Much attention is placed on helping students develop as complex and creative thinkers, yet many classrooms continue to use learning structures without examining their effectiveness. This is often the case with homework. Research findings on the effectiveness of homework are mixed, and few studies have examined students' and educators' perspectives on the benefits of homework as a learning structure. The study reported in this article examined the perspectives of these two groups in a culturally and socio-economically diverse middle school. Several differences were found between the two groups' perceptions of the benefits and purposes of homework. The implications of the findings for student engagement in learning are discussed.