Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-105) and index.

Introduction -- Excessive homework strains family life / Wendy J. Ponte -- College students study less than in the past / Keith O'Brien -- Schools need to reduce academic pressure on students / Jerusha Conner, Denise Pope, and Mollie Galloway -- Academic pressure is not as dire as claimed / Jay Mathews -- America's achievement culture harms the education system / Jim Taylor -- Global homework practices don't always correlate with performance / ScienceDaily -- The value of homework needs further research / Alfie Kohn -- Performance suffers when homework is optional / Susan Graham -- Parents should take action against excessive homework to protect family time / Nancy Kalish -- Homework has value when it reinforces learning / Lisa Mangione -- Special education homework strategies can work for all students / Sara Finegan -- Life lessons are more important than school lessons / John Taylor Gatto -- There is room for improvement in America's approach to education / Mark Schneider -- China's approach to education may not produce the best results / Melinda Liu -- Organizations to contact -- Bibliography -- Index.