Homework: More than Just Worksheets

Duke University's Harris Cooper says that ten minutes of homework per grade level (first grade, 10 minutes; tenth grade 100 minutes) is effective in solidifying lessons learned during the day and instilling good work habits.  (ARTICLE HERE) Is that true?  I wouldn't know, because this methodology implies I would be in 18th grade, which I am certainly not.

I cannot vouch for this claim, but Dr. Cooper can.  Time Magazine (ARTICLE HERE) analyzes his findings:

Kids who do some homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but doing more than 60 to 90 min. a night in middle school and more than 2 hr. in high school is associated with, gulp, lower scores.

Test scores refer to standardized test scores, not necessarily the Spanish quiz Tuesday or math test next Thursday.  The ACT asks of our religious background, whether or not we like building bird houses, for example, but not about how much time per night we spend on homework.  Is that fair?  Well, maybe the general background information is enough.

I found that the homework debate encompasses much more than worksheets and assigned readings: it encompasses, too, predisposition to success.  Socio-economics play a part in homework's effectiveness.  The "home" part of "homework" plays an important role in the educational process, says CBS News (ARTICLE HERE):

Homework, as its name implies, is usually done in the home. That is where differences in class, education, and family structure are starkest. As Richard Rothstein details in "Class and Schools," those differences are not slight: Disadvantaged parents are less likely to help their children and, when they do, their help is likely to be less valuable. 

This argument says that parent's helpfulness is reflected by their CLASS SYSTEM (ding ding ding!), but I would like to extend this to the entire family.  I turn to my siblings for homework help far more often than I do my parents.  Will, my brother and NT senior, helps me with math and science since he took the same classes only a year ago.  If my brother were in a gang, or working all the time to help pay bills, then I would not have the advantage of his help.  The validity of this point can be proven if we all think about the environment we work in at home.  Although I cannot say everyone in our class has a safe and supportive environment to work in, it is easy to say that most of us do.

These findings hold true even across the pond.  UK's The Guardian reports (ARTICLE HERE) that the more middle class a school is, the higher their test scores.  Even though this refers to more than just homework, it references the involvement of most middle-class parents in the school system.  Whether at home or at school, a student's work is influenced by their family.

So, I ask you, is homework effective?  I argue that it is often given overzealously and gives an arguably unfair advantage to middle and upper class students.  What do you think?  All opinions are welcome; thanks for reading.