Homework assignments have multiple purposes. This study addresses this gap in knowledge about the homework process with analyses of selected variables regarding homework in native and immigrant boys and girls. Their home environments should be taken into account to understand immigrant students’ homework behaviors and their parents’ involvement in students’ homework. Homework patterns have been extensively studied in students in general, but few studies have examined immigrant students’ investments in homework. Students’ attitude toward schoolwork and homework are associated with achievement. Other variables also affect student success in school. Parents who are employed and in higher-paying jobs are more capable of providing the educational resources and support children needs ( Bang et al., 2009). It is well known that socio-economic status is one of the most important demographic factors related to children’s development and learning. Variations in student achievement may depend on pre-immigration factors, such as family income and parents’ education levels ( Núñez et al., 2014).ĭespite racial or ethnic background, families differ in their beliefs, values, needs, and resources ( Trautwein, 2007 Tam, 2009). However, other researchers have report that there is more diversity in achievement within groups than between groups of immigrant students ( De Jong et al., 2000 Cooper and Valentine, 2001). Some studies have reported that, on average, students from immigrant families lag behind other students in reading, writing, math, science, and other subjects ( Bang et al., 2009).
These students tend to experience greater stress in school, and are less likely to graduate from high school or attend and complete college ( Cooper et al., 2006). Some immigrant families are well educated and their children achieve high levels in school, whereas other families are unfamiliar with schools and educational requirements, and often have children in under-resourced schools. Immigration can be a stressful event which brings changes to the family system ( Suárez-Orozco and Suárez-Orozco, 2001). That number has increased to 4.5 million people in 2007, 10% of the total Spanish population ( Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes, 2007).Īt school, as in society, immigrant students live and work side by side with native-born students. In 1998, there were 500,000 people, 1.6% of the total Spanish population. In Spain, in the last 20 years, the number of immigrants has increased considerably. One in five children in the US has at least one foreign-born parent ( Hernandez et al., 2007). Particularly, in the US, more than 40% of all public school students are from diverse cultures, doubling the percentage of 1980s ( Hutchins et al., 2012). In the last decade, immigration has been an important and socially debated issue. The diversity of students is increasing in schools in many countries. They and their families bring many characteristics to school that provide opportunities to enrich student learning every day. Schools are complex places in which students of many races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, and economic conditions work together.
The study highlights the relevance of homework involvement in academic achievement in immigrant students. Immigrant students are less involved in homework at secondary grades that students in elementary grades. There weren’t found gender differences on homework involvement, but age differences were reported. Between immigrants students, those who are more involved in homework have better academic achievement in Math at secondary grades. Results showed higher involvement in homework in native students than in immigrant. The study was developed considering three informants: elementary and secondary students, their parents and their teachers.
The sample included 1328 students, 10–16 years old from Spanish families (85.6%) or immigrant students or students of immigrant origin (14.4%) from South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. In this sense, the present study aims to compare homework involvement and academic achievement in a sample of native and immigrant students, as well as to study immigrant students’ relationship between homework involvement and Math achievement. Nowadays, schools are multicultural stages in which students from different cultures and ethnicities work together. Homework is a debated issue in society and its relationship with academic achievement has been deeply studied in the last years.