At my inner city school, I was having tremendous difficulty getting homework returned. I got a slim hanging file holder and put 5 files in it labeled mon - fri. Each day I used a chart and marked off the names of the students who had turned in their work. On Friday, if a student had turned in all their work, they could go out with me for an extra recess. If they didn't have their work in they had to sit with another teacher (who kids with completed homework went out with me) and finish their homework. We both increased our homework turn-ins by at least 75%.