Research shows that homework is not as beneficial for students in elementary school as it is in upper grades. However, in order to be successful in upper grades, students must learn the skills to complete homework. These skills are defined as executive functions and are important skills for students to have moving forward yet these skills are not being taught early enough. The purpose of this research project was to better understand the relationship between homework and executive functioning in elementary schools and see how homework can be better used to teach and enforce executive functioning skills. In this study, parents and teachers were interviewed to discuss their personal philosophy on homework, executive functioning and their experiences with both. Those who did not participate in an interview were invited to answer a short survey asking similar questions in multiple choice form. The data shows that although executive functioning skills are important for a student to be able to successfully complete their homework, there is a disconnect between teachers, parents, and the administration around homework expectations. However, until homework is changed from a district level, homework cannot be used to teach executive functioning skills at an elementary school level.
","abstract_html":"<p>Research shows that homework is not as beneficial for students in elementary school as it is in upper grades. However, in order to be successful in upper grades, students must learn the skills to complete homework. These skills are defined as executive functions and are important skills for students to have moving forward yet these skills are not being taught early enough. The purpose of this research project was to better understand the relationship between homework and executive functioning in elementary schools and see how homework can be better used to teach and enforce executive functioning skills. In this study, parents and teachers were interviewed to discuss their personal philosophy on homework, executive functioning and their experiences with both. Those who did not participate in an interview were invited to answer a short survey asking similar questions in multiple choice form. The data shows that although executive functioning skills are important for a student to be able to successfully complete their homework, there is a disconnect between teachers, parents, and the administration around homework expectations. However, until homework is changed from a district level, homework cannot be used to teach executive functioning skills at an elementary school level.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Zalles, Rachel"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jennifer Lucko, PhD","Jaci Urbani, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-05-23T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-05-23T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:51Z","subjects":["homework","executive functioning","elementary","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/education-masters-theses/11","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jennifer Lucko, PhD","Jaci Urbani, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Zalles, Rachel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-05-23T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["homework","executive functioning","elementary","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/education-masters-theses/11"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Research shows that homework is not as beneficial for students in elementary school as it is in upper grades. However, in order to be successful in upper grades, students must learn the skills to complete homework. These skills are defined as executive functions and are important skills for students to have moving forward yet these skills are not being taught early enough. The purpose of this research project was to better understand the relationship between homework and executive functioning in elementary schools and see how homework can be better used to teach and enforce executive functioning skills. In this study, parents and teachers were interviewed to discuss their personal philosophy on homework, executive functioning and their experiences with both. Those who did not participate in an interview were invited to answer a short survey asking similar questions in multiple choice form. The data shows that although executive functioning skills are important for a student to be able to successfully complete their homework, there is a disconnect between teachers, parents, and the administration around homework expectations. However, until homework is changed from a district level, homework cannot be used to teach executive functioning skills at an elementary school level.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Reexamining Homework to Teach Executive Functioning in Elementary Schools"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jennifer Lucko, PhD","Jaci Urbani, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Zalles, Rachel"],"dc:date.available":["2019-05-23T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research shows that homework is not as beneficial for students in elementary school as it is in upper grades. However, in order to be successful in upper grades, students must learn the skills to complete homework. These skills are defined as executive functions and are important skills for students to have moving forward yet these skills are not being taught early enough. The purpose of this research project was to better understand the relationship between homework and executive functioning in elementary schools and see how homework can be better used to teach and enforce executive functioning skills. In this study, parents and teachers were interviewed to discuss their personal philosophy on homework, executive functioning and their experiences with both. Those who did not participate in an interview were invited to answer a short survey asking similar questions in multiple choice form. The data shows that although executive functioning skills are important for a student to be able to successfully complete their homework, there is a disconnect between teachers, parents, and the administration around homework expectations. However, until homework is changed from a district level, homework cannot be used to teach executive functioning skills at an elementary school level.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/education-masters-theses/11"],"dc:subject":["homework","executive functioning","elementary","Education"],"dc:title":["Reexamining Homework to Teach Executive Functioning in Elementary Schools"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:51Z"}