The effects of group coaching on the homework problems experienced by secondary students with and without disabilities

Research on the effectiveness of homework provides ample evidence that homework has a positive effect on learning, particularly for secondary students. Unfortunately, the rate of consistent homework completion for students, with and without disabilities, is low. This study used a between-groups design to examine the differential effectiveness of coaching, a self-management intervention, compared with the local treatment-as-usual (homework center) on improving the homework completion of 50 middle school students (Grades 6 to 8) with and without disabilities who were having substantial difficulty with homework. Results indicated that both group coaching and homework center (treatment-as-usual) were effective in significantly decreasing homework problems, with no clear indication that one intervention was, overall, superior to the other. However, preliminary analyses suggest that these interventions might be differentially effective as a function of disability status.