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School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: June 19, 2024

Published: January 23, 2020

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

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Why should students have homework.

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

1. Homework Encourages Practice

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

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

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

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

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

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

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

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

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

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

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

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

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

1. Homework Encourages A Sedentary Lifestyle

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

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

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

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

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

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

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

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

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

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

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

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

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

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

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

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

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

FAQ Section

What are the benefits of assigning homework to students.

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

How much homework is too much for students?

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

What are the potential drawbacks of excessive homework assignments?

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

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

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

Does homework promote independent thinking and problem-solving skills?

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

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

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

How can technology enhance or supplement traditional homework practices?

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

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

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

How do educators balance the workload with diverse student needs?

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

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

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Student Opinion

Should We Get Rid of Homework?

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

By Jeremy Engle and Michael Gonchar

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

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

Should we get rid of homework?

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

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

Mr. Kang argues:

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

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Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is Homework Beneficial?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion Questions

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

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

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

Take Action

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

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

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

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

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

More School Debate Topics

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

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

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

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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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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

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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?

Comments are closed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The research

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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7 Research-Based Reasons Why Students Should Not Have Homework: Academic Insights, Opposing Perspectives & Alternatives

The push against homework is not just about the hours spent on completing assignments; it’s about rethinking the role of education in fostering the well-rounded development of young individuals. Critics argue that homework, particularly in excessive amounts, can lead to negative outcomes such as stress, burnout, and a diminished love for learning. Moreover, it often disproportionately affects students from disadvantaged backgrounds, exacerbating educational inequities. The debate also highlights the importance of allowing children to have enough free time for play, exploration, and family interaction, which are crucial for their social and emotional development.

Checking 13yo’s math homework & I have just one question. I can catch mistakes & help her correct. But what do kids do when their parent isn’t an Algebra teacher? Answer: They get frustrated. Quit. Get a bad grade. Think they aren’t good at math. How is homework fair??? — Jay Wamsted (@JayWamsted) March 24, 2022

Once you’ve finished this article, you’ll know:

Insights from Teachers and Education Industry Experts: Diverse Perspectives on Homework

Here are the insights and opinions from various experts in the educational field on this topic:

“I teach 1st grade. I had parents ask for homework. I explained that I don’t give homework. Home time is family time. Time to play, cook, explore and spend time together. I do send books home, but there is no requirement or checklist for reading them. Read them, enjoy them, and return them when your child is ready for more. I explained that as a parent myself, I know they are busy—and what a waste of energy it is to sit and force their kids to do work at home—when they could use that time to form relationships and build a loving home. Something kids need more than a few math problems a week.” — Colleen S. , 1st grade teacher

“The lasting educational value of homework at that age is not proven. A kid says the times tables [at school] because he studied the times tables last night. But over a long period of time, a kid who is drilled on the times tables at school, rather than as homework, will also memorize their times tables. We are worried about young children and their social emotional learning. And that has to do with physical activity, it has to do with playing with peers, it has to do with family time. All of those are very important and can be removed by too much homework.” — David Bloomfield , education professor at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York graduate center

“Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero. In high school it’s larger. (…) Which is why we need to get it right. Not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking in our primary schools to say, ‘Is it really making a difference?’” — John Hattie , professor

”Many kids are working as many hours as their overscheduled parents and it is taking a toll – psychologically and in many other ways too. We see kids getting up hours before school starts just to get their homework done from the night before… While homework may give kids one more responsibility, it ignores the fact that kids do not need to grow up and become adults at ages 10 or 12. With schools cutting recess time or eliminating playgrounds, kids absorb every single stress there is, only on an even higher level. Their brains and bodies need time to be curious, have fun, be creative and just be a kid.” — Pat Wayman, teacher and CEO of HowtoLearn.com

7 Reasons Why Students Should Not Have Homework

1. elevated stress and health consequences.

This data paints a concerning picture. Students, already navigating a world filled with various stressors, find themselves further burdened by homework demands. The direct correlation between excessive homework and health issues indicates a need for reevaluation. The goal should be to ensure that homework if assigned, adds value to students’ learning experiences without compromising their health and well-being.

2. Inequitable Impact and Socioeconomic Disparities

3. negative impact on family dynamics.

The issue is not confined to specific demographics but is a widespread concern. Samantha Hulsman, a teacher featured in Education Week Teacher , shared her personal experience with the toll that homework can take on family time. She observed that a seemingly simple 30-minute assignment could escalate into a three-hour ordeal, causing stress and strife between parents and children. Hulsman’s insights challenge the traditional mindset about homework, highlighting a shift towards the need for skills such as collaboration and problem-solving over rote memorization of facts.

4. Consumption of Free Time

Authors Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish , in their book “The Case Against Homework,” offer an insightful window into the lives of families grappling with the demands of excessive homework. They share stories from numerous interviews conducted in the mid-2000s, highlighting the universal struggle faced by families across different demographics. A poignant account from a parent in Menlo Park, California, describes nightly sessions extending until 11 p.m., filled with stress and frustration, leading to a soured attitude towards school in both the child and the parent. This narrative is not isolated, as about one-third of the families interviewed expressed feeling crushed by the overwhelming workload.

5. Challenges for Students with Learning Disabilities

6. critique of underlying assumptions about learning, 7. issues with homework enforcement, reliability, and temptation to cheat, addressing opposing views on homework practices, 1. improvement of academic performance, 2. reinforcement of learning, 3. development of time management skills, 4. preparation for future academic challenges, 5. parental involvement in education, exploring alternatives to homework and finding a middle ground, alternatives to traditional homework, ideas for minimizing homework, useful resources, leave a comment cancel reply.

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Should Students Have Homework?

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By Suzanne Capek Tingley, Veteran Educator, M.A. Degree

It used to be that students were the only ones complaining about the practice of assigning homework. For years, teachers and parents thought that homework was a necessary tool when educating children. But studies about the effectiveness of homework have been conflicting and inconclusive, leading some adults to argue that homework should become a thing of the past.

What Research Says about Homework

According to Duke professor Harris Cooper, it's important that students have homework. His meta-analysis of homework studies showed a correlation between completing homework and academic success, at least in older grades. He recommends following a  "10 minute rule" : students should receive 10 minutes of homework per day in first grade, and 10 additional minutes each subsequent year, so that by twelfth grade they are completing 120 minutes of homework daily.

But his analysis didn't prove that students did better because they did homework; it simply  showed a correlation . This could simply mean that kids who do homework are more committed to doing well in school. Cooper also found that some research showed that homework caused physical and emotional stress, and created negative attitudes about learning. He suggested that more research needed to be done on homework's effect on kids.

Some researchers say that the question isn't whether kids should have homework. It's more about what kind of homework students have and how much. To be effective, homework has to meet students' needs. For example, some  middle school teachers have found success with online math homework  that's adapted to each student's level of understanding. But when middle school students were assigned more than an hour and a half of homework, their  math and science test scores went down .

Researchers at Indiana University discovered that math and science homework may improve standardized test grades, but they  found no difference in course grades  between students who did homework and those who didn't. These researchers theorize that homework doesn't result in more content mastery, but in greater familiarity with the kinds of questions that appear on standardized tests. According to Professor Adam Maltese, one of the study's authors, "Our results hint that maybe homework is not being used as well as it could be."

So while many teachers and parents support daily homework, it's hard to find strong evidence that the long-held practice produces positive results.

Problems with Homework

In an article in  Education Week Teacher , teacher Samantha Hulsman said she's frequently heard parents complain that a 30-minute homework assignment turns into a three-hour battle with their kids. Now, she's facing the same problem with her own kids, which has her rethinking her former beliefs about homework. "I think parents expect their children to have homework nightly, and teachers assign daily homework because it's what we've always done," she explained. Today, Hulsman said, it's more important to know how to collaborate and solve problems than it is to know specific facts.

Child psychologist Kenneth Barish wrote in  Psychology Today  that  battles over homework rarely result in a child's improvement in school . Children who don't do their homework are not lazy, he said, but they may be frustrated, discouraged, or anxious. And for kids with learning disabilities, homework is like "running with a sprained ankle. It's doable, but painful."

Barish suggests that parents and kids have a "homework plan" that limits the time spent on homework. The plan should include turning off all devices—not just the student's, but those belonging to all family members.

One of the  best-known critics of homework, Alfie Kohn , says that some people wrongly believe "kids are like vending machines—put in an assignment, get out learning." Kohn points to the lack of evidence that homework is an effective learning tool; in fact, he calls it "the greatest single extinguisher of children's curiosity that we have yet invented."

Homework Bans

Last year, the public schools in Marion County, Florida,  decided on a no-homework policy for all of their elementary students . Instead,  kids read nightly  for 20 minutes. Superintendent Heidi Maier said the decision was based on Cooper's research showing that elementary students gain little from homework, but a lot from reading.

Orchard Elementary School in South Burlington, Vermont, followed the same path, substituting reading for homework. The  homework policy has four parts : read nightly, go outside and play, have dinner with your family, and get a good night's sleep. Principal Mark Trifilio says that his staff and parents support the idea.

But while many elementary schools are considering no-homework policies, middle schools and high schools have been reluctant to abandon homework. Schools say parents support homework and teachers know it can be helpful when it is specific and follows certain guidelines. For example, practicing solving word problems can be helpful, but there's no reason to assign 50 problems when 10 will do. Recognizing that not all kids have the time, space, and home support to do homework is important, so it shouldn't be counted as part of a student's grade.

So Should Students Have Homework?

Should you ban homework in your classroom? If you teach lower grades, it's possible. If you teach middle or high school, probably not. But all teachers should think carefully about their homework policies. By limiting the amount of homework and improving the quality of assignments, you can improve learning outcomes for your students.

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Should kids get summer homework?

by: Leslie Crawford | Updated: June 12, 2023

Print article

Jill Notte’s daughter Sara is a straight-A student, and she’s taking five advanced-placement courses this fall. It’ll be her senior year.

This ambitious undertaking may prove Sara’s undoing — at least if the 17 year old wants to enjoy her summer vacation. Somewhere in between spending a week at a Girls State program, a month at the New Jersey Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology at Rutger’s University, and visiting a few potential colleges, Sara must complete the following workload before school starts:

• Read five novels for AP English • Read one book for AP History • Complete a packet of assignments and problems for AP Calculus • Complete a packet of assignments and problems for AP Chemistry • Write several summaries of scientific principles for Honors Physics

Oh, and her English teacher recommends that she attend Shakespeare performances at the local college to supplement the many plays she’s required to read as part of AP English. “I try to put a positive spin on it,” says Sara’s mother, Jill. “I told her, ‘Summertime’s a great time to read Shakespeare!'” But, admits Jill, it’s not so easy to put the same kind of “fun” spin on the stack of mind-numbing calculus and chemistry books hefty enough to take down a Yellowstone grizzly.

Forget languidly balmy weeks unwinding from the stress of an intensive school year. Goodbye, as well, to working her usual summer job as a lifeguard, which Sara unhappily has to forgo — along with the money she hoped to save for college. As her mother puts it, “Summer homework is a full-time job.”

A working vacation

Sara’s not alone. The oxymoronically named “vacation work” is on the rise. Sara’s older sister had only a few books to read over the summer when she was in high school — and that was just eight years ago. Jill, who like her daughters was a high achiever in the top five percent of her class, remembers completely homework-free summers.

Many parents remember their own childhood summers as true respites from school, devoid the rigor and rigidity of academic life. Summer was a sprawling mass of unstructured time that ranged from idyllic laziness to stupefying boredom to invigorating camps and family vacations, not scores of math worksheets, science packets, and lists of “good-for-you” classics that hardly qualify as light beach reads.

Harris Cooper, chairman of the department of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and America’s leading homework scholar who co-authored the landmark meta-study on homework , says that while there exists no formal studies on the rise in summertime homework, he’s witnessed a particularly sharp increase over the past two years — probably a response “to high-stakes testing and accountability issues for schools.”

Just say no?

Some parents argue summer homework is nothing more than bland busywork that saps the joy and spontaneity from summer. So says Sara Bennett, founder of StopHomework.com . “Even if there is a summer slide, I don’t think homework is the solution,” Bennett says. “Kids don’t have enough downtime during the school year. I think they need that freshness during summer.”

Here’s a revolutionary approach for vacation purists who say kids deserve a good, old-fashioned summer free from intense brain-strain: Just say no. That’s what Bennett suggests a parent do in the fall if a child is averse to doing the packet. “I’d send it back and say, ‘I’m sorry, my child didn’t have a chance to do it.’ ” (A parental dispensation only possible for kids who haven’t entered the high-school pressure cooker where — as with Sara Notte — summer homework is graded and can directly affect a student’s chances to enter a top-tier university.)

Protecting young minds from melting

On the other side of the summer homework debate are the moms and dads who, when the school doors slam shut, ramp up the supplemental brain work, even if the teachers didn’t provide it themselves. Most parents, though, fall somewhere in the for-better-or-worse-summer-homework-is-here-to-stay camp.

So if the kids have to do it, can we at least be reassured that it’s a magic bullet to protect young minds from melting? “We can’t say that with any objective data,” Cooper says. “But we would make the assumption if students are continuing to flex their mental muscles over the summer, this would have a positive effect on how much material they retain when they return.”

No buy-in from the kids

“There definitely is a lag — I’m not denying that,” says Denise Pope, senior lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success , a research and student-intervention project. “I absolutely agree that three months is a long time to not do anything. That said, I’m not sure this idea of giving workbooks and pages and pages of handouts works.”

The reason it doesn’t work? “There’s not a buy-in from the [kids],” Pope argues. “In order for any learning to be retained, there has to be engagement on the part of the students.” Pope explains that students need the “ABCs of engagement,” which means they’re engaged affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively. “If they’re intrinsically motivated, then they’ll want to do it.”

“I know kids who get these huge 40-page math packets,” Pope says. “It’s because [teachers] want [kids], over time, to have systematic practice. The problem is that this requires an adult to monitor this kind of disciplined work. It’s not like a kid can do that on his own. So it puts a burden more on the parents.”

Year-round homework blues

So, alas, those nightly angst-ridden homework dramas that run from September through June now get year-round billing. The other problem, Pope says, is that summer homework packets (frequently put off until the last unhappy week before school begins), often seem to fall into an academic black hole once they’re turned in — with no feedback from teachers and no effect on kids’ grades.

As for the work that Pope’s three kids — ages 10, 12, and 15 — get handed at school’s end, she tells them, “‘I won’t bug you about this at all. I won’t be the police.’ We look at the assignments they get for the summer and I say, ‘How long do you think this will take? Do you want me to remind you to do it?’ ” But if they leave it until the tail end of the summer, Pope says, well, that’s their choice. It’s their vacation, after all.

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Homework vs. No Homework Is the Wrong Question

Does your school have a homework policy? How does your school ensure that teachers don’t overload students with busy work?

The real question we should be asking is, "What do we believe should happen after the end of the school day to help ensure that students retain what they have learned and are primed to learn more?" Any answer with the word, "work" in its name, as in "homework," is not typically going to be met with eagerness or enthusiasm by students.

Ideally, we want children to understand that they are always learners. In school, we refer to them as "students" but outside of school, as children, they are still learners. So it makes no sense to even advertise a "no homework" policy in a school. It sends the wrong message. The policy should be, "No time-wasting, rote, repetitive tasks will be assigned that lack clear instructional or learning purposes."

A realistic homework strategy should be a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year. But it should also reflect a considered school policy and not simply be up to each individual teacher to carry out according to his or own theory of student learning. Another advantage of this approach is to ensure that individual children are not inadvertently overloaded with demands from teachers who may not know what other teachers are asking of the same student. This is a particular concern in secondary schools.

Home Activities That Matter the Most

Children should be encouraged to read, write, perform arithmetic, better understand the world around them in terms of civics, science, and the arts, and, of course, develop their people skills -- their emotional intelligence. This encouragement should be part of everyday family interactions outside of school, and the school should provide developmental guidance to all parents, in the appropriate languages, to help them do this. For some children, specialized guidance will be needed, and this, too, should be provided proactively to parents.

Some parents will select focused programs or after-school experiences to help foster their children's learning in one or more of the aforementioned areas. To promote equity within and across schools, communities should think about how to make these kinds of experiences available to all children in high-quality ways -- without undue or unrealistic expense to families.

Of course, some teachers will have specific, creative ideas about how learning can be enhanced at home, in the context of particular units of study in school. Maybe what we need is a new word for all this. Instead of "homework," how about "continued learning" or "ongoing growth activities?"

Parents Playing Their Part

Finally, students' learning would be greatly enhanced by schools taking a clear stance about supporting good parenting. My colleague Yoni Schwab and I have written about the importance of parents focusing on parenting as a priority, and secondarily working on assisting schools with educational issues (Elias, M. J., and Schwab, Y., 2004).

Aspects of good parenting that could be encouraged by schools include workshops, family nights, and discussion series on ways to promote:

• Children's social-emotional and character development
• Parents spending more time directly interacting with their kids in enjoyable ways
• Parents visibly showing how much they value the importance of education and effort
• Parents monitoring their children's use of and exposure to electronic media
• Children's "continued learning" in as many possible opportunities during everyday household routines
• Above all, schools should remind parents to never lose sight of modeling for their children the value of close relationships, support, caring, and fun. That is the most important home work of all.

Elias, M. J., and Schwab, Y. (2004). What About Parental Involvement in Parenting? The Case for Home-Focused School-Parent Partnerships. Education Week, 24 (8), 39,41.

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

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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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Homework: Yes or No

Having homework is a heated topic among both teachers and students. Many kids and teens would most likely agree that homework takes too much time, and it adds to stress but others would agree that homework is helpful. Those who actually do homework have different opinions from those who do not have to do homework, and that is where there is conflict. Many parents do not know how much homework their child is truly doing and if it actually helps them, only the student knows. Homework should be given to help students, but it also should be optional. Many kids and teens usually receive homework from each class they take and are expected to turn it in by the next class. Homework can range from having to do a worksheet to writing an essay, and even studying for a test or quiz. Homework can take a very long time to complete and takes up most of a students free time. Because of homework, many kids have to give up after school activities or clubs since homework takes up a majority of their time. Many students now, come home, do homework, eat, and sleep. This routine occurs 5 days out of the week, and those other 2 days are also usually filled with doing homework, as well as having free time. Homework can also affect a student in a negative way. Stress and anxiety can come from doing homework and can add to the many problems a student might have. Students already have the stress of trying to make good grades, and on top of that, making them complete homework all in one night for multiple classes can soon get to them. However, many teachers and adults would agree that homework is useful. Homework can allow a student to grasp the understanding of the subject they are learning, and it will help them excel in the classroom. By being able to put what they learned in the classroom on a piece of paper can test if a student fully understands a topic. From there, a student or teacher would be able to tell if they needed help or not. Homework can either be helpful or not helpful for a student, but it depends on the person and their situation. A student might be really good at math, and understands everything immediately and doing homework does not help them, it just adds to the amount of work they have to do. On the other hand, a student might not be the best at math, and homework helps them understand the topic better. Homework should be optional because everyone is not the same and most do not think alike. For some, homework is useful, but for others, it is useless.

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Homework — Students Should Have Less Homework: A Persuasive Argument

Students Should Have Less Homework: a Persuasive Argument

• Categories: Education System Homework

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Published: Sep 16, 2023

Words: 537 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

1. **quality over quantity**, 2. **overwhelming stress levels**, 3. **balancing extracurricular activities**, 4. **individualized learning**, 5. **family time and bonding**, 6. **teacher-student feedback**, 7. **promoting a love for learning**, 8. **equal opportunity for all**.

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achievement test essay

15 Achievement Tests Examples

An achievement test refers to any procedure used to measure the accumulated knowledge or skills of a student in a specific area of study (Cizek, 2004). There are many different types of achievement tests.

Standardized achievement tests are the most commonly recognized achievement tests. They are designed to measure academic knowledge in major subject areas such as math, science, and history.  

Standardized tests are developed through a painstakingly complex process of administering pilot test items to different SES demographic samples. Test scores are used to make predictions about future academic performance. Examples include the ACT and the SAT .

Most states in the U. S. have developed their own standardized achievement tests to assess the effectiveness of K-12 public education.

Another type of achievement test is the one that a teacher administers to their students at the end of a chapter or academic term.

There are several other forms of achievement tests, including diagnostic tests, language proficiency tests, placement tests, norm-referenced, and criterion-referenced.

Achievement Tests Examples

• Diagnostic Tests: This may occur when a high school math teacher administers a comprehensive exam to his students at the beginning of the semester to determine if students are ready to take the next step (see also: formative assessment ).
• Placement Tests: For example, the Spanish Department assesses the language skills of every incoming student and then uses their scores to decide if they should take a beginner, intermediate, or advanced course.
• Language Proficiency Tests: This may occur when a U. S. university asks all foreign students to report their TOEFL scores to determine if their English language skills are sufficient.
• Norm-Referenced Tests: The Admissions Office of a graduate school may require all applicants to take and report their scores on the GRE (Graduate Record Exam).
• Criterion-Referenced Tests: Nursing school students must obtain a minimum score on the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensing Exam for Registered Nurses) in order to work as a nurse in the U. S. or Canada.
• Subject Achievement Tests: For example, at the end of every chapter in Mr. Jones’ history course, students must take a 100-item multiple choice exam that will be part of their final grade.
• Performance-Based Criterion-Referenced Test: Students in the trade school for motorcycle repair may have to be able to make 8 out of 10 repairs on an engine in less than 2 hours in order to receive their diploma.
• Spelling Achievement Tests: At the end of every week, students in classes at schools around the world have to take a spelling test on the words they learned that week.
• Summative Tests : At the end of every academic year, students in grades 4-12 in California must take the CAT (California Achievement Test).
• Admissions Tests: For example, an international school in Singapore might administer admissions tests they spent years developing in-house to all applicants to determine if they are prepared for the rigorous curriculum. 

Case Studies of Achievement Tests   

1. school readiness and later achievement.

When children leave kindergarten and enter the first grade, the transition can be overwhelming. Class sizes are larger, the pace of learning is much more demanding, and teachers may be less willing to indulge individual tantrums. However, determining exactly what attributes are needed to ensure a smooth transition has been debated for years.

On the one hand, some firmly believe that fundamental reading and math skills are the most important. While many teachers and researchers argue that social and emotional skills are key.

For instance, Shonkoff and Phillips (2000) point to a statement by the National Research Council and Institute on Medicine which maintains that:

“the elements of early intervention programs that enhance social and emotional development are just as important as the components that enhance linguistic and cognitive competence” (pp. 398-399).

Duncan et al. (2007) conducted an analysis of six longitudinal data sets to determine the link between characteristics of school readiness and later achievement in reading and math.

The results revealed that early math and reading skills were the best predictors of later academic performance. In contrast, socio-emotional behaviors and social skills provided near-zero predictive utility.

2. Attaining A Black Belt

Although the term “black belt” is most often associated with Karate, the term also applies to other martial arts such as Akido and Tae Kwon Do. It can take 3-5 years to reach black belt status, depending on the specific martial arts being practiced.

Another misconception about the black belt is that it is the highest degree of mastery . In fact, however, it usually only signifies that a student has demonstrated a certain level of proficiency in the fundamental skills.

The tests for attaining the different colored belts are skills-based. This means that the system of testing is criterion-referenced. At each level, the student must demonstrate a minimum degree of skill before advancing to the next level.

To gain a clearer understanding of the martial arts and belt system, read this archived article published by Black Belt Magazine .

3. Job Simulation And Nursing Competence

There are few jobs that are as pressure-packed as nursing. Poor skills or errors in judgment can literally have life-and-death consequences. Therefore, developing a test that measures nursing competence is of vital importance.

Paper-and-pencil achievement tests used to evaluate the knowledge and skills of existing nurses fail to replicate the highly stressful nature of the job.

“Evaluation of clinical performance in authentic settings is possible using realistic simulations that do not place patients at risk” (Hinton, et al., 2017, p. 432).

Hinton et al. (2017) created the Nursing Performance Profile (NPP) that consists of numerous medical-surgical scenarios in a high-fidelity laboratory. Experienced professionals then observed the performance of existing nurses.

  “Items frequently failed during NPP simulation tests are consistent with nursing practice difficulties identified in the literature related to medication errors, infection control, documentation, and telephone orders” (p. 454).

Those are the types of common errors that put patients at risk. The fact that the NPP was particularly sensitive to those types of errors should make it of substantial value to employers and industry regulators.

4. Computer-Adaptive Tests (CAT)

Testing via computers has been becoming increasingly popular for several reasons. These include the convenience of administration, the standardization of testing procedures, and the precision and ease of scoring. This method is referred to as adaptive computer testing (CAT). 

One key feature of this form of testing is that the CAT adjusts the difficulty level of each question based on the test taker’s ongoing performance.

Each answer provided by the test-taker determines the level of difficulty of the subsequent item. If answered correctly, the next item will be more difficult. If answered incorrectly, the computer will select an item that is either equally difficult or slightly less so.

These adjustments are made in real-time and result in a more precise estimate of the test taker’s knowledge.

“Over the course of several decades, research has repeatedly demonstrated that CAT is more efficient than paper-and-pencil tests, with equal or better measurement precision ” (Seo, 2017, p. 8).

5. Multi-Method Assessment

Traditional achievement tests in the classroom primarily consist of multiple-choice and short essay questions. These item formats are highly verbal-skills-centric, which puts many students at a distinct disadvantage. While some students possess the verbal skills to write a good essay, other students have strengths in other domains of expression.

Therefore, to be fair, testing should allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in ways that match their unique profiles.

This simply means that teachers should administer diverse assessment procedures so that a student’s final score in a course will reflect their true level of academic progress.

These diverse methods could include a performance-based assessment, such as an oral presentation or designing an infographic.

It could also entail a project-based assessment whereby the student demonstrates their level of knowledge and skills by constructing a 3D object or producing a poster presentation.

Multiple assessment methods of academic achievement give each student a fair opportunity to demonstrate their gains in a manner that matches their unique characteristics.

Achievement testing is a vital component of the education system. Students’ knowledge and skills must be ascertained in order for teachers and parents to know if their students/children are making progress.

There are many types of achievement tests used in a wide range of capacities.

Diagnostic tests are applied to determine if incoming students are ready to meet the challenges of a more advanced academic level. This is true not only of incoming university freshmen but also of incoming first-graders.

Other types of achievement tests are used to assess language skills or the competence of those wishing to enter a specific profession such as nursing, electrical engineering, or engine repair.

Although computer-assisted testing (CAT) is gaining popularity, it is also important that teachers understand the importance of giving students an opportunity to demonstrate their progress in ways that are suited to their learning styles.

Cizek, G. J. (2004). Achievement tests. In Charles D. Spielberger, (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology , 41-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-657410-3/00226-9

Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., … & Japel, C. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology , 43 (6), 1428.

Hinton, J., Mays, M., Hagler, D., Randolph, P., Brooks, R., DeFalco, N., Kastenbaum, B., & Miller, K. (2017). Testing nursing competence: Validity and reliability of the nursing performance profile. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 25 (3), 431. https://doi.org/10.1891/1061-3749.25.3.431

Naglieri, J., & Goldstein, S. (2009). Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of intelligence and achievement tests. In J. A. Naglieri & S. Goldstein, Practitioner’s guide to assessing intelligence and achievement (pp. 3–10). John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Phillips, D. A., & Shonkoff, J. P. (Eds.). (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development . National Academies Press.

Seo, D. G. (2017). Overview and current management of computerized adaptive testing in licensing/certification examinations. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 14 . https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2017.14.17

Dave Cornell (PhD)

Dr. Cornell has worked in education for more than 20 years. His work has involved designing teacher certification for Trinity College in London and in-service training for state governments in the United States. He has trained kindergarten teachers in 8 countries and helped businessmen and women open baby centers and kindergartens in 3 countries.

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• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ Perception Checking: 15 Examples and Definition

Chris Drew (PhD)

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Achievement Testing in Education: Meaning & Examples

When you want to appraise a person or a student, you’re going to need a tool that measures the individual’s mastery of a subject. Achievement testing can help gauge a person’s understanding within a domain of knowledge. It also provides guidance and benefits the individual because the scores reveal knowledge gaps

. In this article, we will discuss in detail what an achievement test is, its types, uses, and how you can create yours with Formplus. Let’s dive in!

For you: Free Scholarship Application Form Template

What is an Achievement Test?

An achievement test measures how an individual has learned over time and what the individual has learned by analyzing his present performance. It also measures how a person understands and masters a particular knowledge area at the present time. With this test, you can analyze just how quick and precise an individual is in performing the tasks that they consider an accomplishment.

An achievement test is an excellent choice to analyze and evaluate the academic performance of an individual. 

For instance, every school requires its students to show their proficiency in a variety of subjects.

In most cases, the students are expected to pass to some degree to move to the next class. An achievement test will record and evaluate the performance of these students to determine how well they are performing against the standard.

Use this: Free Student Performance Report Form Template

Purpose of Achievement Testing 

The primary aim of an achievement test is to evaluate an individual. An achievement test however can start an action plan. 

An individual may get a higher achievement score that shows that the person has shown a high level of mastery and is ready for an advanced level of instruction. On the other hand, a low achievement score might indicate that there are concerned areas that an individual should improve on, or that a particular subject should be repeated.

For example, a student can decide to start a study plan because of the result of an achievement test. So it can serve as a motivation to improve or an indicator to proceed to a higher level. An achievement test is used in both the educational sector and in the professional sector.

Explore this Free Course Evaluation Form Template

Categories of Achievement Tests

Achievement tests are categorized into two major groups based on participation.

• Individual test

An individual test is a one-on-one, in-depth test. It entails the participant seeing an examiner on a one-on-one basis (This mostly takes three hours) after which the participant is presented with the interpreted result of the test, and also recommendations. The participant also gets 30 minutes with the examiner. The examiner will give feedback, explain the result, and also provide answers to all other questions.

A group test is when participants or students take part in an achievement test together. Maybe in a hall or in a classroom. It is more affordable and timesaving compared to individual tests. When the test is completed, the participants each receive a printed sheet detailing their results.

Types of Achievement Tests

There are five types of achievement tests: diagnostic tests, prognostic tests, accuracy tests, power tests, and speed tests.

1. Diagnostic test

A diagnostic test is an assessment test designed to serve as a pre-test. It is administered at the start of a topic. Also used to garner data to determine the students’ or participants’ level of knowledge of a subject, it is usually a written assessment in the form of multiple-choice or short-answer tests.

The aim is to find out what the student or participant knows at the moment. A diagnostic achievement test allows the examiner and the participant to monitor their teaching approach and learning progress.

2. Prognostic test

The prognostic test is a means to predict the future. This test combines the knowledge obtained from the test performed on the learning process and other tests performed on learning achievements before trying to diagnose the future of a participant or student.

3. Accuracy test

An accuracy test measures the degree of closeness between the result that was gotten from a text when it is compared to the standard. It refers to the quality of the results even when the test is repeated. A test can be accurate if, in reproducibility, the results are close to the standard.

4. Power test

A power test is a testing tool comprising many items that when applied, has no time limit. This means that in an achievement test, a participant or student has unlimited time to respond to the questions. So this will allow them attempt all the questions in the test. 

The final score of the student or participant is analyzed and interpreted to mean the number of questions that the students answered correctly.

The difference in the results obtained from the student is interpreted as each students’ ability to respond to the test and not to the time it took a student to understand the question or answer it.

The student’s level of knowledge about a subject is measured under little to zero pressure. This is because they are given ample time to answer the test.

5. Speed test

Unlike the power test, a speed test is created for the student to respond to, in a limited time. In this test, however, the questions are simple and they are intended to be answered in sequence. For example from the first question to the last one because of the limited time allocated to this test. 

If the difficulty level of the test keeps increasing, then none of the students might be able to complete the questions, unlike the power test where students are given enough time.

The aim of the speed test is to measure how quickly a student can complete a question within a limited time. It measures a student’s ability to quickly process information and give an accurate response.

Research with this free Student Perception Survey Template

Characteristics of a Good Achievement Test

Now, what makes a good achievement test? To shed light on the characteristics of a good achievement test we are going to consider four qualities that make an excellent test.

1. Reliability

In an achievement test reliability refers to how consistently the test produces the same results when it is measured or evaluated.

For a test to be reliable it means that the outcome of the test is trustworthy. 

So for an achievement test to be considered accurate and valid, it must be consistent. It must measure what is intended to measure in its true value.

We can say that the degree to which the test is free from error is one characteristic of an achievement test. When a test is repeated, if the value is close to what was initially obtained, then it is said to be reliable.

Note that different types of reliability are evaluated using different methods.

• The first on the list is how consistent the results of the measurements are over a certain amount of time.
• The second one is how consistent is the result of the measurement when it has been evaluated using different methods and instruments.
• The last way to determine how consistent an achievement test is how consistent it has been with just one instrument or method of testing.

Appraise with this free Teacher Evaluation Survey Template

2. Validity

One important thing to consider when conducting an evaluation assessment is how much the results of the test will serve the purpose for which it was intended. Finding an answer to this question is the basis of validity in a test. The primary function of any test is validity because a text has no value if it is not valid hence it won’t prove useful.

The validity of a test involves what it is intended to measure and how consistent it measures it.

For instance, an educator might not determine how conversant a student is in a particular knowledge area without conducting an evaluation test.

If the test was conducted and the results did not measure what it was intended to measure, the educator might not accurately determine what the strengths of the students are. Also, the educator might struggle to know whether the student is ready for a higher level of instruction. We can infer that validity is how appropriate the interpretation made from the result of a test is, regarding a specific topic.

3. Objectivity

Objectivity can affect both the reliability and validity of test results. The objectivity of a test refers to the percentage at which different people scoring a test can arrive at the same score. A good test must be free from personal errors and bias.

Achievement tests must have objectivity in the scoring and in interpreting the results. No personal factor should affect the scoring of the test. Also, the interpretation of the test results should be plainly worded and easy to understand.

Finally, the results of the test should mean the same to all the students that took part in the test. So, there should be no partial confusion and no ambiguity.

4. Usability

You cannot neglect the practical value of a test. When deciding on a test, consider the ease of administration, the time required to administer the test, and how easy it is to interpret the result of the test and apply it.

It must also be easy to use by all classroom teachers, so explicit instructions should be given.

The test should have a specified time allocated to complete it and scores of the test should be easy to interpret. 

Uses of Achievement testing

The teacher-made test is designed to examine the local curriculum and measure its effectiveness to the students’ performance.

The flexibility of the teacher-made test makes it appropriate to adapt to any procedure. Also, it is easy to construct as it doesn’t need any special requirements for its preparation.

Teacher-made tests are developed to meet the locals’ objectives the same way as the standard or administrator test is developed to generally measure learning objectives.

It is worthy to note that teacher-made tests can be written or oral and procedures for storing them vary depending on the test. Also, both objective and essay types of tests can be included in a teacher-made test.

• Administrators

An administrative test is developed by specialists. It has uniformity in scoring, application, and interpretation of the test results. What an administrator test or standardized test does is that it compares the performance of some students with a general group standard.

An administrator test gives clear instructions about how the test should be administered and interpreted so that there will be uniformity.

The test is highly reliable and there’s a provision for how to uniformly score the test in the test manual.

How to Construct Achievement Tests with Formplus

Formplus allows you to collect data by creating different types of forms and surveys. It has over 1,000 templates you can choose from to create your form from scratch. 

To create an achievement test, here is a step-by-step guide on how to go about it. 

1. To start with, visit formpl.us . If you do not have an account, then click the sign-up button to get started.

Don’t worry, it’s super easy. If you already opened an account with Formplus, sign in to your account.

2. Click on the “create new form” to access the form builder feature, from there click on the form builder and make use of the options on the left and start creating your test. 

3. Use the drag-and-drop option to include all the field sections. Use the edit icon to change the fields you added.

4. Once you’re done with the modification, at the right side corner of the builder, click the save button.

5. Now here is the fun part, Formplus allows you to customize your forms. Beautify your achievement form by clicking the “customization” option.

This feature allows you to add your logo, change the font of the text, and even change the layout of the form.

6. When you’re done creating your achievement test, copy your form link and share it with your participants.

You can embed the link and share it through email. You can also print out your form and apply it traditionally.

Examples of Achievement Tests

For the purpose of this article and to further understand the concept of achievement tests we are going to look at some examples. 

The students of a school have completed their coursebook from units 1 to 6. To evaluate their mastery of the coursebook the teacher gives them an achievement test. The achievement test given by the teacher is based on what has been learned in the coursebook.

Let us assume that you have been practicing martial arts so that you could get the black belt in your last week of training. You are required to show your skills in class for your Master to judge.

This is an achievement test. It is designed to evaluate what you have learned and the skills you have acquired over time. An achievement test is not designed to evaluate what you can achieve, it is focused on what you have gained in knowledge, and the skills that you have gained over time.

An achievement test was administered on a group, let’s call them Group D. When the results of their test were analyzed their mean score was 65. After 4 days the same test was administered on Group D, and again their mean score is 65.

This implies that the achievement test is providing reliable results.

The good thing about the achievement test is that it gives the educator and the parents the opportunity to assess how well their word is doing in a field or at school. You should also note that the achievement test is not only for the students, the academic domain achievement test is used to assess both the student, the teacher, and the school.

Achievement tests are very vital in evaluating set goals and accomplishments. Get started by creating simple achievement tests with Formplus for free. 

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Achievement Tests: Definition, Types & Best Practices for Educators

Achievement tests play a massive role in the education system. Many institutions use these tests to determine if the curriculum has achieved its educational outcomes, if instructional methods are working, and if students are absorbing what’s being taught.

While these tests are a key part of every educational institution's curriculum, that doesn’t mean they’re foolproof. They can be riddled with bias and design inaccuracies that prevent you as the assessor from getting the full picture of what your students are learning.

In this article, we’ll explore the origins of this test format, the various types of tests you can administer, and best practices to conduct fair assessments.

What are achievement tests?

Achievement tests are a type of standardized assessment format that are used to test an individual’s knowledge, skill, and proficiency in specific subjects.

In the United States, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) are the most common examples of achievement tests for high school, homeschool, or pre-university students. Such tests aim to assess the potential or the cognitive ability of students to perform certain tasks.

For instance, if you’re taking a driving test, your instructor will expect you to perform certain tasks before you’re granted a license.

From an educator’s perspective, achievement tests are a way to determine if students have attained a certain knowledge level or need additional support. These tests are an excellent way to determine if the curriculum aligns with the learning outcomes. Plus, such tests give educators a system to make standardized comparisons—helping them identify top performers and students who need extra help.

Origins of achievement tests and their use in education

Achievement tests were initially conceptualized in the early 1800s as IQ tests, which acted as a precursor to achievement tests. Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, wanted to create a method to test intelligence. Through a partnership with Stanford University, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence test was introduced to do the same.

Soon after, written achievement tests started taking over formal oral assessments after Horace Mann, the chairman of the Boston Public School Committee at the time, realized that the results were reproducible, making them commonplace in the US.

The shift from oral to written assessments happened because America’s universal schooling policies brought in immigrants from around the world. As public schools were accessible to all, it meant that every student had an equal opportunity to have access to education. Over the years, this added a strain as population density started increasing. It also meant that schools were under a lot of pressure and had to reorganize their grading systems.

Schools relied on bureaucratic management principles to organize students in classes based on age (the basis for grade levels). This method required standardized testing that objectively tested students’ knowledge accordingly.

Types of achievement tests in education

Depending on the method of testing, there are several types of achievement tests:

1. Diagnostic tests

These tests are designed to identify areas of strengths or weakness with respect to subject matter knowledge or skill. Testing occurs before a course or session starts to determine the current level of understanding.

For example, if you’re hosting a session on genomics, you might provide a short multiple-choice questionnaire to determine what students already know. It’ll let you tailor the session to their knowledge gaps, making it more fruitful.

Diagnostic tests are commonly used in personalized learning environments or for creating intervention plans for additional support.

2. Formative tests

Formative tests are given throughout the course of the instructional process. The goal is to monitor student learning, get feedback from students, and provide feedback accordingly.

These are typically low stakes and informal, which means they’re not graded, and students can be more relaxed during the process. For instance, you could conduct a pop quiz after a lecture to check your students’ retention level.

Common examples include quizzes, homework assignments, class discussions, or in-class activities like icebreakers. Insert a Poll Everywhere Activity like a Multiple Choice poll in between your lecture slides to quickly conduct a formative test.

3. Prognostic tests

Prognostic tests are meant to predict future performance in a specific exam or subject. These are common when students take the SAT or ACT. Students take these tests to check if they can hit their target score and realistically plan their college application process.

These are used for academic advising and placement in appropriate courses or support programs. They’re crucial for educators as they help chart a student’s learning path.

4. Accuracy tests

These tests focus on a precise understanding of a topic or the ability to carry out tests with precision. They’re used in contexts where precision is key.

Take, for example, a test that measures grammar knowledge, or an experiment in chemical identification. The rules of grammar are fixed, and chemicals can be identified using their characteristic properties. As such, accuracy tests go beyond theoretical understanding and determine a student’s ability to apply those concepts practically and achieve the same results every time.

Accuracy tests also pinpoint areas where the student might be struggling or misunderstanding, allowing for better intervention to improve learning outcomes.

5. Power tests

Power tests are one of the few testing types that let you remove the time constraint from the exam. Students can take the test without worrying about how much time they need to allocate to each question.

The goal is to test their mastery of the topic—rather than the speed at which they complete the test. It includes questions ranging from easy to extremely challenging to determine the depth of understanding.

These are useful when your students prepare for a university exam or a milestone exam such as the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

6. Speed tests

Unlike power tests, speed tests focus on time rather than depth. The tests involve simple questions on a topic or questions that more test-takers can solve quickly.

The results are based on the number of correct answers, showing how quickly students can process information. These tests also show their ability to work under pressure, which is why speed tests are a standard format for examinations in an academic or corporate setting.

7. Summative tests

Summative assessments focus on evaluating student learning or skill acquisition over a set period. These can be, for example, exams at the end of the school year that test students’ knowledge accumulated over the past year.

The main aim is to assess whether a course has met the goals and content standards of the curriculum. These are high-stakes assessments, as they decide the final grade a student receives.

8. Performance-based tests

These tests are used when you want to test specific skills or competencies .

For example, to test students’ ability to present or conduct secondary research, ask them to break down a research paper in a journal club.

The feedback students get in this type of assessment is specific and nuanced, as educators can pay close attention to their performance. It also hones in on the students’ problem-solving, critical-thinking, and creative-thinking skills.

What are the most common controversies surrounding these tests?

Achievement tests have had their fair share of controversy in the education space. Here are some of the most common themes:

Failure to measure capabilities like creative thinking

Many educators believe that achievement tests create a culture of rote learning and don’t speak to a student’s ability to solve real problems.

In an essay , Dr. Terry Meier, the coordinator of the Cooperative Urban Education Teacher Education Program at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, discusses the issue regarding SAT testing.

“The truth of the matter is that far from measuring excellence, standardized achievement tests tend to focus primarily on mechanical, lower-order skills and to reward students’ rapid recognition of factual information,” says Dr. Meier. “Thus, while the president of the College Board glibly asserts that the way to improve minority performance on standardized tests is to improve the quality of their educational experience, teachers are left to confront the reality that what will prepare students to perform well on tests is often in direct conflict with, or simply extraneous to, their real educational needs.”

For example, these tests are not a good indicator of ability in students interested in the creative field. So, testing them based on their ability to memorize facts doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, these tests don’t let you test a student’s ability to connect the dots between theory and practice—at least, not to the student’s fullest ability.

Adds too much pressure on young students to perform

In the Self-Driven Child podcast , Jennifer Wallace, the author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic—and What We Can Do About It discusses the weight we put on students these days. She conducted a parenting study of 6,500 parents across the country with the help of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, finding that 87% of parents wished that childhood was less stressful for kids.

When students are told that their entire future depends on one exam they must take, it adds too much pressure, with many succumbing to it. Many studies have considered the pressure to excel as a factor that negatively impacts adolescent wellness.

This behavior only carries over as students move to professional spaces, worsening their mental health.

Fraught with diversity and equity issues

In 2019, several lawsuits were filed against the University of California for requiring students to submit SAT scores with their applications. The reason? Discriminatory measures.

For years, these exams have been questioned for their ability to test a student’s true potential for academic achievement. While many educators admit that test preparation is vital to acing these exams, many racial and economic minorities can’t access preparation resources.

It explains significant gaps in scores that minorities experience. A 2023 peer-reviewed study even confirmed that predictive bias based on factors such as ethnicity and disability does exist, indicating the need for equitable testing measures.

Similarly, in other situations (like within the classroom) certain groups (such as students with disabilities) might be at a disadvantage.

Not a clear indicator of academic success

Test scores can be influenced by many factors, such as:

• Intellectual ability
• Societal status
• Access to resources
• Test preparation
• Study environment
• Personal issues

This means a student’s current situation plays a heavy role in their performance. It could lead to misplaced judgment on a student’s capabilities, especially in the long term. And those who don’t score well might miss opportunities due to inaccurate assessments.

Best practices to create fair achievement tests

Here are a few ways in which you can create equitable achievement tests.

Ensure that the test is valid, reliable, and objective

Make sure each of your assessments follow these three principles:

• Validity: The test should accurately measure specific knowledge or skills without being influenced by external factors.
• Reliability: The test results should remain consistent no matter which test-takers take it, indicating that the same attributes are being tested.
• Objectivity: The test results should remain consistent no matter who grades it.

Abiding by these criteria significantly enhances the fairness and inclusiveness of achievement tests.

Supplement achievement tests with other testing measures

Use a combination of testing measures to assess a student’s knowledge level and potential. Don’t rely only on quantitative testing systems.

For example, ask for research presentations, portfolios, and hands-on projects for a holistic view of students’ capabilities. Using a variety of testing measures lets you see which instructional method best suits each student cohort, letting you adjust teaching styles accordingly.

Make accommodations for students with disabilities or special conditions

If you know that certain students have a disability or condition that prevents them from taking assessments under typical conditions, accommodate their needs.

For example, visually impaired students can be given a scribe or Braille-based question papers to help them during the exam. Also, if students from a specific background might be disadvantaged, create programs to provide them with access to the right resources.

Achievement tests still hold their place as long as they’re done the right way

Even though achievement tests have certain drawbacks, they still play a pivotal role in measuring learning outcomes. They also help inform the creation of future instructional strategies by giving educators some direction in the process.

However, if you want to do it the right way, it’s best to keep the principles of testing, such as validity, reliability, and objectivity, in mind. It ensures that you create more inclusive and equitable assessment methods.

You can also achieve this using digital tools like Poll Everywhere that let students take tests on any device while adhering to accessibility standards . Plus, Poll Everywhere isn’t meant only for in-class exams but can also be sent via a link for homework or practical assignments.

If you’re looking for a tool to administer achievement tests, schedule a demo with Poll Everywhere today.

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Achievement Tests

How Achievement Tests Measure What People Have Learned

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Cara Lustik is a fact-checker and copywriter.

BFG Images / Getty Images

How do we determine what a person knows about a certain subject? Or how do we determine an individual's level of skill in a certain area? One of the most common ways to do this is to use an achievement test. An achievement test is designed to measure a person's level of skill, accomplishment, or knowledge in a specific area.

Closer Look at Achievement Tests

The achievement tests that most people are familiar with are the standard exams taken by every student in school. Students are regularly expected to demonstrate their learning and proficiency in a variety of subjects. In most cases, certain scores on these achievement tests are needed in order to pass a class or continue on to the next grade level.

The role of achievement tests in education has become much more pronounced since the passage of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. This legislation focused on standard-based education which was used to measure educational goals and outcomes. While this law was later replaced by the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, achievement testing remains a key element in measuring educational success and plays a role in determining school funding.

But achievement tests are not just important during the years of K-12 education and college. They can be used to assess skills when people are trying to learn a new sport. If you were learning dance , martial arts, or some other specialized athletic skill, an achievement test can be important for determining your current level of ability and possible need for further training. 

Some more examples of achievement tests include:

• A math exam covering the latest chapter in your book
• A test in your social psychology class
• A comprehensive final in your Spanish class
• The ACT and SAT exams
• A skills demonstration in your martial arts class

Each of these tests is designed to assess how much you know at a specific point in time about a certain topic. Achievement tests are not used to determine what you are capable of; they are designed to evaluate what you know and your level of skill at the given moment.

As you can see, achievement tests are widely used in a number of domains, both academic- and career-related. Students face an array of achievement tests almost every day as they complete their studies at all grade levels, from pre-K through college. Such tests allow educators and parents to assess how their kids are doing in school, but also provide feedback to students on their own performance.

When Are Achievement Tests Used?

Achievement tests are often used in educational and training settings. In schools, for example, achievements tests are frequently used to determine the level of education for which students might be prepared. Students might take such a test to determine if they are ready to enter into a particular grade level or if they are ready to pass of a particular subject or grade level and move on to the next.

Standardized achievement tests are also used extensively in educational settings to determine if students have met specific learning goals . Each grade level has certain educational expectations, and testing is used to determine if schools, teachers, and students are meeting those standards.

So how exactly are achievement tests created? In many instances, subject matter experts help determine what content standards should exist for a certain subject. These standard represent the things that an individual at a certain skill or grade level should know about a particular subject. Test designers can then use this information to develop exams that accurately reflect the most important things that a person should know about that topic.

Achievement Tests vs Aptitude Tests

Achievement tests differ in important ways from aptitude tests . An aptitude test is designed to determine your potential for success in a certain area. For example, a student might take an aptitude test to help determine which types of career they might be best suited for. An achievement test, on the other hand, would be designed to determine what a student already knows about a specific subject.

A Word From Verywell

Achievement tests play an important role in education, but they have also been the subject of criticism at times. Some feel that excessive testing interferes with the educational process and places too much emphasis on passing a test while ignoring more important abilities such as critical and creative thinking. However, such tests do provide a fairly efficient way to get an idea of how well students are performing.

H.R.1 - 107th Congress (2001-2002): No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 .

U.S. Department of Education. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) .

Kline, Paul.  Handbook of Psychological Testing . United Kingdom, Taylor & Francis, 2013.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

EssayEmpire

Achievement tests essay.

Achievement tests are used to assess the current knowledge and skills of the person being examined. Achievement tests include those administered to students in elementary or secondary schools and those administered to candidates for certification or licensure in a professional field. In elementary and secondary schools, content areas assessed by achievement tests include reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Licensure and certification examinations include test items that assess the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are required for professional practice. For example, a teacher licensure examination might include items on child development, curriculum, instructional methods, and assessment.

This entry describes achievement tests of various types and how they are developed, describes their uses, and provides some guidelines for selection of specific tests.

Test Formats

The most common item format used in achievement tests is multiple choice. Other item formats used in achievement tests are constructed-response items that require examinees to write a short response and extended-response items that require lengthier responses, such as essays. Also, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards incorporates a portfolio as one component of its examination used to certify teachers as being “accomplished.”

A majority of achievement tests are group administered. Some achievement tests, however, are individually administered. An example is the Woodcock Johnson-III Tests of Achievement, which assesses examinees’ knowledge in language and mathematics skills. Also, some achievement tests are administered by computer. The Measures of Academic Progress produced by the Northwest Evaluation Association is a computer-adaptive test of reading, mathematics, and science that is used by school districts throughout the United States. An example of an Internet-based assessment is the South Carolina Arts Assessment Program in the visual and performing arts, which is administered to fourth-grade students.

Typically licensure and certification tests are national in focus, whereas, most achievement tests in primary and secondary schools are administered at the school district or state level. However, a nationwide achievement test administered in the United States is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which administers tests in such areas as reading, writing, mathematics, and science, to a national sample of students in Grades 4, 8, and 12. An example of an achievement test administered internationally is the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, a literacy test administered in thirty-five countries or regions.

Types Of Scores

Interpretations of scores from achievement tests are typically norm referenced or criterion referenced. Norm-referenced scores allow the comparison of a local examinee’s performance to a group of peers from across the nation. To achieve this, during test development, a test company recruits a group of examinees from across the nation to take the newly developed achievement test. These examinees are referred to as a norm group. The achievement tests are administered

and scored, and the scores of the members of the norm group are converted to percentiles. A percentile rank indicates the percentage of the norm-group members scoring at or below a test score. The percentile scale ranges from 1 to 99, with the fiftieth percentile being considered average.

When a local examinee takes the test, his or her test score is compared to the scores of the norm group to determine the percentage of the norm group who scored at or below the local examinee’s score. A local examinee scoring at, for example, the sixteenth percentile scored below average as compared to the norm group; whereas a local examinee scoring at the eighty-fifth percentile scored well above average. Given that a local examinee’s performance is being compared to members of a norm group, if the percentile ranks are to be meaningful, then the norm group should be similar to local examinees in terms of demographics.

Criterion-referenced interpretations compare an examinee’s score to some benchmark or performance level. In the case of high school exit examinations, licensure tests, and certification examinations, criterion referenced scores typically indicate whether an examinee’s score is pass/fail or mastery/nonmastery. At the elementary and middle school levels, states often use criterion-referenced scores that indicate a student’s performance level (e.g., Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic).

Development Of An Achievement Test

The process of developing an achievement test begins with an expert committee that identifies the important content in a field. In education, for state-level tests the committee reviews the subject-matter content standards developed by the state education department. For commercial, national, and international achievement tests, panels of experts review standards developed by national organizations (e.g., the International Reading Association) and the standards, curriculum documents, and texts used in a district, state, or region for which the test is being developed. In licensure and certification, the credentialing body completes a study to identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities critical to professionals in the conduct of their duties. Experts then determine what the test should include.

Based on the review, the test company or agency prepares a test blueprint that details the skills and content of the achievement test as well as the proportion of items devoted to each content area. Test personnel work with experts in the subject area or the professional field to draft test items. Subsequently, various expert committees review the items for appropriateness, clarity, and lack of bias. After the review, the developers field test the items by administering them to a sample of examinees. When the items are returned, protocols for scoring the items (e.g., multiple-choice and constructed-response) are established. After scoring, statistical analyses of field test items are completed in order to examine item quality.

The test blueprint is then used to assemble final test forms using the items that passed quality control. If the achievement test is a norm-referenced test, then the final forms of the test are administered to ageor grade-appropriate norm groups. If the test will provide criterion-referenced scores, then panels of experts review the test items to establish the scores required for passing or classification at a certain performance level. At the end of this process, the developers publish the test and a test manual that provides technical information.

Uses Of Achievement Tests

A common use for achievement tests is for monitoring student progress across years. Achievement tests also are used to make high stakes decisions about examinees, such as testing for licensure or testing for placement into a gifted program or a special education program. Another purpose of achievement tests is to compare the performance of examinees within a school setting or in educational programs. As an example, achievement tests are used in some program evaluations to determine the effectiveness of an instructional technique.

Achievement tests are also used for accountability purposes to inform the public about how well examinees are performing. In education, state testing programs, as well as the federal testing program NAEP, classify students into performance levels based on the degree of achievement the student has demonstrated in regard to either state or national standards. By reporting the percent of students who are classified into each performance level, achievement tests are used to inform policy makers and the public of the status of education. With the federal No Child Left Behind legislation (NCLB, Public Law 107-110), the use of criterion-referenced tests for policy-making purposes increased.

How To Select An Achievement Test

In education, school districts and states sometimes select a commercially produced test rather than develop a test. In selecting such an achievement test, decision makers should review the test to determine the degree to which the test content is appropriate for their curriculum. Selection of a standardized test should consider relevance of the test items; the recency and representativeness of the norms; the conorming of the achievement test with an aptitude test; the testing time required; the ease of administration; the articulation of the test across grade levels; and the costs of test materials, scoring, and score reports. In adopting an achievement test, users should also review potential test items to assure they do not promote racial or gender stereotypes.

The test user should also determine if the score of the examinee is reliable over time. Reliability is concerned with the question, “If the examinee were to retake the examination (or an examination with parallel content), would he or she be likely to receive the same score?” In determining if a test is reliable, the test user will also want to determine the error (i.e., unreliability) that is associated with a test score.

Finally, in selecting an achievement test, users should determine if the test has been validated for the intended use. To that end, test users should investigate what types of validity evidence are provided to support the interpretation of the test scores for a particular use. For example, information should be provided to the test user regarding the content that is being tested and how that content is related to the construct of interest.

Bibliography:

• Haladyna, T. (2002). Essentials of standardized achievement testing: Validity and accountability. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Hopkins, K. (1998). Educational and psychological measurement and evaluation (8th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
• South Carolina Arts Assessment Program. (2002). Sample tests. Retrieved from http://www.scaap.ed.sc.edu/sampletest
• Thorndike, R. (2005). Measurement and evaluation in psychology and education (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

This example Achievement Tests Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.

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Types of Questions in Teacher Made Achievement Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Table of Contents

When it comes to assessing students’ learning, teachers often turn to achievement tests they’ve created themselves. These tests are powerful tools that can provide both educators and learners with valuable insights into academic progress and understanding. But what types of questions make up these teacher-made tests? Understanding the various types of test items is crucial for designing assessments that are not only effective but also fair and comprehensive. Let’s dive into the world of objective and essay-type questions to see how they function and how best to construct them.

Objective Type Test Items

Objective test items are those that require students to select or provide a very short response to a question, with one clear, correct answer. This section will explore the different types of objective test items , their uses, and tips for constructing them.

Supply Type Items

• Short Answer Questions: These require students to recall and provide brief responses.
• Fill-in-the-Blank: Here, students must supply a word or phrase to complete a statement.
• Numerical Problems: Often used in math and science, these items require the calculation and provision of a numerical answer.

When constructing supply type items , clarity is key. Questions should be direct, and the required answer should be unambiguous. Avoid complex phrasing and ensure that the blank space provided is proportional to the expected answer’s length.

Selection Type Items

• Multiple\-Choice Questions \(MCQs\) : Students choose the correct answer from a list of options.
• True\/False Questions : These require students to determine the veracity of a statement.
• Matching Items : Students must pair related items from two lists.

For selection type items , it’s important to construct distractors (wrong answers) that are plausible. This prevents guessing and encourages students to truly understand the material. In multiple-choice questions, for example, the incorrect options should be common misconceptions or errors related to the subject matter.

Essay Type Test Items

Essay test items call for longer, more detailed responses from students. These questions evaluate not just recall of information but also critical thinking, organization of thoughts, and the ability to communicate effectively through writing.

Extended Response Essay Questions

• Exploratory Essays : These require a thorough investigation of a topic, often without a strict length constraint.
• Argumentative Essays : Students must take a stance on an issue and provide supporting evidence.

In extended response essay questions, students should be given clear guidelines regarding the scope and depth of the response expected. Rubrics can be very helpful in setting these expectations and in guiding both the grading process and the students’ preparation.

Restricted Response Essay Questions

• Reflective Essays : These typically involve a shorter response, reflecting on a specific question or scenario.
• Analysis Essays : Students dissect a particular concept or event within a set framework.

Restricted response essay questions are valuable for assessing specific skills or knowledge within a limited domain. When constructing these items, ensure the question is focused and that students are aware of any word or time limits.

Examples and Guidelines for Constructing Effective Test Items

Now that we’ve understood the types of questions, let’s look at some examples and guidelines for creating effective test items.

Objective Item Construction

• Multiple-Choice Example: “What is the capital of France? A) Madrid B) Paris C) Rome D) Berlin” – Ensure there’s only one correct answer.
• True/False Example: “The Great Wall of China is visible from space.” – Provide a statement that is not ambiguously phrased.

When constructing objective items, make sure the question is based on important content, not trivial facts. The length of the test should be sufficient to cover the breadth of the material, and the items should vary in difficulty to gauge different levels of student understanding.

Essay Item Construction

• Extended Response Example: “Discuss the impact of the Industrial Revolution on European society.” – This question allows for a broad exploration of the topic.
• Restricted Response Example: “Describe two methods of conflict resolution and their effectiveness in workplace settings.” – This question limits the scope to two methods and a specific context.

Essay questions should be open-ended to encourage students to think critically and creatively. However, they should also be specific enough to prevent off-topic responses. Providing a clear rubric can help students understand what is expected in their answers and assist teachers in grading consistently.

Teacher-made achievement tests with a mix of objective and essay type questions can provide a comprehensive assessment of student learning. By understanding the different types of questions and following the guidelines for constructing them, educators can create fair, reliable, and valid assessments. This ensures that the results truly reflect students’ knowledge and skills, allowing for targeted feedback and further instructional planning.

What do you think? How can teachers balance the need for comprehensive assessment with the practical limitations of test administration time? Do you think one type of test item is more effective than the other in measuring student learning?

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Assessment for Learning

1 Concept and Purpose of Evaluation

• Basic Concepts
• Relationships among Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation
• Teaching-Learning Process and Evaluation
• Assessment for Enhancing Learning
• Other Terms Related to Assessment and Evaluation

2 Perspectives of Assessment

• Behaviourist Perspective of Assessment
• Cognitive Perspective of Assessment
• Constructivist Perspective of Assessment
• Assessment of Learning and Assessment for Learning

3 Approaches to Evaluation

• Approaches to Evaluation: Placement Formative Diagnostic and Summative
• Distinction between Formative and Summative Evaluation
• External and Internal Evaluation
• Norm-referenced and Criterion-referenced Evaluation
• Construction of Criterion-referenced Tests

4 Issues, Concerns and Trends in Assessment and Evaluation

• What is to be Assessed?
• Criteria to be used to Assess the Process and Product
• Who will Apply the Assessment Criteria and Determine Marks or Grades?
• How will the Scores or Grades be Interpreted?
• Sources of Error in Examination
• Learner-centered Assessment Strategies
• Question Banks
• Semester System
• Continuous Internal Evaluation
• Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS)
• Marking versus Grading System
• Open Book Examination
• ICT Supported Assessment and Evaluation

5 Techniques of Assessment and Evaluation

• Concept Tests
• Self-report Techniques
• Assignments
• Observation Technique
• Peer Assessment
• Sociometric Technique
• Project Work
• School Club Activities

6 Criteria of a Good Tool

• Evaluation Tools: Types and Differences
• Essential Criteria of an Effective Tool of Evaluation
• Reliability

Objectivity

7 Tools for Assessment and Evaluation

• Paper Pencil Test
• Aptitude Test
• Achievement Test
• Diagnostic–Remedial Test
• Intelligence Test
• Rating Scales
• Questionnaire
• Inventories
• Interview Schedule
• Observation Schedule
• Anecdotal Records
• Learners Portfolios and Rubrics

8 ICT Based Assessment and Evaluation

• Importance of ICT in Assessment and Evaluation
• Use of ICT in Various Types of Assessment and Evaluation
• Role of Teacher in Technology Enabled Assessment and Evaluation
• Online and E-examination
• Learners’ E-portfolio and E-rubrics
• Use of ICT Tools for Preparing Tests and Analyzing Results

9 Teacher Made Achievement Tests

• Understanding Teacher Made Achievement Test (TMAT)
• Types of Achievement Test Items/Questions
• Construction of TMAT
• Administration of TMAT
• Scoring and Recording of Test Results
• Reporting and Interpretation of Test Scores

10 Commonly Used Tests in Schools

• Achievement Test Versus Aptitude Test
• Performance Based Achievement Test
• Diagnostic Testing and Remedial Activities
• Question Bank
• General Observation Techniques
• Practical Test

11 Identification of Learning Gaps and Corrective Measures

• Educational Diagnosis
• Diagnostic Tests: Characteristics and Functions
• Diagnostic Evaluation Vs. Formative and Summative Evaluation
• Diagnostic Testing
• Achievement Test Vs. Diagnostic Test
• Diagnosing and Remedying Learning Difficulties: Steps Involved
• Areas and Content of Diagnostic Testing
• Remediation

12 Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation

• Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation: Concepts and Functions
• Forms of CCE
• Recording and Reporting Students Performance
• Students Profile
• Cumulative Records

13 Tabulation and Graphical Representation of Data

• Use of Educational Statistics in Assessment and Evaluation
• Meaning and Nature of Data
• Organization/Grouping of Data: Importance of Data Organization and Frequency Distribution Table
• Graphical Representation of Data: Types of Graphs and its Use
• Scales of Measurement

14 Measures of Central Tendency

• Individual and Group Data
• Measures of Central Tendency: Scales of Measurement and Measures of Central Tendency
• The Mean: Use of Mean
• The Median: Use of Median
• The Mode: Use of Mode
• Comparison of Mean, Median, and Mode

15 Measures of Dispersion

• Measures of Dispersion
• Standard Deviation

16 Correlation – Importance and Interpretation

• The Concept of Correlation
• Types of Correlation
• Methods of Computing Co-efficient of Correlation (Ungrouped Data)
• Interpretation of the Co-efficient of Correlation

17 Nature of Distribution and Its Interpretation

• Normal Distribution/Normal Probability Curve
• Divergence from Normality

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Psychology achievement test essay.

Psychology achievement test PAT is mainly used in institutions to determine students’ knowledge in psychology. It is specifically the systematic analysis of an individual’s intelligence, character, knowledge and behavior. This paper will therefore show an example of a PAT, correct response in regard to the study of psychology and a specific systematic evaluation of a useful psychology achievement test. It will finalize by showing the reliability of this test in regard to psychology.

To ensure a psychological achievement test is a good intelligence test, the examinees are put through a series of standardized assessments. These assessments are administered to individual candidates for maximum evaluation of everyone of the whole lot. This examination should also be done with a decision of a certain percentage. This percentage must be achieved to show a student is qualified. Instructions are also exposed to individuals and later questions are asked to ascertain what has been learned by the person. Behavioral samples should be used for the assessing of psychological knowledge. This knowledge is like the emotional functioning and the cognitive of each individual. Finally restrictions must also be put in place involving matters of ethics. This is for protection and secrecy of the tests as required by the psychology licensing board (Gorin & Embretson 400).

To ensure the response is correct in regard to the study of psychology, the responses should be compiled into tables that allows for evaluation of mental functions and behavior.

Collage freshmen should also be subjected to a systematic process to evaluate the usefulness of a psychological test. This test should be put in a form that addresses major issues. These issues range from intelligence, mannerism, brain functioning, personality and direct observation. In intelligence information must be presented showing personal and medical history. Tasks provided should range from general knowledge question answering, completion of puzzles and making of designs.

Attitude test is used in assessment of individuals’ feelings about, people events and objects. These scales are mainly used to determine preferences for individuals through specific items. This can be done using Likert scale (Gorin & Embretson 406).

Personality tests which comprise of objective and projective measures are also administered. These tests are either restricted to response format such as true or false or ones that allow freer type of response.

Direct observation encompasses the observation of individuals as they complete activities. This helps understanding of the interaction of individuals with other people.

This paper therefore shows that the psychology achievement test is a reliable test that is needed in the enrollment of psychology students. This is so as it helps in the examination of the mastery of individuals in odder to let them advance or retain them.

Works Cited

Gorin, Joanna and Embretson, Susan. “Item Difficulty Modelling of paragraph comprehension Items.” Applied Psychological Measuring , 30.5 (2006): 394-411. Print.

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WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test®-Fourth Edition ) - Overview

WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test®-Fourth Edition ) – Overview

What is the wiat-4 (wiat-iv).

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test®, Fourth Edition (WIAT®-4 or WIAT®-IV) measures an individual’s academic achievement. It is one of the most widely administered achievement tests and is offered to individuals between the ages of 4 and 50 years and 11 months. The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) was published in 2020 and is based on the WIAT III but has 5 new subtests, 5 new composite scores, and automated scoring of Essay Composition.

The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) measures various aspects of academic achievement, including:

• Mathematics: measures numerical operation, math problem solving, and math fluency
• Oral Language: Measures receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonemic proficiency, listening comprehension, and oral expression
• Reading: measures word reading, pseudoword decoding, reading comprehension, and oral fluency
• Written Language: measures spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence combining, and essay composition

The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) provides scores that can be used to identify a person’s strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas, as well as an overall composite score that provides an estimate of comprehensive academic achievement. The test is administered individually by a psychologist or trained examiner, and it typically takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to complete. The results of the test can be used to inform educational and intervention planning and to help identify students who may need additional support or accommodations to succeed academically.

For what purpose is the WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) test given?

It can be used for a variety of purposes, including identifying learning disabilities, evaluating academic progress, and developing educational interventions. Some schools use the WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) as part of the admission process, while other schools may use it for admission into their gifted program.

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How is the WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) different from the WIAT-III?

The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) is an updated version of the WIAT-III. The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) includes several changes and improvements over the previous version.

• Updated Norms
• Expanded Age Range
• New Subtests
• Improved Test Structure
• Enhanced Interpretive Report

Overall, WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) is an updated comprehensive assessment with new subtests and improved normative data. It assesses an individual’s academic achievement and reflects changes in educational practices and demographics.

What are the new subtests on WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) and what do they measure? 

• Questions here might be, “Say “car” but change the /c/ sound to a /t/ sound – “tar” (beginning sound).
• Or say “bat” but change the /a/ to an /e/ sound – “bet” (middle sound).
• Or say “rut” but change the /t/ sound to a /n/ sound. – “run” (end sound).
• Or say “popcorn” but don’t say “pop.” Or say the word “bat” backwards – “tab.”
• Orthographic Fluency (Reading Fluency) – This subtest measures an individual’s orthographic and sight vocabulary.
• A student is shown 8 words that are spelled differently than they sound. They must read each word aloud within a time limit.
• On the Pseudoword subtest, students are shown 6 nonsense words that are spelled phonetically correct. They must read these words within a time limit. This tells us if a child has a strategy for phonetic decoding each word.
• Sentence Writing Fluency (Writing Fluency) – This measures the speed of writing sentences.  A student is shown pictures, each with an accompanying word.  They must write as many complete sentences as they can within 5 minutes that incorporate the word exactly and take inspiration from the picture.
• Orthographic Choice (Oral Language) – This recognition spelling subtest assesses a student’s ability to recognize and decode irregularly spelled words. These must be recognized by sight because they aren’t spelled the way they sound.  For example, a student is shown 3 words – thay, tha, they.  One is correctly spelled, the other two are spelled the way they sound phonetically.  The student must identify which is spelled correctly.  This subtest is only available with the online version of WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV).

What WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) subtests are given at each grade level?

Not every subtest is given to every student.  The chart below shows you which subtests are given at each grade level.

How is the WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) different from the WISC-V?

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children®, Fifth Edition (WISC®-V) is a standardized intelligence test used to assess cognitive or reasoning abilities in individuals between the ages of 6 and 16 years 11 months. This test assesses a person’s thinking abilities and not what they learn in school. The WISC-V evaluates performance in the following areas- verbal comprehension, visual-spatial ability, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.

WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) evaluates an individual’s academic abilities in language, reading, writing, and math. It is similar to state achievement tests in the way that doing well on this test depends on what has been learned in school.

How does the automated scoring of the Essay and Sentence Composition subtests work in WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV)? 

For the Essay Composition subtest , the prompt is something like this: “Write about your favorite ____ and tell me at least 3 reasons why you like it.”  The test administrator transcribes the child’s essay into the scoring software for WISC-4.  Trained on thousands of WIAT-III and WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) actual student essays, smart artificial intelligence (AI) software is used to automatically score the essay.  It looks for errors in the areas of capitalization, end punctuation, internal punctuation, omission of words, extra words, spelling, verb usage, pronoun usage, word ending, and word order.

For the Sentence Composition subtest , it looks at the number of words and sentences written, the correct usage of the target word in the sentence without changing it, and subject-verb agreement.  For this subtest, students should keep their sentences short and to the point, going for as many correct sentences as possible within the 5-minute timeframe.

How is the WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) scored?

Composite scores are provided for each area of achievement, including the following:

• Mathematics Composite includes subtests measuring numerical operations, math fluency, math problem solving, and math reasoning.
• Oral Language Composite includes subtests measuring phonemic proficiency, listening comprehension, oral expression, and oral language composite.
• Reading Composite includes subtests measuring word reading, pseudoword decoding, reading comprehension, and oral reading fluency.
• Written Language Composite includes subtests measuring spelling, sentence composition, and essay composition.

To obtain the composite scores, the individual subtest scores are combined using a weighted formula. This formula considers the number of subtests taken in each composite and the relative importance of each subtest.

The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) also offers a Dyslexia Index which helps identify risk for dyslexia among students or individuals ages 5 through 50.  It includes scores on Phonemic Proficiency, Word Reading, Orthographic Fluency, and Pseudoword (Nonsense Word) Decoding subtests. These subtests can be administered apart from the rest of the WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) test.

The WIAT-4 (WIAT-IV) is a comprehensive assessment of an individual’s academic achievement. The scores are interpreted in the context of a representative sample of students (individuals) in the same grade/age group.

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SAVE THE DATE: Civil Air Patrol’s National Conference is Aug. 15-17 in San Antonio. Sponsorship opportunities are available.

21 : Total lives saved so far by Civil Air Patrol in fiscal 2024, as credited by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center.

• Aerospace Education
• What's Happening
• Training & Resources
• Help for New Cadets
• Cadet Library
• Cadet Interactive
• Cadet Promotions Application
• Cadet Tests & Exams
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Achievement 8 - Armstrong

How to become eligible for promotion.

1.   General Advancement Pre-Requisites  (Ref: CAPR 60-1, 5.2.3) Be a current CAP cadet, as shown in eServices . Possess a CAP uniform and wear it properly. Be able to recite the Cadet Oath from memory. Participate actively in unit meetings. Have spent a minimum of 8 weeks (56 days) in Achievement 7, unless eligible for a JROTC accelerated promotion (see CAPR 60-1, 5.6.2.3).

2.   Leadership :   Take Cadet Interactive Learn to Lead chapter 8 module OR pass an online test on  Learn To Lead chapter 8 , with a grade of 80% or higher, open-book. 

To find the test and Cadet Interactive module go to eServices>  Learning Management System  > Go to AXIS > Cadet Achievement tab

Drill and Ceremonies  performance test

3.   Aerospace:    Take an  Aerospace Dimensions  Cadet Interactive module OR pass an online test with a grade of 80% or higher, open-book. You may take the  Aerospace Dimensions  modules in any order.

4.   Fitness:   Have attained the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) in the Cadet Physical Fitness Test (CPFT), within the previous 180 days, under the "run plus 2 out of 3" rule. 

5.   Character:     Participate in at least 1 character activity in the squadron.    

6.   Special Requirement: You must write a 300-500 word essay and present a 5 to 7 minute speech to the unit on one of the topics below. A senior member will evaluate the essay and speech using these  critique forms .

Explain why America’s aerospace power is vital to commerce, science or national security.

Describe leadership mistakes you have made and explain what you learned from them.

Explain the difference between followership and leadership.

7.   Honor Credit:   Available.  Complete Learn to Lead Chapter 8 test, Learn to Lead Chapter 8 Interactive module, Aerospace Dimensions module test, AND Aerospace Dimensions Interactive module.

Leadership Expectations

Fulfilling the promotion eligibility requirements above is only half the battle. You also need to show that you have some leadership skills. Look at the goals below and once in a while ask yourself how well you're doing in those areas. Attitude Maintains a positive attitude and encourages good attitudes in others; does not flaunt rank or authority

Core Values Displays commitment to Core Values; promotes team spirit, professionalism, and good sportsmanship as a team leader

Communication Skills Proficient in informal public speaking (i.e., in giving directions to and training junior cadets)

Sense of Responsibility Enforces standards; trustworthy in supervising a small team and leading them in fulfillment in a series of simple tasks; given a plan, is able to carry it out

Interpersonal Skills Guides and coaches junior cadets; recognizes when junior cadets need help; leads by example; is not a "boss"

Critical Thinking Not applicable

Delegation Skills Not applicable  

Typical Duties Upon Promotion

Support staff NCO, flight sergeant, first sergeant, or flight commander  

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Heraldry of the Armstrong Achievement Ribbon

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January 31, 2024

Strategy for Writing an Accomplishment Essay (with examples)

Maybe you’re familiar with macros – the nutrients your body needs to function. Achieving the proper balance of macros leads to optimal health. When it comes to writing your MBA personal statements and application essays, it might be helpful to think of your accomplishments as the carbohydrates, protein, and fat – in other words, the macros – you need to make your submissions the best they can be. A fascinating brainstorming session among Accepted’s admissions consultants revealed that applicants don’t always understand how MBA adcoms define an accomplishment, so we wrote this post to explain what goes into the recipe for an enticing “accomplishments sandwich” and remove the guesswork on your part. Here are the simple macros:

Carbohydrates = Impact and Initiative

Protein = Overcoming Obstacles

Fats = Demonstrating Leadership

Carbohydrates are known as the “staff of life,” something nearly everyone considers a staple of their diet. Similarly, for your accomplishment essay, your “carbs” are what will . 

For example, maybe you took the initiative to boost membership in a group or led a team to victory. Perhaps you built a coalition in student government. Or you increased sales, cut costs, or found a solution to a problem that paved the way for a critical deal to go forward.

When you assess whether your achievements belong in a greatest accomplishment essay, think impact and initiative . 

Do awards count? It depends. If you won an award for a published story, an athletic competition, or some other “personal best,” then yes, those would be excellent choices for an essay about a personal achievement. More often, however, you will be asked to write about a significant achievement with impact beyond your own personal growth . In these situations, an award you’d like to write about would have had to result from an effort – either academic or professional – that involved a team or people other than yourself. This is the kind of achievement that transcends a “personal best.”  

By now, you can probably see the difference between a primarily personal achievement and a career-related one. You might even already recognize which of your accomplishments are notable enough to write about. But let’s say you don’t have much that feels important enough. How you can identify potential experiences for your accomplishments essay?

A good place to start is by reviewing your resume. Ideally, it will be loaded with as many quantifiable achievements as possible, from both professional and extracurricular roles. If you work in marketing and clinched four new accounts in a single year, leading to a promotion, that’s an achievement. If you work in a social service agency and developed a new intake system for clients that the agency adopted, leading to a more organized and streamlined process, that’s an achievement. In college, you might have been involved in a student organization that promotes career development and leadership among minority students, and even became president of that organization. That’s an achievement.

Which experiences on your resume stand out to you now? No doubt you’ll start to see things popping out at you.

Seemingly small achievements can also be big. The following sample essay offers a great example where the impact seems limited to one person but radiates outward: 

From the first day I was tasked to mentor a new hire, Thomas, it was a challenge. He had strong work experience in product development at his previous job, but he was soft-spoken and reserved, and had a strong stutter. I felt pain for him as he struggled to complete a word or a sentence, but it was also awkward for both of us as I waited for him to finish his point. During a department meeting, someone actually rolled her eyes as Thomas was answering a question. I just glared at her for being so cold. At our weekly department lunches, which were meant to be a relaxed social time for everyone, Thomas hung back quietly, seeming like he was a million miles away. 

I still didn’t understand why Thomas seemed a little slow to catch on to the ways of our department. He was clearly very intelligent. It was taking me longer to complete my own work because of the extra time I was spending with him on his assignments. One afternoon on a whim, I invited him to join me for dinner at a popular burger place. He looked surprised but agreed.

That night broke the ice. Thomas relaxed and enjoyed his dinner, and I noticed his speech was more fluid as well. We discovered a mutual love of soccer and political thriller novels. I really enjoyed his company and told him so. We went out again the following week to an Italian place that he chose. On our third “date,” Thomas opened up about a broken engagement that happened just before he started this new job. He knew that his grief was distracting him, clouding his thinking, and making his stutter worse. 

“I know I’ve not been easy to train,” he told me, “but I’m starting to come out of it now.” After that night, Thomas’s work improved rapidly. He risked speaking up more at the weekly lunches and at meetings, and everyone was patient when he struggled to say something, though those occasions were less frequent. 

I consider this mentoring experience one of my greatest accomplishments, because in trying to befriend a coworker, I not only gained a true friend for myself but also helped him gain confidence and perform to his capacity at work. It was the first time in my life I felt I had such a strong and positive impact on another person. It showed me the power of small gestures of friendship and understanding. 

This writer’s decision to offer a listening ear to a coworker who was clearly in some sort of distress became an inspiring achievement that was both personal and professional. His actions had impact that flowed outward beyond just Thomas to the entire department and organization. 

Protein= Overcoming Obstacles

Overcoming obstacles such as a lack of resources – time, money, talent, or people – magnifies your accomplishments. Our best-laid plans rarely go smoothly, so make sure you discuss any difficulties you faced. By the way, the obstacle can work “double-duty,” representing a failure that you experienced and chose to learn from, while also showing that you emerged wiser and more capable at the end. When discussing either obstacles or failures, make sure not to blame other people or circumstances, or to complain about the unfairness of it all. Pointing fingers makes you look small and as though you want to avoid accountability. State the facts simply, and the situation will speak for itself. 

Here’s an example of how one applicant dealt with a significant obstacle: 

My book launch had been planned for nearly one year. This was my first book, a biography about my great-grandmother, a trailblazing homeopathic physician who lived at a time when even regular women MDs were a rarity. I wanted to self-publish but knew there was a huge amount of work involved that I didn’t feel suited for. There was editing, design, layout, marketing, getting the book accepted into the book distribution system, logistics, and more. Most published books are quickly forgotten and sell few copies. I didn’t want that to happen to mine. 

My solution was to sign an agreement with my friend Haley to publish my book. She was a talented graphic artist who had set up her own publishing company to publish her husband’s book. Our agreement spelled out our individual financial obligations and responsibilities, but I had a nagging worry. Her marriage was tumultuous, and she could make impulsive decisions. 

Six weeks before the publishing date, a popular book blogger promised a 5-star review on her blog. I also sold an excerpt to a women’s magazine with more than 4 million readers. I was still doing my “happy dance” when Haley called to tell me that our deal was off. She was leaving her husband and driving to stay with her mother, who lived in another state. She said she’d be in touch to work something out. She didn’t say when.

I was furious and anguished. My biggest problem was that the book’s ISBN (identification) numbers for print and digital downloads were assigned to Haley’s company and could not be reassigned to anyone else. Haley also had the distribution and payment agreements in her name. I could have kicked myself for not listening to my intuition, which warned me against working with someone whose life was so upside-down.

I researched my options. The ISBNs could not be transferred to me, but if I bought her publishing company, I would also own her ISBNs. I had no idea if Haley would agree to this or how we would work out terms, but the only way to save my book was to do the very thing I had tried to avoid: become a publisher myself. 

The following week, Haley agreed to sell me her publishing company for a token amount. It had no assets, and I had already paid for all book-related costs, except for Haley’s time. She also promised to help me with the transition of all the accounts. I decided not to look too far ahead and just focus on giving my book the best send-off into the world that I could. I named the publishing company after my great-grandmother. 

This story about a close call with a publishing disaster revealed the writer’s achievement of stretching beyond what she thought she could do and moving forward because she had to. Making lemonade out of lemons this way was certainly an achievement worth sharing.  

Let’s review where we are so far with our “macros”       

Protein = Overcoming Obstacles 

Now, let’s incorporate our “fats.”       

Leadership accomplishments that work well in application essays usually involve one’s ability to influence, motivate, persuade, direct, and work effectively with others. This adds much needed energy to your essay.                

Think about how you have worked with other people – how you led a team, what you learned, and so on. What specifically did you do to demonstrate leadership skills? What did you learn about leadership , and how have you grown as a leader through the experience?

In this next example, the writer’s accomplishment through leadership seemed almost accidental:

My job teaching in a private school began uneventfully. I had a class of bright 4th graders, with only a handful expected to be “challenging.” I loved my supervisor, Monica, who was a gifted teacher but new to her role as a team lead overseeing the 3rd and 4th grades. In addition to having one class of her own, Monica was supposed to create interventions for struggling students, incentivize specific behavior or achievements, plan events and trips, and offer guidance to teachers. 

Monica quickly showed that her skill set was strong in the classroom but not in administration. She let requests from teachers for interventions or advice pile up, and she got testy when I reminded her that I was waiting for her feedback. I wanted to work with her and not against her, so I offered to help. I suggested we meet twice a week after school to review her in-box, which was when I discovered that just by having me sit and listen to her discuss the situations, she focused much better. Although I only had two years’ experience as a teacher, Monica still seemed to value my opinion on handling awkward situations, such as when a wealthy parent who was on the school’s board of directors refused to face the reality of her daughter’s chronically aggressive behavior in class. This case was bigger than the both of us. We agreed that Monica needed to bring it to the headmistress of the school for her intervention.

About halfway through the year, Monica and I were still meeting regularly. It was an unexpected partnership, and it was clear to both of us that she wanted to return to full-time teaching. I realized that the administrative tasks and decision-making came more naturally to me than to her, and that after a few more years of teaching experience and a master’s degree in education, I might enjoy having a job like hers. 

Another person in her situation might have simply become angry or resentful at my trying to play a role in her job. She could have shut me out completely. But Monica and I became friends, and I learned a lot from watching her dynamism in the classroom. Additionally, she courageously told the headmistress about our arrangement and asked if the school could pay me for my extra hours – which it did. 

This was a totally unexpected situation that helped me realize that I wanted to take a fork in the road of my career in education. 

Finding the experiences in your life where you have shown initiative and impact, overcome obstacles, and demonstrated leadership will help you write an essay deserving of a chef’s kiss!

Are you thinking about what you could include in a winning accomplishments essay? Team up with Accepted’s consultants for help identifying your best material. As your partner and guide in this process, we will ensure that your selections make you stand out for all the right reasons!

By Judy Gruen, former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. She is also the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools . Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• From Example to Exemplary , your guide to writing outstanding essays
•   Four Ways to Show How You’ll Contribute in the Future
• Four Tips for Highlighting Your Strengths in Your Application Essays

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Achievement test: meaning and types – explained.

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Read this article to learn about the meaning, types and objectives of achievement test.

Meaning of Achievement Test:

Achievement test is most probably the very important area of appraisal for a guidance programme for the benefit of the individual. Scores on achievement test are excellent means for evaluating educational (academic) attainments and for the individual in the concerned area of the subject covered by the test. It involves a determination of how quickly, how accurately and at what level an individual can perform the tasks taken to represent accomplishment.

Achievement test measures present proficiency, mastery and understanding of general and specific areas of knowledge. Achievement tests attempt to measure what and how individual has learnt, viz. his present standard of performance. Scores of achievement test indicate the academic status of the individual learner in different subjects as a whole or individually.

Achievement test scores are quite helpful clues for vocational guidance since these mostly related to aptitudes and interests. In the circumstances the achievement test should be based on systematic testing programme of every school that desires to undertake suitable guidance service for the individuals.

Types of Achievement Test :

Achievement tests can be of various categories basing on form, purpose, time, method and subject area. Achievement test can be of different forms like oral test, written test and practical test. Items of achievement test can be essay type questions or short answer questions or objective type of questions or combination of all these types.

Achievement test may be of different types on the basis of the purpose for which it is administered. They are diagnostic tests, prognostic test, accuracy test, power test, spit test etc. Achievement tests can be administered in different period of time. When it is based on time or period factor, the test is summative test, daily test, weekly test, fortnightly test, monthly test, quarterly test, half yearly test, annual test or final examination at the end of course of study of an academic year.

On the basis of content or subject matter, achievement tests are categorized as language test, reading test, spelling test, history test, geography test, mathematic test, science test etc. Broadly speaking, all these achievement tests can be divided into two on the basis of quality that is standardized test and teacher made test. Here let us have a discussion on the objective type of achievement test.

The traditional system of examination or the essay type of examination has come under heavy fire. Students reject it because of its heavy strength or pressure. The parents criticize it because of its injurious effect on the physical and mental health of children.

The teachers complain because of its harmful effect on school work. The practical psychologist speaks ill of it because of its unreliability and invalidity and the educational theorist attacks it because it lacks definiteness in aim and purpose.

To remove some of the evils of the essay type examinations, objective tests seem to be very useful. Modern educationists give much stress on this type of tests to supplement the traditional type of tests. The All India Council for Secondary Education has set up an “evaluation unity.”

Many workshops and seminars have been organised during the past 10 years with a view to preparing new type tests. The services of Dr. Bloom of America, an expert in evaluation were secured for some time for the purpose of popularizing the new type of tests and given training to a large number of teachers in the use of these tests.

Related Articles:

• Top 2 Important Types of Achievement Tests
• Merits and Demerits of Objective Type Test

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Essay About Achievements: Top 5 Examples and 6 Prompts

Are you having problems writing your essay about achievements? Then, continue reading this article for samples and prompts to guide you in your writing.

Achievement influences our expectations and self-growth. It’s also often connected with an individual’s progress in life. It gives way for recognition in attaining a goal through standards. 

Achievement acknowledges successes, productiveness, and involvement. But sometimes, achieving doesn’t result in a feeling of satisfaction. Writing an achievement essay is usually based on experiences from yourself or others. You can explore different viewpoints, such as what they consider an “achievement,” how to overcome weaknesses, or why they want a specific achievement. Below are 5 examples and 6 writing prompts to assist you in your essay:

1. The Greatest Achievements In Life by Gerard Reese

2. greatest professional or academic achievement by james taylor , 3. essay on achievements from my professional life by bdoan, 4. my accomplishment by taylor wood, 5. when my weakness became my greatest accomplishment by jay merrill logan, 6 writing prompts on essay about achievements, 1. ways to achieve within different settings, 2. achievements in the small things, 3. how to build confidence, 4. the power of overcoming fear, 5. steps to be successful, 6. guide to building a strong character.

“Nobody succeeds on the first try, we take our mistakes and learn from them. Mistakes are the things that help us strive for greatness, which is why failure should not be viewed as something negative, but more as something we can use to attain [what] we want in life.”

Reese’s piece on achievement talks about learning from failure and trying again until you reach success. Time and failure are contributors to our achievements. He emphasizes that failure can be a steward and teacher to help us get where we want to be. He also provides lists of individuals who encountered crises in their lives until they reached their most successful phases. 

“My father always instilled in me the importance of education. He knew very well that in order for his children to be successful he needed to set them up for success and place them in a position where we would be afforded the opportunity to succeed.”

Family significantly impacts one’s interpretation of what achievements are about. Taylor’s essay highlights the idea of what his father taught him about education and success. He mentions how he embarked through life while keeping his father’s acknowledgment of his potential in the field he has chosen. His essay shows that family shapes one’s belief about what’s considered a successful life.

“I consider the experience in Japan as a big achievement and an important step in my career. The fact that I could master the complex situation gave me much self-confidence and showed that I could manage people successfully even in difficult situations. Today, this unique ability of handling teams attributed me as a strong leader for my people.”

Bdoan’s essay focuses on past experiences and how she handled cultural differences and beliefs, leading to her successful professional life. To achieve fulfillment in work, she breaks the barrier, communicates effectively, and embraces Japanese culture, which she set as a significant setting stone in her career life.

“Through the influence of my best friend, I have motivated myself to spend two hours during the night before I go to sleep to master the lessons the teacher has discussed in class. This helped me greatly since I would no longer have to cram and study everything for the exams later.”

Wood’s essay highlights the external factors that contributed to his achievements. External factors can lead a person to success or frustration. Through a piece of great advice, he changed his lifestyle by allowing himself to move forward and build a quality life. He compares this to Newton’s First law of motion, which he quoted and put at the beginning of his essay.

“…the more I thought about my own greatest personal academic achievement, I realized it was simply getting an A in a college history class my freshman year. Succeeding in this upper-level history class set the tone for all my future college courses and gave me the confidence I needed to achieve greatness, and I am not even a history major.”

Logan talks about his worst subject, History. He recounts how he approached his professor and overcame his weakness. This essay points out that words from others can influence self-growth and confidence. He says he developed faith in his study during college and attained his most outstanding accomplishment.

Are you having problems connecting your ideas smoothly? See this guide on transition words for essays.

After reading through the samples above, it’s time to explore your desired achievement subjects. Here are six prompts about achievements you can use:

Everyone sets expectations for themselves, dependent on the environment they’re in. It can be at work, school, or home. In these cases, the result is just as important as the process.

You can focus your essay on a relatable viewpoint, such as a student who wants to get A+ grades or an office worker who wants to get the Employee of the Month Award. Discuss ways they can excel in their surroundings. Your essay will serve as a guide to help them grow personally and professionally.

Achievements don’t need to be grand. Sometimes, simply getting out of bed is an achievement, especially for those suffering from mental illnesses such as depression. Center your essay on the simple things that can be considered achievements in their way. 

Your essay will not only serve as a reminder that it’s essential to appreciate the small things. It will also comfort those who are going through a hard time.

This topic asks you to highlight the relationship between confidence and achievements. You can interview someone confident in themselves. Ask for tips on building confidence and relay them to your readers while explaining the opportunities they can get by believing in themselves more.

In this busy world, fear is one of the most significant setbacks for people in accomplishing their goals in life. In this essay, you can explain to your readers how acknowledging their fears will help them advance.  

You can also conceptualize the effect of anxiety in achieving your desires and help you set your standard in developing self-growth. Feel free to share your experience with fears and how you plan to deal with them.

To be successful is everyone’s goal. However, sharing steps and tips on how to achieve success is general prompt many writes about. To make your piece stand out, you can tailor it to a group of individuals. For example, a student’s image of success is going on stage and graduating with honors.

Someone’s character is critical to achieving achievements. You can write about a well-known individual who went against the usual route of how success is reached. Such as Steve Jobs, who founded Apple but was a college dropout. 

There are many ways to reach a goal. Tell your readers that they don’t need to follow the conventional method of accomplishing things to get their hands on the achievements they crave.

Do you want to be more confident with your writing? Here are 11 essay writing tips you need to learn today!

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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What is the importance of achievement tests in education?

Leila Atta January 25, 2023 46,134 Views

The achievement test is a mechanism inherent in any educational process; it is a procedure for assessing educational outcomes and evaluating different levels of learners.

Educators can’t administer the teaching process without achievement tests, neither in evaluating their students nor in evaluating their teaching methods, nor can learners assess their performance without undergoing them!

But why do achievement tests take on this importance?

You will get a detailed answer to this question in the following lines, where we will discuss the concept of achievement tests, their different types, their intended goals, and the ways in which modern technology has increased their value.

What are Achievement Tests?

Achievement tests are a mechanism used to assess a person’s performance in a particular field.

They are used in several fields, such as sports, but are more commonly associated with education and training.

Achievement Tests in Education

Achievement tests in education refer to the process used to determine a learner’s academic achievement and cognitive performance in a particular course or instructional program.

These tests are administered at all levels of education, either daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or at the end of each educational period.

The main objective of the achievement tests is to assess the learners’ cognitive abilities in the course

in question and to determine the success or failure of the previously planned educational objectives

of that course.

Traditional achievement tests were intended to serve this purpose but were inadequate due to their shortcomings, such as:

• The focus is on assessing initial cognitive skills such as retention and recall and does not go beyond that to measure higher skills such as criticism or analysis; this creates a significant gap between what a learner learns and what they live.
• Measuring the educational goals in this way isn’t truly sufficient because achievement tests do not usually provide comprehensive coverage of the curriculum.
• There is a lack of objectivity, which neglects an important element of testing: consistency.

As pedagogical concepts and their mechanisms have evolved, different notions of achievement tests have emerged, focusing on measuring deeper levels of knowledge and assessing more learners’ abilities such as IQ, thinking skills, practical performance, etc.

Importance of Achievement Tests

The achievement test is an indispensable procedure for the functioning and development of the learning system.

But before talking about the importance of the achievement test, Let’s get a closer look at its advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of Achievement tests

• Achievement tests provide detailed data on learners’ academic performance and contribute to the formulation of curriculum development and adaptation to them to be more appropriate and useful to learners.
• It helps in addressing the problems of different education systems and improving them.
• Evaluating the professional performance of teachers, distinguishing between teachers who are fully performing their tasks and others who still need to develop their potential and deepen their experience.
• Using different assessment methods to accurately determine the level of learner engagement in the curriculum.
• Its results and analysis are an incentive for all members of the education system to improve the educational climate.
• It contributes to an objective assessment of teachers’ competence, curricula, and pedagogical practices.

Disadvantages of Achievement Tests

Despite all the advantages that achievement tests offer, there are some shortcomings that should be noted, in particular:

• Preparing, administering, and analyzing the results requires a lot of time, effort, and resources.
• Sometimes the tests can be subjective, so their results are not considered as accurate as they need to be.
• They are not considered the best option to combat the phenomenon of cheating .
• They can have a negative impact on examiners, so many find it a nervous strain, as their educational and professional future depends on the exam results.
• The resources spent on preparing for and conducting examinations are greater than those spent on activities and events that reinforce the role of the educational process.
• Learners are often led to care only about passing the exam and neglect everything related to acquiring real knowledge or new skills.

Importance of Achievement Tests in Education

Achievement tests are used at different educational levels where it plays a significant role within the educational system, namely:

• The systematic analysis of the objectives of the education curriculum; the identification and analysis of the objectives is the first step in the construction of the achievement test.
• In addition, they provide sufficient evidence for decision-making regarding a learner’s transition from one level of learning to a higher level.
• An achievement test is also a recognized mechanism for providing indications of each learner’s academic development by matching that development to predetermined educational goals.
• Teaching teachers about the effectiveness of the modern teaching methods they rely on to teach and manage the educational process in the classroom.
• Diagnosing strengths and weaknesses in learners’ performance, formulating educational plans that ensure the development of strengths, and the treatment of weaknesses.
• Improving learners’ skills and training in dealing with examination pressure and providing the necessary mental and psychological efforts.

Characteristics of Achievement tests

Achievement tests are characterized by a number of components that ensure that the objectives of the achievement test are achieved efficiently and effectively.

The most important features of the test are:

When the content of the test is appropriate to assess its specific purpose and does not assess other purposes instead.

An objective test is one in which the same examiner receives the same score, even if the correctors are different.

Each test must be associated with a clear and specific purpose before it is administered.

Types of Achievements tests

To achieve their objectives, achievement tests are diversified and multiplied to provide a comprehensive assessment of the learner, the teacher, the curriculum, the teaching methods, and even the educational environment.

Achievement tests differ according to the scale on which it is classified as follows:

Types of Achievement tests according to the time scale

• Semi-Annually.

Types of Achievement tests according to their objective

• Predictive tests: they aim to anticipate the level of performance that the examinee will achieve in learning a subject or performing a particular skill.
• Diagnostic tests: They aim to determine what the examinee has already learned as well as to diagnose learning difficulties that may hinder him/her.
• Speed tests: They are determined by a specific response time to measure how quickly the examinee can give the correct answers.
• Performance tests: They are not timed and aim to measure the greatest percentage of correct answers that the examinee can give.
• Competency tests: They aim to assess the examiner’s efficiency and ability to answer the questions correctly.

Types of Achievement tests according to the type of test

• Written tests.
• Oral tests.
• Practical tests (performance).

The following lines deal with each of these types separately.

Written Tests

Written tests include two different types of questions, namely: Standardized Questions and Essay Questions.

Standardized questions

This type of question is called standardized because it does not allow for a wide range of answers as essay questions do, but accepts only one correct answer and thus does not allow for personal bias on the part of the question developing or correcting

Standardized tests come in several forms, perhaps most noticeably:

Multiple-choice questions MCQ

These are flexible questions suitable for any level of education and can assess a wide range of simple or compound skills, but they require considerable preparation.

Fill the Gap

These questions do not require a great deal of preparation and cover multiple different parts of the curriculum.

However, they can be subjective if the examiner gives a correct answer but not the intended answer; to avoid this, the examiner must choose questions that do not include multiple answers.

True or False

These questions aim to assess the examiner’s ability to distinguish facts and make decisions.

However, this does not adequately capture the curriculum.

These are easy questions to design but are not suitable for assessing complex skills or in-depth knowledge.

Essay questions

These questions, whether open or restricted responses are extremely important.

As they are designed to measure linguistic and expressive skills, and the ability to link and narrate the reporter’s information in a balanced rationale.

In a way that achieves accurate measurement of complex educational outcomes.

Note that a mixture of standardized and essay questions is recommended to maximize the desired benefit of the achievement tests.

However, some teachers are hesitant because of the amount of time and effort required to correct.

To solve the problem of the required effort of correction, you can use Qorrect system , which supports the correction of handwritten essay questions.

Oral tests are the oldest form of achievement tests.

They are used in many practice colleges, and also in postgraduate courses at various universities.

Oral tests are characterized by the fact that they do not require a significant amount of time and effort to conduct or correct.

Performance tests

This type of test assesses the examinee’s level of performance in areas where they have to perform, such as swimming or gymnastics tests in Physical Education Faculties.

Performance tests are used in many fields, for example:

• Military academies.
• Engineering faculties.
• Practical examinations in physics, chemistry, and other sciences.

The administration of achievement tests of any kind is:

• either attributed to the teacher, which is called formative assessment.
• or to the education departments to organize standardized tests which are called summative assessments, such as the Egyptian general secondary school exams or the Saudi achievement tests.

Visit our blog to learn more about the difference between formative and summative assessment.

Objectives of Achievement tests

The most important goal of the achievement test is to use the results to determine whether learners can advance to higher levels of learning, and also employ them in educational development plans.

In addition to this goal, there are several other goals, the most important of which are:

• Classifying learners and assigning them to the appropriate departments and areas.
• Diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of all aspects of the educational process, enabling the development of appropriate plans to maximize the strengths and eliminate the weaknesses.
• Evaluate the development rate of learners and the success or failure of the educational process in achieving its specific objectives.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of educational methods and systematic interventions in achieving their objectives and their appropriateness for the age and mental levels of the learners.

Achievement Tests Analysis

Achievement tests cannot be administered without an analysis of their results!

As the results determine the level of learners, the appropriateness of the instructional materials, and the degree of authenticity, completeness, and objectivity of the tests.

They also identify the overall success and failure rates and the strengths and weaknesses of all curricula.

In order to Analyze the results of the examination, two types of tests need to be distinguished:

Criterion-referenced tests

Learner results are analyzed by criterion-referenced tests based on comparing the results of a learner or group of learners with a standard or test set by the teacher.

Norm-referenced tests

Results are analyzed in norm-referenced tests based on a comparison of learners’ results with each other.

In making such comparisons and analyzing the results, educators rely either on simple means such as Excel or on more professional and advanced techniques such as the Qorrect system.

How does Qorrect help you analyze achievement test results?

Qorrect system is your ideal option to thoroughly analyze your test results and help you make the right decisions for the development of your educational institution by providing:

• Detailed reports on educators’ overall success and failure rates.
• Flexible compatibility with any technical system you use in your educational institution, so you can transfer all data and reports on tests and results from Qorrect to any other technical system.
• Instant reports on all scheduled exams.
• Sending result reports to educators, either by email to each examiner or online.
• Various and comprehensive reports on the tests you have recorded in the Qorrect system.

In addition to analyzing test results, Qorrect provides you with various comprehensive analyses of all tests, the quality of questions used, the appropriateness or inappropriateness of questions, and the difficulty level.

You can enjoy all this and much more with the unique Qorrect system.

Book a free demo now to find out how Qorrect can help you organize your achievement tests in a highly professional way!

Testing and assessment

Achievement test

About Leila Atta

Transforming Traditional Education: The Role of Quiz Makers in Shaping Modern Assessment Methods Through the Qorrect Platform

We all know that teaching is challenging profession, especially in our current era, in light …

An achievement test refers to any procedure used to measure the accumulated knowledge or skills of a student in a specific area of study (Cizek, 2004). There ... Traditional achievement tests in the classroom primarily consist of multiple-choice and short essay questions. These item formats are highly verbal-skills-centric, which puts many ...

Also, both objective and essay types of tests can be included in a teacher-made test. Administrators; An administrative test is developed by specialists. It has uniformity in scoring, application, and interpretation of the test results. What an administrator test or standardized test does is that it compares the performance of some students ...

Achievement tests were initially conceptualized in the early 1800s as IQ tests, which acted as a precursor to achievement tests. Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, wanted to create a method to test intelligence. Through a partnership with Stanford University, ... In an essay, Dr. Terry Meier, the ...

1. Use a table of item specifications, also called a test blueprint (discussed in "How to Construct a Valid Multiple-Choice Test" section), to ensure that items are relevant and appropriate for the course content. 2. Prepare students for taking an essay exam. Provide practice in writing essay responses.

Instruct your students to write a brief essay (or paragraph) summarizing the discussion and their own opinions related to each type of achievement test discussed in the lesson. ... Achievement ...

a write a variety of questions - objective, short answer and essay, a prepare a sample achievement test with a marking scheme, describe how an achievement test should be administered, mwk/score an achievement test and interpret test scores, and discuss the different types of grading and their purpose. 8.3 PURPOSE OF ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

An aptitude test is designed to determine your potential for success in a certain area. For example, a student might take an aptitude test to help determine which types of career they might be best suited for. An achievement test, on the other hand, would be designed to determine what a student already knows about a specific subject.

Teachers use achievement tests to measure the attainments of their students. Employers use achievement tests to measure the competence of prospective employees. ... Essay test scoring. Essay test scoring calls for higher degrees of competence, and ordinarily takes considerably more time, than the scoring of objective tests. In addition to this ...

Some achievement tests, however, are individually administered. An example is the Woodcock Johnson-III Tests of Achievement, which assesses examinees' knowledge in language and mathematics skills. Also, some achievement tests are administered by computer. The Measures of Academic Progress produced by the Northwest Evaluation Association is a ...

Achievement tests may be used for formative or summative purposes, group or individually administered, and consist of various formats, including multiple-choice items, essays, performance tasks, and portfolios. Achievement tests are administered in diverse contexts. For example, they are used when the school-related skills of preschool students ...

Today, however, achievement and IQ tests have the potential to identify talented students from all walks of life - and thus to level the playing field of public education. Of course, the playing field is not yet level, but there are some signs that things are getting better. One sign is that IQ and achievement tests continue to be refined and ...

Teacher-made achievement tests with a mix of objective and essay type questions can provide a comprehensive assessment of student learning. By understanding the different types of questions and following the guidelines for constructing them, educators can create fair, reliable, and valid assessments.

This paper will therefore show an example of a PAT, correct response in regard to the study of psychology and a specific systematic evaluation of a useful psychology achievement test. It will finalize by showing the reliability of this test in regard to psychology. We will write a custom essay on your topic. 809 writers online.

Achievement test Essays. Why Do We Have To Learn A Foreign Language Essay 1056 Words | 5 Pages. Louisiana, "A study of 13,200 third and fifth graders in Louisiana public schools revealed that, regardless of race, gender, or academic level, children taking foreign language classes did better on the English section of the Louisiana Basic Skills ...

For clinical, educational, or research teams who need to measure comprehensive listening, speaking, reading, writing, and math skills—including the new Phonemic Proficiency subtest and automated scoring for the Essay Composition subtest—the WIAT-4 links directly to the WISC-V and KABC-2 NU for children, adolescents, and adults. The WIAT-4 is the most current version of the WIAT ...

paradox, the essay asks why tests have persisted and proliferated despite the fact that students dislike taking tests, educators believe that tests distort the learning process, and experts challenge

The Achievement Test in English Composition, later SAT II: Writing, was a one-hour standardized test given on English composition by the College Entrance Examination Board as part of college admissions in the United States.A student chose whether to take the test depending upon the entrance requirements for the schools in which the student was planning to apply.

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test®, Fourth Edition (WIAT®-4 or WIAT®-IV) measures an individual's academic achievement. It is one of the most widely administered achievement tests and is offered to individuals between the ages of 4 and 50 years and 11 months. ... For the Essay Composition subtest, the prompt is something like this ...

2. Leadership : Take Cadet Interactive Learn to Lead chapter 8 module OR pass an online test on Learn To Lead chapter 8, with a grade of 80% or higher, open-book. To find the test and Cadet Interactive module go to eServices> Learning Management System > Go to AXIS > Cadet Achievement tab. Drill and Ceremonies performance test.

Protein = Overcoming Obstacles. Fats = Demonstrating Leadership. Carbohydrates = Impact and Initiative. Carbohydrates are known as the "staff of life," something nearly everyone considers a staple of their diet. Similarly, for your accomplishment essay, your "carbs" are what will . For example, maybe you took the initiative to boost ...

Achievement test can be of different forms like oral test, written test and practical test. Items of achievement test can be essay type questions or short answer questions or objective type of questions or combination of all these types. Achievement test may be of different types on the basis of the purpose for which it is administered.

Your essay will serve as a guide to help them grow personally and professionally. 2. Achievements in the Small Things. Achievements don't need to be grand. Sometimes, simply getting out of bed is an achievement, especially for those suffering from mental illnesses such as depression.

The advantages of Achievement tests. Achievement tests provide detailed data on learners' academic performance and contribute to the formulation of curriculum development and adaptation to them to be more appropriate and useful to learners. It helps in addressing the problems of different education systems and improving them.

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