In order to assess relationships and problems in drawing conclusions regarding productive school practices, a study analyzed the 1984 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data on homework and reading achievement among 13-year-olds. A previous study (Lange, 1987) examining the NAEP data set concluded that the number of hours spent on homework is significantly and positively related to reading achievement, and the NAEP's publication, "The Reading Report Card," portrays an overall positive relationship between homework and achievement. However, a series of cross-tabulations, taking into account type of community and level of parental education, revealed that the relationship between amount of homework and reading achievement was not consistent, but varied with type of community and parental education. The absence of a consistent relationship between homework and reading achievement is even more apparent when one conducts cross-tabulations taking into account type of community and percent of minority students in schools attended. In sum, cross-sectional data such as those collected by the NAEP are not likely to reflect sophisticated efforts to improve the effectiveness of homework, and analyses of such data frequently fail to consider other related variables that may affect or mediate relationships between homework and achievement. (Four tables and an excerpt from the NAEP's "The Reading Report Card" are attached.) (ARH)