Validation of scores on the homework management scale for middle school students

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of scores on the Homework Management Scale ( HMS) using 699 rural and 482 urban eighth graders. The study revealed that the HMS comprised 5 separate yet related factors: arranging the environment, managing time, handling distraction, monitoring motivation, and controlling emotion. Given an adequate level of configural, factor loading, common error covariance, and intercept invariance, I further tested the difference between group means. Results revealed that urban students were more likely to manage their homework than their rural counterparts in 2 of the 5 areas, namely, handling distraction and monitoring motivation. Findings also showed that the HMS differentiated among students who were more or less likely to complete homework assignments.