The data from a survey of high school math and science teachers show that in the district of Sanlee many of these teachers reported assigning daily homework whereas in the district of Marlee most science and math teachers reported assigning homework no mo

In this argument, the author suggests that teachers in high school assign homework less than twice a week. He base his claim on the data of less frequent assigning homework reported by high school teachers in Marlee than Sanlee and better overall academic performance consequently and the deduction that frequent homework seems useless. Whereas, lacking in providing convincing evidence, his argument is severely impaired on its authenticity.

As is mentioned by the author, data shows that more teachers reported assigning daily homework in Sanlee than in Marlee and therefore homework is assigned more frequently in Sanlee than Marlee. He apparently presumes that teachers' report faithfully reflects the condition of homework assignment in each area. It is possible that, however, teachers in Marlee deliberately report much less frequent homework than they actually assigned for the sake of their reputation. In this case, high school students in Marlee do more homework than those in Sanlee. Thus more details are required to guarantee the liability of the data.

Even if there are less frequent homework assigned in Marlee than Sanlee, Marlee students earning better overall grades and less being required to repeat a year of school does not indicate their better academic performance than are students in Sanlee. The author obviously assumes that the standard of judgement and system of administration in each school are comparable. Yet the examinations in high schools of Sanlee are distinctly harder and students fails more easily while in Marlee, academic requirements are less strict and most students can smoothly graduate. Accordingly, only based on the premise that high schools in these two regions share the identical standard of judgement, can their students’ academic level be compared.

Even though high school students in Sanlee have less frequent homework and better academic performance than in Marlee, the author should not build a casualty between them. He clearly precludes other factors which could affect students’s grade, which seems unfair in reality. Students in Marlee might have received better education and thereby possess stronger comprehension than students in Sanlee so that even with the same frequency of homework, students in Marlee would perform better. Hence more statistics should be provided to ensure that frequent homework is the only cause of awful academic performance.

Conclusively, the author attempts to suggest high school teachers assign homework less than twice a week. Whereas, his argument is seriously undermined for the lack of cogent evidence.