Role of homework in the academic lives of immigrant adolescents

Abstract

While a significant body of research has addressed homework and achievement of mainstream English-speaking students, there is a dearth of such research concerning immigrant adolescents. Since many immigrant youth learn English and complex academic subjects simultaneously, they will benefit from the learning opportunities offered by homework. Yet limited English and inadequate academic skills can prevent them from completing assignments.

Through four complementary studies, this dissertation examines how such difficulties impact immigrant youth's homework completion and their academic achievement. The first and second studies are quantitative secondary analyses of data collected in the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation (LISA) Study. These studies revealed the importance of homework for newcomer immigrants' academic performance, and the various factors contributing to their homework completion.

Since the LISA Study, however, was not designed to specifically investigate homework in immigrant students' lives, there were factors that were important to consider in examinations of homework which were not included in the data collection for that study. Thus, the third and fourth studies of this dissertation were designed with a specific focus on homework, involving students and teachers at an International High School in New York City. The third study uses focus groups and surveys to gain insight about newcomer students' homework experiences in a New York City high school. This study sheds light on students' perspectives on various factors that either help or challenge their homework completion. It also identifies individual student characteristics, as well as characteristics of home environment, school environment, and afterschool contexts that contribute to their homework completion.

Finally, the fourth study employs interviews with teachers to reveal their views regarding homework purposes, factors that help or hinder students from completing homework, and any accommodations they may provide when assigning homework to immigrant youth. This dissertation thus elucidates relationships between homework and achievement among immigrant youths and highlight areas for intervention by identifying factors affecting immigrant adolescents' homework completion and teachers' role in designing assignments for this group of students.