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Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Senior Contributing Editor

Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates 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.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. 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. 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.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

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

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

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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.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

Should we get rid of homework? Why, or why not?

Is homework an outdated, ineffective or counterproductive tool for learning? Do you agree with the authors of the paper that homework is harmful and worsens inequalities that exist between students’ home circumstances?

Or do you agree with Mr. Kang that homework still has real educational value?

When you get home after school, how much homework will you do? Do you think the amount is appropriate, too much or too little? Is homework, including the projects and writing assignments you do at home, an important part of your learning experience? Or, in your opinion, is it not a good use of time? Explain.

In these letters to the editor , one reader makes a distinction between elementary school and high school:

Homework’s value is unclear for younger students. But by high school and college, homework is absolutely essential for any student who wishes to excel. There simply isn’t time to digest Dostoyevsky if you only ever read him in class.

What do you think? How much does grade level matter when discussing the value of homework?

Is there a way to make homework more effective?

If you were a teacher, would you assign homework? What kind of assignments would you give and why?

Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column . Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Jeremy Engle joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2018 after spending more than 20 years as a classroom humanities and documentary-making teacher, professional developer and curriculum designer working with students and teachers across the country. More about Jeremy Engle

5 Easy Tips for Handling Unfinished Student Work This Year

Teaching is no easy task. We are responsible for teaching life lessons, standards, and everyday skills. One of the biggest skills we teach our students is responsibility for their work. Because of this, unfinished student work is one of the most important things we can tackle in our classroom. How do you help unfinished student work get finished? With these five easy tips for dealing with unfinished student work. 

Tip 1: Decide What Is Important

I have said this before and I will say it again. You don’t have to grade anything which is one of many grading tips you should check out! Now, this doesn’t mean that the work we are giving students isn’t important. Sometimes, students just need extra practice. So, if you have a student who hasn’t done something that you’re not going to put in the gradebook, assess whether they need to do that activity or not. Again, this isn’t saying your work isn’t important, it’s all about picking your battles.

Tip 2: Have a Singular Turn-In Spot 

What if your student has the work done, but didn’t turn it in? What if they turned it in, but not in the right place? We are collecting work from centers, interactive notebooks, and more! If we had a turn-in spot for all of these different forms of work, we would have turn-in baskets everywhere. In addition, we are going to have students who are bound to get confused. That’s why you need a singular turn-in spot. Why should you do this? First, you won’t have papers all over the place. Piles can be easy to forget, so having one pile of papers makes your life way easier. Secondly, students know exactly where everything goes so you will have less unfinished or missing work. 

When I was in the classroom, I had my central location right next to their mailboxes so I could easily hand everything back. Plus, at my central location (here’s a little teaching hack for you) I had pencils and highlighters there for students to use. I had my students highlight their name before they could turn it in to cut back on “no name” papers. You can learn more about this one-location station in my Learning Centers Made Easy Course. 

Tip 3: Have a Designated Unfinished Work Area

I know, I just told you to have one place for all your work, but you don’t want to be finding unfinished student work  in the turn-in pile. An easy way to avoid this is to have an unfinished work spot for your students. When I was teaching, my students had a box they could decorate and inside that box they had a “Catch Up” Folder. Inside this folder there was a “finished” and “unfinished” side. When students were finished with their work but we weren’t going to turn it in yet, they would put it on the finished side of the folder. If they needed to do more work, they would put it on the “unfinished” side. This worked well to keep my students organized . Plus, it cuts back on lost papers because we know how desks and backpacks can be black holes. This also meant that students could go back and see what they needed to do. In addition, I could easily open up my chronic non-finishers folders and see what they haven’t done. 

Tip 4: Create a Catch-Up Day for unfinished student work  

We all have busy weeks and we all have a lot of curriculum to get through, but that new curriculum will be a nightmare if we don’t get the work done first. That’s why having a “catch-up” day is important. Now, this isn’t a full-day. What I would always do is have my catch-up day on Friday because we had “Fun Fridays.” In order to participate, my students had to have all their work done. This was usually enough incentive for unfinished work to get finished. Please keep in mind, finished means finished well and not rushed and a hot mess.

My catch up day and Fun Friday wasn’t a full day event, it was in the afternoon. We would do spelling tests and other assessments and center work in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we would have Fun Friday. If they weren’t done, they could go and get their catch-up folder and finish up their work. This not only helped me not give up instruction time, but it also lessened the amount of work I had to send home especially if a student was absent. Again, I could choose what was the most important work for my student to do and send that home so it was prioritized. 

Tip 5: Send the unfinished student work  Home (Carefully) 

I’m not a big fan of a lot of homework. I used to give a lot of homework which was more of a district thing. I am more of a fan of a flipped classroom which is when you give the student a video to watch at home of your lesson then they do the work in the classroom. This helps make sure you don’t have to re-teach in school the next day. Any work that I did have to send home, I would send an unfinished work note   (which you can get by clicking the link) along with the missing work. On the note , there were a few different options to check so the parent knew why the student had unfinished work. 

This is a simple way to tell parents why the work  needs to be done. Now, I usually had to send this note home one time because it started a conversation with their student. Therefore, it was an easy way to communicate with parents . I never sent these home with students if the assignment was something they were struggling with. This was only sent home with work that I knew they could do but were simply leaving unfinished. An example of something I would send home would be center work along with the center. 

Between students missing school, having a bad day, lacking focus, and any number of “other” things going on, we are going to have unfinished student work . Instead of pulling your hair out trying to get it all done, you can follow these five simple tips which will help you battle unfinished student work. 

Until Next Time…

Keep Being Educational Rock Stars

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#54U: Unfinished Work

Managing all those pieces of work students didn’t complete, didn’t hand in, or that got lost in my classroom was one of my biggest stressors as a new teacher. With more than 30 students in my class, seven subjects, and five days of work a week, there is inevitably a lot of “stuff” to manage – both for teachers and for students. Over the years I developed a few easy systems that helped reduce stress for me, and my students. Here are my top five strategies for managing unfinished work.

1.Why Is Work Not Being Completed?

Are your instructions and expectations clear. Do students understand the assignment and have clear deadlines? Provide your students with an age-appropriate written copy of the assignment and how you will assess their work. Go over it verbally, and check in personally with students you know will need extra help.

Reconsider the overall workload. Are there assignments you could be shortening, or removing all together? Are you giving students enough time both in class and at home to complete work? I always tried to make sure that students had both weeknight and weekend time to complete assignments. That way families can decide for themselves what works best for them.

Remember, you don’t need to collect or grade everything students do in your class! At the heart of differentiation is the idea that not all students need to do exactly the same assignments. An easy way to do this is to work with individual students to help them prioritize what work, and how much work, they need to complete in order to meet their learning needs.

How are you supporting individual students that struggle?

I tried my best to include strategies for differentiation in all my lesson plans – thinking about content, process, and product. One strategy I used was to have regular lessons about different kinds of graphic organizers, and explicitly teach how to choose the best one for a task and how to use them. Graphic organizers are great for everyone, not just students that are struggling! For students who struggled I would often focus on assessing content knowledge by only assessing the ideas in the graphic organizer.

2. Teach Time Management Skills

A Three Part Agenda of Today, Work To Be Finished and Due Dates helps students see the big picture. I dedicated a large white board to the Three Part Agenda (I think I just dated myself there!), and students also had a copy they would update as they completed tasks. We would start every day by reviewing each part, and I would do an informal check-in to see how things were going and if I needed to adapt due dates.

As they year progressed I would introduce different systems for keeping track of assignments, including things like using a paper agenda, digital programs like google calendar, and homework apps. I encouraged students to try out different systems to see what worked for them, and then to share back with the class any new strategies they found worked for them.

A Planning Guide is great for any sort of longer assignment. At the start of the year I would provide a complete Planning Guide, and students just needed to check off as they finished the task, but as the year progressed I would give students more responsibility for making their own plans for how to break up a large assignment and setting their own goals (while making sure I supported those students who still needed it).

3. Set Up Systems

TBF is short for To Be Finished . We started each morning with half an hour of TBF time to work on things we had already started, and also had other periods dedicated to TBF. Students had the choice of what they wanted to work on, and usually had free choice of where to work as well – including quietly in the hallway. I would use this time to check-in with students, and read Asking For Help Tickets, and meet with students as requested (more on that later).

Asking for Help Tickets serve multiple purposes. I primarily used them as a way to encourage students to feel comfortable and take responsibility for asking for help with anything from requesting a new place to sit in the classroom, understanding a science concept, or needing time to clean their desk. It was also an important tool for me to make sure I didn’t miss things. And finally, asking students to list what they have already tried was a positive encouragement for students to be independent.

I also used a Turn In Spot (a washing bin) with Student Numbers so students knew where to hand things in – and I would know where to look! Students could volunteer to help me sort through the Turn In Spot during TBF time by sorting different subjects into piles, and then putting each pile in numerical order, so I could easily see what was missing. Then they could quietly go to each student and ask them if they had assignment X to hand in.

4. Model Completing Your Work, and What To Do When You Can’t

This is a more complicated strategy. One of the things I did when we reviewed the Agenda was think out loud about my own planning. So sometimes I would say things like “I just realized that I have the Learning Letters due on Tuesday, but I am out Tuesday night so won’t be able to finish correcting them. Why don’t we make them due on Wednesday instead”. Or, and this is the important part, I would say “I’ve fallen behind on my planning so I think we will do a double period of science tomorrow to give me time to plan the next steps in our Inquiry, is that ok with everyone, or do you have another idea?”

As the year progressed students would often have ideas about what we could do instead. And they would start to use this kind of thinking in their own planning. For example, a student might hand in an Asking for Help ticket that said “I had hockey three nights this week, so I didn’t get my Learning Letter done, but I did finish my Math. I’ll work on the Learning Letter on the weekend and have it done by Tuesday.” And my answer would be “cool! Thanks for letting me know”.

5. Be Generous!

Finally, and I can’t stress this one enough. Be generous. Both to yourself, and your students. Our world is busy and stressful. We often know very little about what is happening in our students’ home lives – maybe they are over scheduled, there is family illness, or there is no quiet place for them to work. Too many children live with food insecurity and family violence. Thinking about homework needs to be low on their priority list for these children. There are so many important reasons why students don’t complete work.

Once I decided to always take a generous approach in my own heart, it made all those pieces of missing work so much less stressful for me, and for my students. And usually we managed to work something out so that students did the work they needed to do to learn what they needed to learn, and I got what I needed to be able assess for learning and of learning.

I hope these strategies help you deal with missing work with your own students. If you decide to use any of them I’d appreciate it if you’d post it on social media and tag me at @kitesintheclassroom on Instagram and @classroomkites on Twitter.

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Kirsten Tschofen

From Canada, to Copenhagen, to Alaska, always on my way to Somewhere From Here. View all posts by Kirsten Tschofen

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School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: December 7, 2023

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, 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

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.

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Teachers know that a student’s motivation can make the difference between a successful learning experience and failure. Motivation to learn is as important as the actual imparting of knowledge. However, it’s challenging to motivate students who grow up in a world that thrives on short attention spans and does not place a high value on academic achievement.

To prevent the educational process from stopping at the classroom door, th e challenge for the teacher is to find ways to encourage a high level of motivation outside of the classroom. Here are several ways to achieve that.

1. Accentuate the positive

Whether inside or outside the classroom, a student needs to feel that they are capable of success and expected to do well. Praise, encouragement and acknowledgement of progress can go a long way in motivating students.

2. Set expectations and consequences

Students must be clear about what they need to do to succeed. Set expectations for each assignment and encourage questions. Teachers must also give consequences for not living up to these expectations. Consequences for unfinished homework or projects teaches students accountability.

3. Introduce competition

Most children are naturally competitive; this can be a powerful tool to motivate students outside of the classroom. Making an occasional contest out of homework can make accomplishment fun.

4. Introduce collaboration

The opposite of using competition to foster motivation is collaboration. Encouraging teamwork on projects get students helping each other and using their individual strengths to accomplish a goal.

5. Connect to their world

Relate homework and outside projects to students’ lives. Turn everyday experiences like family meals, vacations, taking care of a pet or a sibling, saving an allowance, and so on into educational opportunities.

6. Plug into technology

Students already use computers, tablets and smartphones. These multimedia tools have the potential to enhance curriculum engagement. Create projects using these tools to allow students to collaborate with each other, and encourage parents to provide valuable, real-time feedback.

7. Get parents involved

Getting parents involved in a home project is a great way to motivate students, and most parents will appreciate the opportunity for hands-on involvement in their child’s education. Involved parents will also ensure homework completion.

8. Get students involved

Allowing students to participate in the creation of  homework and have a choice in the subjects they study outside the classroom will encourage creativity and boost excitement.

9. Use the television

Like it or not, kids spend a great deal of their time outside of the classroom in front of the TV. Turn this into an advantage by assigning educational programs which can be a part of classroom discussion the next day.

10. Consider the student

Teachers should engage on an individual level with students and find out what challenges they may be facing at home. Assigning homework that is unrealistic for a particular students’ situation is a motivation killer. Sometimes a tailored approach is necessary. Take individual learning styles into account too.

Motivation is key

Amid the various distractions our technologically advanced world has, motivating students should be at the forefront of educator’s goals. Getting students motivated to learn when they are outside of the classroom can be accomplished with some creativity and imagination. Teaching students how to learn at home will motivate them to love learning for a lifetime.

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Khan Academy Blog

What your school needs to do about unfinished learning in math

posted on March 24, 2023

Time, time,time, see what’s become of me…   A Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon & Garfunkel

The lyrics of A Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon & Garfunkel can awaken what teachers and administrators feel when they are trying to find more time for learning. We cannot take back the time we lost from Covid but there is time for filling in the gaps in learning.

Time in school is used in a variety of ways, but where do we find more time for learning?  School days are filled with lots of distractions and disruptions.  When students walk into school they are on school time, but within the school day students transition to other classes, have lunch, use the restroom!  Of course we will keep this time, but what about time that is scheduled for learning.

Once students are in the classroom they are on class time.  Teachers and students are often interrupted by announcements, fire drills, phone calls from the office, attendance, and the list goes on.  Schools have limited distractions from the outside the classroom but we are still struggling with time inside the classroom.

Within the classroom,  students and teachers have instructional and academic learning time.  In a 50 minute class, often instructional and learning time is cut to 30 minutes or less.  This is not enough time for teachers to do their job nor for students to do theirs, learning.  

Is it the student’s responsibility to learn?

Increasing academic learning time may not look the same in every classroom.  Students, teachers and administrators each have a role in academic learning time.  If students are on task, not interrupting each other or the teacher, there is more time for instruction.  Much easier said than done!  Teachers are teaching, students are learning, but is it enough to fill the gaps and have students on or beyond level?

Students must take responsibility for their learning.  They know when they are off task, do not understand a concept, and when they can make time for study.  While they know these things, they are kids.  While we would like to say they don’t make good choices, they may be overscheduled!  Students are involved in sports, after school clubs, and the arts.  Some have obligations, work even full time, taking care of siblings, making dinner and helping with homework.  While they may not make good choices, some of the choices are out of their control. 

Teachers really know how they use the time in their classroom.  They know what they have covered, what is on the exams and the curriculum standards they are expected to cover.  They also know their students, when they are off task, often when they do not understand a concept, and how they may not be able to study.  

Administrators know the schedules of teachers and students.  They may know what they think is going on in classrooms.  They probably know the most “notable” students in the school, positive and negative!

Everyone has a piece of the time puzzle but who sees the whole picture.  Of course there is communication, studies regarding time in schools, but is there time for that?  Haven’t we tried this before? Let’s face it, all stakeholders, students, teachers and administrators want to be successful. 

Using our instruction and learning time more effectively

Maybe we need to think less about time but more about the tools we are using or should be using.  “Remediation” has become the tool used to fill the gaps, but it hasn’t worked and it has taken too much time.  There are so many skills and standards that may need to be learned, how do you prioritize which ones a student needs?  It is crucial that students are continuing on grade level, but which skills do they need to be there? 

Course mastery allows students to work on gap areas that need to be filled while at the same time working with on level content and skills. Course mastery allows teachers to help students fill in gaps while assigning specific skills for current content mastery.

Using Khan Academy Districts as Your Instructional Tool 

Khan Academy Districts can be used by schools to accelerate learning for all students.  This makes it easier for administrators and teachers to address gaps in knowledge, and use data to inform real changes in instruction. There are many ways that schools can use Khan Academy Districts to find time and fill in those gaps. 

Khan Academy Districts Tools for Students:

Khan Course Challenge:  Students need to know their gaps in knowledge so they can purposefully find time and know what they need to remediate.  T

Khan Mastery Reporting for Students: Students need to know when they really understand a concept and they have reached mastery .  

Khan Academy Districts Tools for Teachers:

Activity Report: Teachers need to be able to know at a glance what students need to remediate and be able to assign targeted activities to help students purposefully remediate necessary skills.

Khan Mastery Reports and Assigning Assignments :  Teachers need to see when a student reaches mastery  and when a student is stuck needing more assistance  

Khan Academy Districts Tools for Administrators:

Activation Reports:   Administrators need to know who is using the resources to fill in gaps for students and monitor at a glance teachers and students . 

Progress Overview Reports :   Administrators need to know the data regarding minutes on resources and the number of skills mastered.  

Once everyone has the information that they need, and the correct tools to support learning and filling gaps, the time problem is different.  Armed with the information, administrators and teachers can talk about their classes, specific students within classes and what is needed to support all learners.  

The conversation is now around helping students be successful.  As a team, administrators and faculty can:

• Have conversations about time before, during, and after school when support can occur. 
•  Identifying small groups of students, across grades and teachers, with similar skill deficits and finding opportunities to work with them. 
•  Have team conversations (faculty, students)identifying time around student schedules for added support.
• Communication with the school community, like coaches and after school programs, to help carve out time for mastery.

Teachers and administrators are also a bridge for parents.  Parents want their children to be successful.  Students’ gaps did not just spring up, they have struggled, as have their parents, in supporting them.  With the data from the Khan Academy Districts reporting, teachers and administrators can meet with parents and discuss a specific plan for students.  Parents can help identify time, monitor mastery, (Khan Parent accounts) and support their children through their mastery programs.  

Using all the tools available, and by working together, all can celebrate!  Using Khan Academy District’s tools, administrators, teachers, students and parents can all celebrate student achievement and success!

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An Introduction to Khan Academy for Teachers

6 tips for motivating students

Phillips, Vicky. Finding Time For More Teaching, Learning And Joy In The School Day (December 2022)

Silva, Elena. ON THE CLOCK: Rethinking the Way Schools Use Time (January 2007)

Superville, Denisa R. Making time for academic recovery in the School Day:  Ideas from 3 Principals (December 2022)

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to do homework: 15 expert tips and tricks.

Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Introduction

We’ve all experienced it – that dreadful moment when you realize you haven’t completed an assignment and it’s due in a few hours. Whether you forgot, didn’t manage your time well, or life got in the way, you might find yourself looking for ways to excuse yourself from unfinished homework. Here are three strategies that you can use if you find yourself in a bind.

1. Be Honest with Your Teacher

One of the best approaches to excuse yourself from unfinished homework is to be honest with your teacher. Most educators appreciate honesty and understand that life happens outside of school. Explain why you couldn’t complete the assignment, whether it was due to circumstances beyond your control such as illness, a family emergency, or technical issues at home.

While being truthful might not always save your grade, it shows integrity and can help build rapport with your teacher. They may be more understanding the next time you face challenges and need some leniency.

2. Request an Extension

If you know ahead of time that completing an assignment by the deadline will be impossible, proactively ask your teacher for an extension. Ensure you have a valid reason for requesting additional time and provide them with an estimate of when you’ll have the assignment completed.

Requesting an extension before the deadline not only projects responsibility but also allows your teacher to plan their grading schedule accordingly. Keep in mind that extension requests should be reserved for rare occasions; doing this too frequently will make it less likely for future requests to be granted.

3. Use Peer Support

You can also consult classmates who have completed their assignments for advice or resources that may help expedite your work process. If multiple individuals struggled with particular parts of the homework, consider sharing this information with your teacher; they may respond with patience if they recognize that multiple students encountered difficulties.

Working together with your classmates also helps foster a sense of camaraderie and shared support. By maintaining open lines of communication and discussing challenges, you’ll find it easier to seek help when needed, ensuring that you don’t fall behind on your assignments.

While it’s essential to develop time management skills and prioritize your assignments, challenges will inevitably arise from time to time, leaving you with unfinished homework. Utilizing honesty, requesting extensions, or leaning on peer support are three ways to excuse yourself in such cases. Remember to use these strategies sparingly and focus on developing a consistent study routine to keep your academic life running smoothly.

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How to Finish Your Homework

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a private tutor in San Carlos, California. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 280,637 times.

While studying can differ for different age groups, many of the things that get in the way are the same. Whether it's your environment or time management skills, it easy for things to discourage you from finishing your homework. With a little organization and help, your homework can become approachable.

Managing Your Time

• For instance, try setting aside a time you know you can work well such as an hour or 2 before dinner, or if you're a night owl, after dinner.

• Work in hour blocks, with 50 minutes spent studying and 10 minutes spent taking a break.
• It can also be helpful to move around when you are taking your break, especially if you are working at a screen. Go for a walk outside to get your blood circulating and enjoy some fresh air.
• You might also want to eat a healthy snack on your break to improve your focus. Avoid junk food and choose something like a handful of nuts, a piece of fruit, veggies, or a small portion of cottage cheese.

• Identify which assignments are worth the most points for each class. Most likely these will take the longest to complete. [5] X Research source
• Consider how long you have to do each project, and if possible, see when the assignment is introduced. Oftentimes, primary and secondary school classes do not have syllabi, so it might be harder to plan out an entire term, but if you are in college, you will most likely have a syllabus with at least a partial course schedule. Knowing how long you have to complete an assignment will help you prioritize which assignments to do first. You can also ask the teacher how long you have to complete an assignment. [6] X Research source

• Use highlighters or stickers to mark which assignments are most important.
• If you're using an online or mobile schedule, create alerts or notifications for the projects and any time-sensitive steps for those projects.

• Don't let a big project overshadow the smaller assignments you need to complete!

• Assignment outlines can help you visualize the necessary tasks to get the assignment done.

Creating a Productive Work Environment

• A desk or table would be a better location than a couch or a bed.

• Turn your phone off or on silent (not vibrate). It might be best to put the phone out of sight, or in another room while you work, as the temptation to text or get on social media can be as much of a distraction as actually using social media.
• Use an app that blocks social media. There are plenty of applications out there that can help block social media and other distracting sites (such as shopping or gaming sites). [10] X Trustworthy Source Pew Research Center Nonpartisan thinktank conducting research and providing information on public opinion, demographic trends, and social trends Go to source

• Use a white noise app to block out noise.
• Use earplugs or noise-blocking earmuffs. [12] X Research source
• Work in a quiet place, such as a library or a home office, if you have one.
• Avoid listening to music while studying. Studies have shown that although listening to music while studying lowers overall performance, this does not affect everyone equally. [13] X Research source However listening to music before studying has been shown to improve performance on cognitive tasks. [14] X Research source

Using Your Resources

• If you're too afraid to ask a teacher during class, see if you can stay behind to ask your questions.

• First, contact your school to see if there are any after-school tutoring programs. While not all primary and secondary schools offer tutoring, a vast majority of universities do. If your school does not offer tutoring, they may know of other resources for you to contact.
• Then, contact your library to see if they offer any tutoring. [18] X Research source
• In some areas, there may also be free community tutoring programs. Contact your local community center for more information.
• There are plenty of private tutors out there as well, but they can be costly (ranging from $20 to $100 an hour). [19] X Research source You can find tutors online through a number of websites, such as Craigslist or Angie's list.

• If you need to work at a library after school, ask your parents or search the web to find your local library.

Supercharge Your Studying with this Expert Series

Community Q&A

Reader Videos

• Don't feel too stressed or you'll be doing less work than you actually can. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 2
• Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 2
• Maintain a healthy diet. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 3

• Recommended time doing homework varies by age. The National PTA recommends about 10 minutes per grade level per night (30 minutes a night for the third grade). Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 0
• Some people may need additional help in order to focus on their homework and finish it. If you are struggling in school, ask your parents or teachers about what resources may be available, and seek out professional help or ask your parents to do so, if necessary. Thanks Helpful 29 Not Helpful 9
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• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/power-habit-charles-duhigg
• ↑ https://www.edutopia.org/article/research-tested-benefits-breaks/
• ↑ https://www.wma.us/about/titan-blog/post/~board/titan-blog/post/how-to-prioritize-school-assignments-and-homework
• ↑ https://jhsap.org/self_help_resources/school-life_balance//
• ↑ https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/studying-for-and-taking-exams/guidelines-for-creating-a-study-schedule/
• ↑ https://success.oregonstate.edu/learning/concentration
• ↑ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/parenting-children-in-the-age-of-screens/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html/
• ↑ https://absn.northeastern.edu/blog/8-things-to-keep-in-your-at-home-study-space/
• ↑ https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/171/
• ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/acp.1731
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/talk-to-parents.html
• ↑ https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2412&context=etd
• ↑ https://blogs.chapman.edu/scst/2016/02/09/what-tutoring-is-and-what-tutoring-is-not/
• ↑ https://undergrad.stanford.edu/tutoring-support
• ↑ https://www.ideaedu.org/idea-notes-on-instruction/encouraged-students-to-use-multiple-resources-e-g-internet-library-holdings-outside-experts-to-improve-understanding/

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• Resume and Cover Letter
• How to Put an Unfinished...

How to Put an Unfinished Degree on a Resume (with Examples)

7 min read · Updated on December 07, 2023

You went to college, but didn't finish – that's okay because you can still put it on your resume!

They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sometimes you start down the road to a destination but don't complete the trip. That doesn't mean your progress is for nothing. 

When it comes to college, even an unfinished degree may be something you'll want to let people know about. It doesn't matter whether circumstances prevented you from finishing, if you made a conscious decision to quit, or if you're going to finish it but just haven't yet. The steps you took in your academic career could be the thing that unlocks future employment doors.

But how do you put an unfinished degree on your resume? As it turns out, it's not difficult or something to be avoided. In this article, you'll find out when to include an unfinished degree on your resume plus some examples of how to write it. 

Some college is often better than no college

All employers care about is whether you'll be able to do the job they have open. They'll want to see how your skills and knowledge align with the job description. This is of the utmost importance when writing your resume. 

Consider the following:

Were any of the courses you took relevant to the job you're applying to?

Did you participate in, or complete, any major academic projects that would demonstrate the practical application of skills and knowledge?

Did you participate in any relevant clubs or extracurriculars that would pique a hiring manager's interest?

What type of independent study or research have you taken part in that would demonstrate initiative?

Do you have any certifications that improve your knowledge? 

What skills did you acquire while you were at college? How are those relevant to the job you want?

Did you take on any leadership roles in college? Think about things like fraternities, sororities, and student government.

How does your professional network look? What did you do to build it up?

All of this is meant to shift your thinking so that you can focus on valuable experiences rather than your unfinished degree. 

How to put an unfinished degree on your resume

Even though your focus should now be shifted from, “I didn't finish my degree, now what?” to “What skills and knowledge do I have that employers want?” you still have to include the fact that your degree is incomplete if you want to talk about it on your resume.

Adding a degree in progress on your resume

Sometimes, you'll run into an opportunity to apply for your dream job, but you haven't quite finished your degree yet. Pursuing your education shouldn't stop you from applying for the position you want. However, you want to be honest about the fact that your degree isn't complete yet. 

At this point in your career, the Education section of your resume will look a bit like a Work History section, because you'll put more details about your degree and where you're getting it. At this point, because of your need to emphasize how your skills, knowledge, and coursework align with what's required in the job, you'll need to include those things on your resume. You also need to let a prospective employer know approximately when your degree will be complete. 

Here's an example of how to include a degree that's still in progress on your resume:

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology | XYZ University | Expected completion: 12/2024

Relevant coursework: Introduction to Psychology, Psychology Research, Statistics, Psychology in the Workplace, Organizational Behavior, Coping Mechanisms, and Behavior Change. 

GPA: 3.8/4.0 

Internship: ABC School District, Teacher Support Program

PRO TIP: Only include your GPA if it's 3.5 or higher. We wrote a comprehensive article about when and if you should include your GPA on your resume. Click here to read it.

The inclusion of relevant coursework and an internship provides a great opportunity for you to inject relevant keywords into your resume. Those keywords will help your resume to be found by the applicant tracking systems that an astonishing number of employers use to weed out unqualified applicants. 

Adding a degree you're not going to finish on your resume

Almost everyone has gone through a period of indecision regarding their degree plan. Some even change their major in college multiple times before landing on a path that suits them. Perhaps you've decided that college is no longer in your future or won't serve you very well in the career you've chosen to pursue. 

It could still benefit you to add it to your resume. You could even include some details such as relevant coursework, if you need to get some keywords into your resume . As long as you keep the focus of your Education section on skills, achievements, and experiences gained during your time at school, an unfinished degree shouldn't make or break your candidacy for a job. 

PRO TIP: Position yourself as someone with practical knowledge and a strong skill set to win that coveted interview offer. 

Here's an example of how to add an unfinished degree that you're no longer pursuing to your resume:

Bachelor of Business Administration | XYZ University 

Completed 80/120 credit hours, including finance, management, and marketing

Served as President of the Finance Club

Executed market analysis project that connected business with target market

In this example, you've shifted the focus away from the fact that the degree isn't finished. Instead, the reader – a hiring manager or recruiter – gains insight into your experiences, adding value to your application and demonstrating how you'll benefit the new team.

Don't forget the cover letter

The beauty of having a cover letter that complements your resume in situations when something needs to be explained can't be overstated. While your resume affords you some opportunity to dive into how your history aligns with the job opening, your cover letter lets you expand on the narrative to make it clearer. 

Providing extra context in your cover letter to emphasize your skills can help you to stand out as a top candidate among the hundreds of other people applying for the same position. 

Address the unfinished degree on your cover letter

You'll start a paragraph of your cover letter by quickly bringing up your unfinished degree. Talk about how a shift in your career focus has led you to change your mind on college. Emphasize that your desire for practical experience won out, as you felt that would be the best way to add value to future employers.

“I began my formal education working toward a Bachelor of Business Administration, but decided that it would serve future employers better if I had practical skills in marketing.”

Highlight skills you've acquired

Just like you did in your resume, talk about how your skills make you a great match for the job that the new company has available. Use verbiage from the job description to tailor your cover letter to the needs of the position. 

“The coursework I finished, especially the courses in marketing and finance, has equipped me with a solid foundation in analysis and strategy planning that brings companies and consumers together to improve sales and profits.”

Mention achievements - employers love achievements!

Any time you can talk about something you've achieved, you show prospective employers value. By witnessing your past accomplishments, they get a real sense of what you can do for them.

“When I was the President of the Finance Club, I consistently found ways to automate manual processes to save time. One such process improvement reduced a 5-day turnaround to 2 days.”

Leverage your practical knowledge

Having an unfinished degree isn't the end of the world, as long as you can turn your educational experiences into a narrative that shows you're a determined individual with the right practical knowledge. In this sense, you're not someone with an incomplete degree, you're an engaging professional ready to make solid contributions to prospective employer teams. 

Don't let an unfinished degree hold you back. Why not let us help you to craft a compelling resume that shifts the focus to your skills and achievements in a way that will land your resume at the top of the pile? Submit your resume now for a free resume review!

Recommended reading:

How to Create a Resume With No Education

What To Include in the Education Section of a Resume

Ask Amanda: What's the Best Way to List Education on a Resume?

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

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