Of course, few would argue that family time is unimportant. But without an equally firm emphasis on homework and scholastic achievement, how are academically lagging nations to maintain economic strength in a world that is increasingly dependent on technology?

Isn’t Japan’s technological success due to the slavish study habits of its school children? Isn’t there a strong, proven connection between increased homework and good grades? Wouldn’t America and Britain be better off sacrificing a little family time for the greater national good? These are important questions which are not impossible to explore, since the effect of homework on academic achievement has, in fact, been surveyed from a global perspective fairly recently.

In May of 2005, two education researchers from Pennsylvania State University—David P. Baker and Gerald K. LeTendre—coauthored a book titled National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling. Analyzing data collected from schools across more than 41 nations, the researchers came to a conclusion that might surprise many parents and educators: more homework does not necessarily translate to higher academic achievement.

Japan, the Czech Republic and Denmark were noted to have the highest academically scoring students while typically giving little or no homework. On the other hand, Baker noted that countries with very low scores in academic achievement: Thailand, Greece and Iran, typically were being assigned heavy homework loads.

"The United States is among the most homework-intensive countries in the world for seventh- and eighth-grade math classes," commented LeTendre. "U.S. math teachers on average assigned more than two hours of mathematics homework per week in 1994-95. Contrary to our expectations, one of the lowest levels was recorded in Japan—about one hour a week. These figures challenge previous stereotypes about the lackadaisical American teenager and his diligent peer in Japan."

LeTendre and Baker point out that it is these stereotypes, hyped by American media, that are actually responsible for prompting many U.S. schools to increase homework assignments during the 1980s. "At the same time," say the researchers, "ironically, Japanese educators were attempting to reduce the amount of homework given to their students and allow them more leisure from the rigors of schooling. Neither the American nor the Japanese educational reform of the 1980s seems to have affected general achievement levels in either country."

If homework is not a reliable predictor of academic success, then—what is?

Perhaps it’s not surprising that the most important factors for promoting academic success are also important in addressing other causes of childhood anxiety. And the most outstanding of these factors is the quality of the relationships within the family itself.

Fragmented families are more likely to experience scarcities of time, money and other resources that are important to academic success. In addition, children in fragmented families feel the effects of higher stress levels. While they can be strongly affected by the relationship dysfunction between parents even before a relationship dissolves, children are also strongly affected by the subsequent loss of a parent from the household, as well as the loss of the family unit as they have known it.

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