Should A School Change Start Time For Sleep? Later School Start Times Improve Student Performance: Study

In high school, Melissa Edwards woke up at 6:30 a.m. to catch a bus. It was dark, she was tired and the school's 7:15 a.m. morning bell forced the St. Louis teen to eat lunch at 10:45.

Her brother was incredulous. "I thought that this couldn’t possibly be good," said Finley Edwards, a Colby College economist, of his sister's predawn start. But when Edwards sought data on the topic, he couldn’t find any. So he ran the numbers himself.

On Thursday, the Harvard journal Education Next will release Edwards' findings that show that later start times, which usually allow teens more sleep, boost test scores significantly. The Economics of Education Review will publish a longer version of the study.

"Start times really do matter," Edwards said. "We can see clear increases of academic performance from just starting school later."

Edwards found that students who started middle schools an hour later in Wake County, North Carolina, saw their standardized test scores increase by 2.2 percentile points in math, and 1.5 percentile points in reading on average. The impact was greater for older students. Starting school an hour later had further benefits, he found: 12 fewer minutes of television-watching per day; nine more minutes devoted to homework per week; and an average of 1.3 fewer absences than other students.

A long trail of biological research attests to the effects sleep can potentially have on school work. A Brown University study found that due to different circadian rhythms, as children age it becomes harder to fall asleep earlier. Still, most schools in the U.S. start at 8 a.m. Twenty percent of students start at 7:45 or earlier. Teens get fewer than seven hours and 15 minutes of sleep per school night on average.

"Even though it seemed obvious, there just wasn’t any good empirical evidence that made a direct link between start times or sleep," Edwards said.

As standardized test scores become more important to teacher evaluations and school funding in districts nationwide, a few researchers -- including Edwards -- say later start times for adolescents is a relatively simple solution.

"In these tough times, you may have a useful investment like getting rid of tiered bussing [to start school later] and it gets passed over because there's a limited budget," said Jonah Rockoff, a Columbia University economist who also has researched the topic.

According to Edwards' research, the lowest performers saw the greatest boost when school started later.

"It's a targeted method," Edwards said. "The score changes are comparable to other differences we might see: The effects of starting school one hour later are similar to the increasing grades we see when kids' parents have more education." Drawbacks to later starting times, though, include adults having to recalibrate their schedules, and limits to after-school athletic programs.

Rockoff called Edwards' paper "an important piece of the puzzle of the evidence on early start times," though he said its results would have been more compelling if he randomly placed students into trials, rather than basing it on data from the school district that already existed. Edwards then used mathematical formulas to obtain results.

In recent years, there have been several attempts to delay school starting times. In 2005, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced a congressional resolution that recommended high schools across the country start at 9 a.m. -- but it died in committee.

At an April school board meeting, Ann Arbor's assistant superintendent of instruction raised the possibility of starting high school later. According to Annarbor.com, her proposal was met with doubts about the lack of the tangible benefits of starting school later, concerns about tweaking bus times, and cost.

In Fairfax County, Va., where most schools start at 7:20 a.m., school board member Sandy Evans has tried since 2004 to delay the morning bell. Now, Fairfax is revisiting the topic.

Comments

[Kjrsten Monsen-Dorwart]

12:35 PM on 08/15/2012

You cannot base a decisions to change when school begins on what you have seen periodically, that's not enough evidence to make an informed decision, nor will you know the outcome to your particular student body without trying it first. Why nay say and look for excesses before you even have the facts to base your opinions on? That's why schools are in a mess, too many gatekeepers. Another factor, the biology of a child and stages of development play a factor. If children are poorly fed, don't get enough sleep and have a lack of parental control at home, it won't matter what time school starts.

[schubertg]

02:51 PM on 05/22/2012

In my experience as a teacher, when we have "late start" days for teacher in-service, students are noticeably *more* tired. Many students have admitted that they stay up even later knowing that school starts later. This is obviously different from having a later regular start time, but I wonder if some students would simply move their bed time back on a daily basis.

[mom2 3Hs]

08:03 AM on 04/25/2013

For my elementary kids to be awake and functioning by their 7:30 am school start time, they would need to be asleep by 8:30. This is impossible most nights, as scouts and baseball don't FINISH until 8:30, and then there is getting home, getting ready for bed, etc. an hour later start would improve both their performance and attitude about school.

[kingston401]

08:53 PM on 05/07/2012

"...and then seeing the sun for the first time when leaving at 3:00 (or later) made me depressed..."

You mean "sun" not "clouds", right? Where did you student teach? Did you quit teaching?

[kingston401]

01:01 AM on 05/08/2012

Ah, make that ""clouds" not "sun"".

Are you teaching in a windowless classroom and drive to work in total darkness?

[mom2 3Hs]

08:05 AM on 04/25/2013

That's what she said...anywhere north of the Mson Dixon line is dark before 7 for most of the winter.

[musicteachingis]

08:13 PM on 05/07/2012

When I was student teaching, I taught in a window-less classroom in a middle school that started at 7:15. I found that getting to school in the dark before 7 am, teaching a bunch of half-awake or misbehaving students, and then seeing the sun for the first time when leaving at 3:00 (or later) made me depressed, and dissatisfied with my job. Maybe we should consider that the students might feel this way too.

[kingston401]

04:58 PM on 05/07/2012

You missed the point , I think.

[cut to the chase]

03:13 PM on 05/07/2012

How about students simply go to sleep earlier. Forget late night video gaming, the favorite tv show etc...Prioritize.

[mom2 3Hs]

08:07 AM on 04/25/2013

Scouts, church, and sports are important to our family. To get enough sleep (10 hours recommended for elementary kids) they'd need to be asleep by 8:30. That is hard to pull off when activities don't finish until 8:30. Even when they finish at 8, it's at least 9 before they're in be, 9:30 before they are asleep.

[kingston401]

08:59 PM on 05/06/2012

PART 1 187
Your reference states that start time studies were based on an hour difference i.e. starting time at 7:00 -7:59A compared to 8:00 -8:59A; an hour difference, not what you posted i.e. “Merely 30 minutes or 45 minutes of a delay is enough to notice improvements” which apparently would be inadequate according to at least three studies you list i.e. 55 minutes, one hour and an hour and twenty two minutes.

I’m not so sure other factors were considered:
Teenagers “naturally” have an extremely high accident rate because of inattentive driving (also mentioned in the report you cite). If Chesapeake students (late start) had one driver per car while Virginia Beach (early start) averaged four people per car, I would expect more “Virginia accidents” related to distractions, not school start time.

Students returning home from Chesapeake did so until 7PM. That means there are, at times, students who drove home at night. Some states restrict night driving and there is no doubt that it requires more knowledge and judgment than driving in daylight—especially if Driver’s Ed is non-existent.

[kingston401]

08:58 PM on 05/06/2012

PART 2 145
Are the routes home for most students in both schools physically comparable i.e. steep hills, sharp curves, stop signs, heavily traveled roads, type of roads (narrow “back roads”/wide/multi-lane), dangerous intersections, etc.?
________
In reference to part of your article:

#1. “Vorona's study involved data provided by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. In Virginia Beach, there were 12,916 registered drivers between 16 and 18 years of age in 2008, and these teen drivers were involved in 850 crashes. In Chesapeake there were 8,459 teen drivers and 394 automobile accidents. The researchers report that the two adjoining cities have similar demographics, including racial composition and per-capita income.
At this point, Virginia Beach’s (VB) accident rate is 6.66% and Chesapeake (CP) is 4.66%. WITHOUT ANY RELATION TO SCHOOL START TIMES (sorry, I’m new to this forum and don’t know how to bold, underline, etc.).

[kingston401]

08:58 PM on 05/06/2012

PART 3 193
#2. “Further analysis by time of day found that, in the morning, the teen crash rates peaked when students would be commuting to school, from 7 a.m. to 7:59 a.m. for Virginia Beach and 8 a.m. to 8:59 a.m. for Chesapeake. Teen crash rates were highest in the afternoon hours, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Virginia Beach, where schools dismissed at about 2 p.m., and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Chesapeake, where schools dismissed between 3 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.”

Of course. The crash rates were higher when the kids left school regardless of dismissal time—when they were in school, they couldn’t “crash”. Don’t forget, VB had a 2% higher crash rate without any relationship to school start times!
____
There are still only 24 hours in a day and when the researcher’s job is done, it’s up to someone else to apply the findings if they are deemed accurate and actionable. Even if your study was perfect and unflawed, what you “cut off” from one end of the school day, you have to add to the other because you’re working within relatively fixed parameters.

[kingston401]

08:57 PM on 05/06/2012

PART 4
What are the possible ramifications of changing the school start schedule by 1 ½ hours both at school and home?

Scheduling has to factor in the following: creating 1000-3000 kids schedules for seven periods, in 50 class rooms, with10 subjects, ½ day vocational students, three cafeteria shifts/feeding groups, bussing students to and fro, creating 40-60 individual teacher schedules plus other considerations. Scheduling is difficult and sometimes the pieces fit only one way without sacrificing another necessity—that’s why we have goofy time schedules i.e. 7:43, 11:16, 2:53 etc.

In my opinion, the studies you cite can be questioned from several angles, especially when school start times go from 7:15 to 8:37—that’s 1 hour and 22 minutes later—a far cry from the 30-45 minutes you presented earlier! It could mean that some rural buss students would return home around 7-8PM—and that’s without after school activities if they exist. That won’t fly with the parents even if the studies you cite are rock solid.

There are other questions the studies pose that don’t necessarily support/justify the extent and accuracy of your conclusions—or they lead to other questions—not to mention their practical applications under real conditions.

[kingston401]

08:56 PM on 05/06/2012

PART 5 152
For instance, a quote from one of your notes states:

“A study of Brazilian teenagers found that adolescents frequently fail to maintain good sleep hygiene when vacationing, suggesting that early start times are not the “sole cause” of adolescent sleep irregularity. (33) The researchers note that while studies have shown students benefit from delayed school schedules, students may take advantage of the later start times by staying up later to play electronic games, etc. (33, 601) This speculation, however, has not been borne out by the evidence. (4, 30, 37””

Brazilian students (different culture?) on vacation (not in a U.S. school setting) “suggest that early start times are not the “sole cause” of adolescent sleep irregularity” (hum).
It should be borne in mind that the studies you present are to defend your position and can be a product of the “Publish Or Perish” group and may be theoretical or impractical.

[kingston401]

08:52 PM on 05/06/2012

PART 6 177
I think you’ll need better evidence than this to convince parents to permit their kids to walk drive or be bussed home, in darkness at times and possibly during rush hour; thusly resulting in a very late family supper. Plus, if their kids can’t play sports for logistical reasons, good idea or not, you are probably fighting a losing battle.

From http://yoursleep.aasmnet.org/topic.aspx?id=42
There were also some problems reported as a result of later school start times:
• Less time for sports, arts, and other after school activities
• Getting home from school later
• Conflicts with jobs
• Conflicts with extracurricular activities
• Conflicts with bus schedules and with family transportation arrangements
• Conflicts with parents’ and teachers’ schedules

The same article gives many ways for students to sleep “properly” and minimize “sleep problems” but parents would have to be involved and support the listed suggestions. If all these helpful “sleep tips” were followed, I suspect kids would attend school significantly less tired than they are now without changing the “early” start times.
I think I beat this horse enough.

[StartSchoolL8r]

01:29 AM on 05/06/2012

Many of the previous comments point to just going to bed earlier, but this is not productive or feasible for MOST teens. While some function well in the morning, most teens have to deal with shifting circadian rhythms which make it impossible to fall asleep before 11:00pm.

Studies were conducted with adolescent mammals (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820578/), including rhesus monkeys, rats and 3 other nonhumans. They also experience a similar shift in melatonin production. This phenomenon is not simply due to too much texting, Facebook time or bad parenting. It's biology.

Early starts are also unsafe. A 9 year old student was killed in the early morning waiting for the bus in Westwood, OH in March 2012. In Fayette County, KY, crash rates were reduced by 16.5% after the high school started later. The rest of the county saw an increase in teen crashes.

I co-founded Start School Later because most public school students don't have anyone willing or able to protect their health and safety with regard to school start times.

We are not talking about monumental time changes. Merely 30 minutes or 45 minutes of a delay is enough to notice improvements. Later school starts reduce sleep deprivation, directly impacting school performance, depression, suicidal ideation, obesity, juvenile diabetes, risky behaviors, driver crash rates and more.

Readers can visit http://www.startschoollater.net/myths-and-misconceptions.html to understand the misconceptions that abound.

Regards,
Maribel Ibrahim
Co-Founder,
Start School Later

[kingston401]

04:50 PM on 05/05/2012

PART 1 199
“School schedules aren't designed around optimum student learning. They are set around bus and cafeteria schedules...”

Of course, they’re the operative elements and must remain so. The kids must be delivered to school and eventually fed in order to educate them; as such, the schedule is pretty much determined by the number of students, busing distances, number of cafeteria shifts and number of "educational periods" that have to be fit into a school day. Likewise, if you want to buy a pair of pants, you must arrive at the store when it’s open—and school is the same way—the students must be there when the “store” is open.

Since many parents are products of public education, they tend to use their very isolated public school experience to make judgments about the entire educational system. Parents with four kids want one starting schedule, those with a single child want another, the night shift workers want another and the parents of special needs students want yet another—and on it goes. Ultimately, the parents must adhere to the schools’ schedule because it's based on bus and cafeteria schedules as explained above i.e. “when the store is open”.

[kingston401]

04:49 PM on 05/05/2012

PART 2 173
The ramifications of changing the school schedule in the extreme are significant, complex and not easily seen. Several considerations come to mind if school started at 10 AM:

• Most of the kids who were late or sleepy at 8 AM will remain late or sleepy 10 AM and probably still be sleepy if school started at started 3 PM.

• Some students in rural school districts are blessed with a two hour bus trip one way but most are 1 – 1 1/2 an hour. That means that 2 to 4 hours of the day is consumed by busing – not education (some rural busses are in almost constant motion throughout the day). As a result, some kids may not arrive home until 8 to 10PM and would upset some parents.

• The all-important sports programs may take place in darkness, at least in the Northeast and parents won’t accept that. In fact, activities during the regular school day in our district were curtailed or eliminated in order to finance after school sports activities.