Homework Involvement and Academic Achievement of Native and Immigrant Students

Natalia Suárez,Joyce L Epstein,Bibiana Regueiro,Sara M Díaz,Isabel Piñeiro,Antonio Valle

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01517

Abstract

Homework is a debated issue in society and its relationship with academic achievement has been deeply studied in the last years. Nowadays, schools are multicultural stages in which students from different cultures and ethnicities work together. In this sense, the present study aims to compare homework involvement and academic achievement in a sample of native and immigrant students, as well as to study immigrant students’ relationship between homework involvement and Math achievement. The sample included 1328 students, 10–16 years old from Spanish families (85.6%) or immigrant students or students of immigrant origin (14.4%) from South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The study was developed considering three informants: elementary and secondary students, their parents and their teachers. Results showed higher involvement in homework in native students than in immigrant. Between immigrants students, those who are more involved in homework have better academic achievement in Math at secondary grades. There weren’t found gender differences on homework involvement, but age differences were reported. Immigrant students are less involved in homework at secondary grades that students in elementary grades. The study highlights the relevance of homework involvement in academic achievement in immigrant students.

Highlights

Schools are complex places in which students of many races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, and economic conditions work together
The main goal of this research was to shed some light on the influence of doing homework on the academic achievement of immigrant students in Spain
The study benefited from unique data on homework behaviors from native and immigrant students in Spanish elementary and secondary grades

Summary

Introduction

Schools are complex places in which students of many races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, and economic conditions work together. They and their families bring many characteristics to school that provide opportunities to enrich student learning every day. The diversity of students is increasing in schools in many countries. In the US, more than 40% of all public school students are from diverse cultures, doubling the percentage of 1980s (Hutchins et al, 2012). In Spain, in the last 20 years, the number of immigrants has increased considerably. In 1998, there were 500,000 people, 1.6% of the total Spanish population. That number has increased to 4.5 million people in 2007, 10% of the total Spanish population (Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes, 2007)

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