Topic statement
Across K–12 mathematics, tiered assignments—i.e., homework or classwork designed at multiple levels of difficulty and support to match students’ readiness—are associated with higher homework completion primarily insofar as they improve perceived homework quality, autonomy, and competence. The evidence base directly isolating tiered homework per se is still limited; most findings derive from broader research on homework quality, differentiated instruction, and motivational mechanisms that predict whether students complete mathematics homework.
Main findings
1) Perceived homework quality is a central predictor of completion, and differentiation often operates by improving quality.
- Students are more likely to complete mathematics homework when they perceive tasks as purposeful, clearly structured, appropriately challenging, and aligned to learning goals—features that tiering seeks to optimize (Trautwein et al., 2006; Dettmers et al., 2010).
- Multilevel analyses show that teacher-level practices influencing homework quality (clarity, feedback, and fit to students’ skill levels) predict homework effort and completion beyond student background and prior achievement (Trautwein et al., 2006; Xu, 2011).
2) Matching difficulty to readiness and providing scaffolds are linked to higher completion, especially for lower-achieving students.
- When tasks are neither too easy nor too difficult, students report higher competence and invest more effort, which increases completion rates (Trautwein et al., 2006). Tiered assignments target this “optimal challenge” mechanism by adjusting cognitive demand and support.
- Evidence from homework-quality studies suggests that the negative association between “more time on homework” and achievement disappears or reverses when assignments are high-quality—typically more focused, cognitively appropriate, and supported—conditions consistent with flexible or tiered design (Dettmers et al., 2010).
3) Providing choice among tasks—a common feature of tiered assignments—improves completion via autonomy.
- Experimental and meta-analytic evidence indicates that offering students limited, meaningful choices increases intrinsic motivation, effort, and related behavioral outcomes, including work completion; these effects are modest to moderate and stronger when choices are instructionally substantive (Patall, Cooper, & Wynn, 2010).
4) Feedback, accountability, and in-class follow-up amplify the completion benefits of tiered tasks.
- Students complete more homework when teachers check, discuss, or grade assignments, and when follow-up is timely and informative—practices that can be integrated with tiered tasks (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006; Rosário et al., 2015; Xu, 2011).
- Light-touch communication and progress-monitoring supports also raise homework completion, suggesting that how tiered homework is followed up matters as much as how it is designed (Kraft & Dougherty, 2013).
5) Technology-mediated differentiation can sustain homework engagement in mathematics.
- Randomized evaluations of adaptive online homework in math demonstrate achievement gains, with implementation studies typically reporting strong student engagement and completion when systems tailor problem difficulty and provide immediate feedback (Roschelle, Feng, Murphy, & Mason, 2016). While completion is not always a primary outcome, these platforms operationalize tiering principles at scale.
6) The causal evidence directly targeting “tiered assignments → completion” is still emerging.
- Systematic reviews of differentiated instruction report small, positive effects on student outcomes but note methodological limitations and a shortage of rigorous studies that isolate tiered homework as the active ingredient (Smale-Jacobse et al., 2019).
- In the homework literature, most robust findings concern quality, purpose, feedback, and student motivation; tiering is best understood as a design strategy that improves these mediators, thereby increasing completion in mathematics.
Practical implications supported by evidence
- Design tiered math homework to ensure clear learning goals, optimal challenge, and explicit success criteria; integrate brief scaffolds for lower tiers and extension items for higher tiers (Dettmers et al., 2010; Trautwein et al., 2006).
- Offer constrained choices among tiers or problem sets to enhance autonomy without diluting rigor (Patall et al., 2010).
- Build systematic accountability: quick checks, selective grading for process and accuracy, and short in-class debriefs to signal value and provide feedback (Cooper et al., 2006; Xu, 2011).
- Monitor equity and calibration: track completion and accuracy by prior achievement to ensure tiers are neither stigmatizing nor misaligned; adjust supports accordingly.
- When appropriate, leverage adaptive platforms that implement tiering with immediate feedback and data to support teacher follow-up (Roschelle et al., 2016).
References
Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987–2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1–62.
Dettmers, S., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Kunter, M., & Baumert, J. (2010). Homework works if homework quality is high: Using multilevel modeling to predict the development of achievement in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 467–482.
Kraft, M. A., & Dougherty, S. M. (2013). The effect of teacher–family communication on student engagement: Evidence from a randomized field experiment. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 6(3), 199–222.
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative importance of choice in the classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(4), 896–915.
Roschelle, J., Feng, M., Murphy, R. F., & Mason, C. A. (2016). Online mathematics homework increases student achievement. AERA Open, 2(4), 1–12.
Rosário, P., Núñez, J. C., Valle, A., Cunha, J., Nunes, T., … Suárez, N. (2015). Homework and academic achievement: The role of students’ and parents’ motivation and teachers’ homework follow-up practices. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 40, 166–179.
Smale-Jacobse, A. E., Meijer, A., Helms-Lorenz, M., & Maulana, R. (2019). Differentiated instruction in secondary education: A systematic review of research evidence. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2366.
Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Schnyder, I., & Niggli, A. (2006). Predicting homework effort: Support for a domain-specific, multilevel homework model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(2), 438–456.
Xu, J. (2011). Homework completion at the secondary school level: A multilevel analysis. The Journal of Educational Research, 104(3), 171–182.
Fan, H., Xu, J., Cai, Z., He, J., & Fan, X. (2017). Homework and students’ achievement in math and science: A 30-year meta-analysis, 1986–2015. Educational Research Review, 20, 35–54.
