A new study looks at the impact on students of having limited access to the internet outside of school. Students who only have access to the internet via a smartphone are less likely to spend time outside of class on school-related activities, the study finds.

In addition, Laura Fay writes in The 74

The homework gap — a phrase describing the accumulation of missed assignments by students who lack access to technology or the internet outside of school — disproportionately affects students who are already more likely to fall behind academically.

An article by Janine Bempechat in the latest issue of Education Next looks at the value of homework for all students.

In “The Case for (Quality) Homework” Bempechat notes that homework provides disadvantaged students in particular with an important learning opportunity, and that reducing the amount of homework is likely to “deprive poorer children of a crucial and empowering learning experience” and would likely increase the achievement gap.

Janine Bempechat, clinical professor of human development at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, discusses the value of homework with Marty West on this week’s episode of the EdNext Podcast.

— Education Next