, and if elected for a second term, he would exit office at 86.

While the president has had public slipups throughout his first term, Trump, who is 78, has repeatedly criticized Biden’s mental ability , most recently speculating he should take a cognitive test. In that same speech, Trump incorrectly named the doctor who conducted his own cognitive exam while president.

On the issues, the candidates are expected to discuss the state of the economy and immigration policy, as both are consistently top issues for voters in national polling. It’s also possible the candidates will weigh in on international politics, given voters remain divided on whether the U.S. should be sending military aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.

The debate may also be an opportunity for Biden to address his decreasing support, when compared to 2020, among key parts of his base, notably Blacks , Latinos and young voters .

Trump is losing some ground among older voters, and the Biden campaign is trying to capitalize on that . Plus, the former president may still need to repair relations with Nikki Haley supporters who remain uncertain about backing him again.

Welcome to presidential debate night. Here's how to follow along

Got your popcorn ready?

Tonight's presidential debate kicks off at 9 p.m. ET and will run for 90 minutes. Expect two commercial breaks, no live audience and at least a little tension.

The debate is hosted by CNN at its midtown Atlanta studios, and moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

NPR will carry a livestream from CNN here and broadcast it alongside our radio special coverage — with commentary from NPR political journalists — from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. You can hear that online , on your local NPR station and on the NPR app .

Plus, this blog will be updated regularly with updates, fact-checks, context and color — so keep this tab open and stick with us as the night unfolds.

Biden Practiced Debate Strategy for a Week

June 30, 2024 at 11:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post : “For a full week, the president sequestered himself at Camp David with more than a dozen aides to prepare for Thursday’s presidential debate with former president Donald Trump. He rehearsed answers, met with policy aides and participated in mock debates, with his personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, playing the part of Trump.”

“Every topic he was asked about Thursday, he had practiced answers for — including the final one about his age.”

“So aides were bewildered by his performance. Many felt they had never seen him collapse so dramatically. After all, Biden was a veteran of numerous debates — as a senator, vice-presidential nominee and presidential candidate. And they did not understand why he gave an entirely different answer on the age question than the one they spent more than a week perfecting.”

“The president did not just stumble over words. He appeared to lose his focus and often was unable to finish sentences.”

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About Political Wire

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC .

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6 facts about presidential and vice presidential debates

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump – the presumptive major-party nominees for the 2024 presidential election – will meet in the first of two planned debates on June 27 .

That’s by far the earliest date any such debate has been staged – so early, in fact, that neither man will have been officially nominated yet. Since the first televised debates in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon , all such events have been held in September or October.

The early date isn’t the only thing setting this year’s debates apart. The June debate is being organized by CNN and the Sept. 10 follow-up by ABC, bypassing the Commission on Presidential Debates . The commission had sponsored all presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988, sharing the broadcast with all channels that wanted to air it. (The commission has proposed a vice presidential debate for Sept. 25, but it’s not yet clear that the Biden and Trump campaigns will agree to participate .)

Presidential debates have long been criticized on both substantive and stylistic grounds , but they remain a major part of the campaign season. Here are six things to know before the first debate.

To lay some groundwork for the 2024 presidential debates, we looked back at the history of presidential and vice presidential debates.

Data on voters’ perceptions of the debates’ helpfulness and their decision-making process was drawn from previous Pew Research Center surveys. Refer to the links in the text for more methodological detail.

Viewership was based primarily on figures from Nielsen Media Research, supplemented by estimates from the Commission on Presidential Debates and, in one case, The New York Times. Other sources included the commission’s records on prior debates and contemporaneous media reports from various publications. Links to these sources can be found in the text of this analysis.

The debates draw a lot of viewers. Although viewership of the debates as a share of the total TV audience has broadly fallen over the decades, they can still attract more people than just about any other televised event besides the Super Bowl.

More than 73 million people watched at least some of the first Trump-Biden debate in 2020, according to Nielsen Media Research. (Nielsen defines audience as viewers ages 2 and older.) That’s the third-largest debate audience ever, trailing only the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016 (84 million viewers) and the 1980 debate between President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan (80.6 million).

Older people were most likely to watch the first Trump-Biden debate, according to Nielsen. The debate drew a 42.7 rating among viewers ages 55 and older, versus 25.5 among 35- to 54-year-olds and 12.0 among 18- to 34-year-olds. (Nielsen ratings measure the percentage of television-owning households watching a particular program, but the company also collects data on individual viewers.)

This ratings data can be interpreted in various ways. On one hand, it seems to align with research that shows that older people are more likely to follow presidential election news . However, the Nielsen numbers only included people who watched the debates on traditional TV channels or via devices connected to TV sets (at home or outside the home) – not those who streamed the debates or watched them online. And according to a 2021 Pew Research Center study , only 34% of U.S. adults under 30 get TV through cable or satellite.

Ratings for the presidential debates have risen and fallen over the decades, according to Nielsen data. The four 1960 debates all had ratings of around 60.0, meaning roughly six-in-ten households with TV sets were tuned to the debates. When the debates were revived in 1976, their ratings were lower – generally around 50.0.

Ratings for the debates trended lower over the next two decades. The third debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000 had just a 25.9 rating. Since then, debate ratings have generally trended modestly upward: The first Biden-Trump debate in 2020 drew a 40.2 rating.

Voters find the debates useful, but not necessarily determinative. Pew Research Center conducted post-election surveys from 1988 through 2016. In most cases, six-in-ten or more voters said the debates were very or somewhat helpful in deciding which candidate to vote for.

The high point was 1992, when 70% of voters said the three debates that year between Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot were at least somewhat helpful. (The Center did not ask this question following the 2020 election.)

In 2016, for example, only 10% of voters said they had definitively made up their minds “during or just after” the presidential debates. By comparison, 11% said they’d decided later, in the days or weeks before or on Election Day. More (22%) said they had decided during or just after the summertime party conventions, and 42% said they had before the conventions.

The vice presidential debates are the undercard. In most years since 1976, when the candidates for vice president first had their own debate , the running mates have been runners-up when it comes to viewership.

In 2020, for example, 57.9 million people watched the debate between Vice President Mike Pence and then-Sen. Kamala Harris. That was 8% below the viewership of the lowest-rated Biden-Trump debate, though well above the 37.2 million who tuned in to the 2016 debate between Pence and Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential hopeful.

The lone exception to this rule came in 2008, when more people (69.9 million) tuned in to the vice presidential debate between then-Sen. Biden and then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin than any of the three presidential debates between then-Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.

Today’s televised debates don’t much resemble the first ones. From the first debates in 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon through the 1988 matchups between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis , the candidates answered questions from panels of journalists. The moderator’s job was mostly to explain and enforce the ground rules and keep the proceedings moving.

But by the 1980s, the panel format was in trouble. Critics said it resembled a joint press conference more than an actual debate and that the journalist-panelists took too much time and attention away from the candidates. The campaigns bickered constantly over who could or could not be a moderator or panelist.

Finally, the League of Women Voters , which had organized the 1976, 1980 and 1984 debates, threw in the towel, leaving the job to the newly created Commission on Presidential Debates.

In 1992, the commission tried a variety of approaches: Along with two panel-style debates, it introduced a “town hall” event in which undecided voters asked the questions. That year’s vice presidential debate had a single moderator pose questions to the candidates.

Based on public feedback afterward , the commission decided to use only the single-moderator and town hall formats going forward. (The lone exception was a 2016 debate that was co-moderated by Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC News.)

Most of the moderators have been broadcast journalists. All but two of the debate moderators since 1960 have been prominent broadcast journalists. (The exceptions were James Hoge, editor-in-chief of the Chicago Sun-Times , who moderated the 1976 vice presidential debate, and USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page, who moderated the 2020 vice presidential debate.)

PBS journalists have moderated the most debates: 16, including 12 by the late Jim Lehrer . The only other person to have moderated more than two presidential or vice presidential debates is Bob Schieffer of CBS News (2004, 2008 and 2012).

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Aug. 28, 2020.

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Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center .

Biden, Trump are least-liked pair of major party presidential candidates in at least 3 decades

Globally, biden receives higher ratings than trump, cultural issues and the 2024 election, americans have mixed views about how the news media cover biden’s, trump’s ages, an early look at black voters’ views on biden, trump and election 2024, most popular.

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