Jeannie Kaplan says that the best reform would be a later start to school. Why? Because teenagers biologically need to sleep later, and she has the research to prove it.
She writes:
“American teenagers suffer from a lack of sleep. Middle and high school students are chronically affected by this health risk. Obesity, depression, absenteeism and tardiness rise, academic performance and public safety fall due to sleepiness. Last month The American Association of Pediatricians (AAP) released a study documenting the severity of this epidemic. And to its credit, the AAP has proposed a solution: start middle and high school later in the morning. While most secondary schools start between 7:15 and 8:15, the AAP recommends a start time of no earlier than 8:30 for middle and high school. No surprise to those who have experienced and/or studied teenagers’ sleep patterns. Some secondary schools even offer classes during something called “zero” period which is an even earlier start to the school day and occurs before first period which as we have seen is often too early for students to be alert and “ready to learn.” One unintended ironic consequence of “zero” period is the actual amount of learning that goes on – close to zero because the students are so sleepy and tired. The optimal level of sleep necessary to be high functioning teenagers? Eight and a half to nine and a half hours per night. Where the later start time has been implemented, behavior and atmosphere at school improves.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Problem with later start times, at least in my school, many if not most worked after school and a later school day would impede on their jobs. Real problem again is poverty forcing young students to work full-time (Illegal) jobs to supplement family income.
In my thirty years’ experience, sports dismissals are a much larger problem than after-school jobs.
I guess it depends where you work. In the inner city where I worked students worked after school and weekends. Basically many had little free time to just “chill” and refresh themselves.
There were studies saying exactly this and talking about natural biorhythms back when I was in graduate school….25 years ago…. So, my inner cynic doesn’t think anything will change. Parental work schedules, bus routes and $$$ drive start times.
Good to see Dr. Ravitch taking a stand here. When I first posted about this on the blog several years ago it was controversial. I am curios if it is controversial now when the same argument is made by a different poster.
Could you send a link to that post? I remember bringing up the same point months ago and you chiming in. I don’t remember it being a controversial position at the time. I believe at least one other person agreed with us. Of course, my memory isn’t what it used to be.
I’ve heard at least one other expert say most teenagers need around nine and a half hours per night for optimal functioning.
Maybe we all dreamt this.
The kids would need to go to bed at 8:00 or so. There are still many activities (school sports) going on at that hour. Extra-curriculars would need to compromise. The same would happen if school started later in the morning. That would mean school would get out later, too, impacting afternoon activities.
Later starts would be quite a change- and I do support the idea.
Randal,
Even with the help of Google site search it proved to be a needle in a haystack. But if you look at the comments here, I think that you have to agree that many posters here disagree with the pediatricians.
teachingeconomist:
“But if you look at the comments here, I think that you have to agree that many posters here disagree with the pediatricians.”
No, I don’t have to agree. I might have missed someone, but I found just two commenters who rejected the idea of later start times outright–“Donna” and “pcullition”–and a few others who suggest that later start times might be impracticable under current circumstances. Out of the thousands of readers and posters on the blog, does two constitute “many”? Even if you’re just referring to this one blog post, there aren’t “many” commenters who “disagree with the pediatricians.”
In fact, I found NO posters who disagreed with these statements from the abstract of the report: 1) ” . . . the evidence strongly implicates earlier school start times (ie, before 8:30 am) as a key modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep, as well as circadian rhythm disruption, in this population.” 2) “Furthermore, a substantial body of research has now demonstrated that delaying school start times is an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss and has a wide range of potential benefits to students with regard to physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement.”
It turns out that my recollection was accurate. I don’t know when you made your original comment, so I can’t evaluate the level of controversy about that, but here’s the exchange I was talking about (“Reader: Exxon Mobil and the Devaluing of AP Courses,” from December 23, 2013):
Part of my comment . . .
“I’ll just try to reinforce what I said earlier. Some high school students sign up for more AP courses than is good for them. This heightens the negative stress usually associated with high school and can lead to cheating, sleep deprivation, substance abuse, and depression, and a host of other ills. (The average high school student needs more than nine hours of sleep per night to function optimally, and on a different schedule than adults or children do. Even without AP courses, students aren’t getting enough sleep.)
“Academic stress is a big problem at all levels, and it’s getting worse. The escalating arms race for college admissions, the AP course as a status symbol for parents, the pushing down of these pressures to younger and younger children–it really is insane. I want to re-recommend the movie Escape to Nowhere. And here’s another website for you: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep”
teachingeconomist
December 23, 2013 at 3:16 pm
“I certainly agree that some high school students sign up for more AP classes than are good for them. I don’t think a rule is the way to fix it, rather it is to treat each student as an individual.
“Your link reminded me of another controversial position I have taken: high schools should not start until 9 or later. I know it would never happen because it would be inconvenient for the adults involved, but it would be best for the students.”
Joe Nathan
December 23, 2013 at 6:35 pm
“Lots of research to support this view, TE.”
Looks like my main comment is “awaiting moderation.” Here’s an alternative view on the topic from a sleep expert writing in the Huffington Post a few days ago:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-christopher-winter/teens-school-start-time-sleep_b_5778700.html
He maintains that it’s hard to make general rules that cover all students. Sleep hygiene plays a role, too.
I’m for later start times, but they won’t solve the problem of excessive homework, overly long sports and drama practices, and the like.
Actually, if you read the comments section of that recent Huffington Post article by the Charlottesville sleep doctor, you will see that he did not intend to present an “alternative view” and, in fact, like virtually all sleep experts and other health professionals, believes that starting middle and high schools later than the 7 am hour is a critical (necessary but not sufficient) part of ensuring sufficient teen sleep and well-being. Furthermore, to prevent being misinterpreted as saying that he did not support later start times, he wrote in one of the comments: “”I fully support delaying school start times as a means to improve student health and academic performance.” –W. Christopher Winter, MD, D-ABSM, D-ABIM (sleep), D-ABPN (neurology), F-AASM, September 11, 2014″
ziporyn:
Thanks for the clarification. The headline of his Huffington Post piece did imply that he was in favor of a later start for high school students. I like the fact that he delved into the complexities of the issue.
One thing I haven’t heard mentioned is that teachers are susceptible to sleep deprivation, too. Now more than ever, it seems.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I’m glad the information is still being put out there on a regular basis despite American ed’s top-down military-style deliberate ignorance of any & all studies related to the brain! In my town it would be a simple matter of changing the graduated drop-off times from earlier to later for youngest> eldest. No-brainer.
But then when would they have their almighty sports practices? How about having THEM in the mornings, instead? I know that doesn’t solve the whole need for 8.5 hours of sleep, but….. Most dieticians tell us we should exercise in the morning to get our metabolism going for the day and all that stuff. Oh, but that wouldn’t work because then they would have to shower before school in a locker room, God forbid!
Our district is suburban – rural. We have one fleet of buses. The buses make 3 runs, with extra runs at noon for half day kindergarten pick up and return. Because of the cost of fuel, bus driver salaries, football and other sports schedules, the necessity for kids to do community service in order to graduate, student jobs, etc., the decision was made to start high school at 7:20, middle school at 8:00 and elementary schools at 9:15. Not only are the high school students up early for classes, they can’t get to bed early because of homework. Many are up until midnight and must arise at 5:30 to get ready to catch the bus. There are many who start driving at 16 to get more sleep time, but almost every year a child is hurt while driving to school, sometimes killed.
Meanwhile the little kids are up running around the house early in the morning, annoying their parents and waiting for their buses that don’t arrive until afte 8:30. It is kind of ridiculous, but that is the result of budgetary management. As usual, due to things like mandates and available money, esp with Gov. Kasich taking money from local governments and schools to leave the impression of “cutting state taxes” (for the wealthy, not the average person), districts have to figure out how to pay the bills. This kind of busing as well as freezing teacher salaries since 2007 seem to be the preferable choices to balance to books.
And I wake up early and go to work. And I used to wake up earlier and get my kid ready for school and drive her there, often on my way to work. The school hours will generally correspond with usual work hours, no? My town and surrounding towns stagger school openings, closings, by 10/15 minutes give or take, so there is not an inundation of students all at the same times and/or people picking them up, and as for the high schools, the kids in higher grades driving all on the road at the same time.
Hey, I’d love to start work at 1pm having woken up at my own leisurely pace, but this is one study I can’t embrace. It is what it is. Perhaps this study dovetails nicely into homeschooling or online schools for all? Snark.
Donna,
This is the recommendation of the Amarican Acadamy of Pediatrics. See the press release here: http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Let-Them-Sleep-AAP-Recommends-Delaying-Start-Times-of-Middle-and-High-Schools-to-Combat-Teen-Sleep-Deprivation.aspx
Let me sleep.
Solution to keeping high school kids awake and burning 11 more calories per hour reported in EdWeek September 10, 2014, p.6. Install “standing desks.” Prevents kids from slouching, lounging, sleeping. Study funded by US Center for Disease Control and Prevention…kid you not.
Also of possible interest, well over a decade ago, Alaimo, K., Olson, C. M., & Frongillo, E. A. (2001). Food insufficiency and American school-aged children’s cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development. Pediatrics, 108(1), 44-53.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Judging from the edweek article standing desks look like a great plan for all kids. Shouldn’t substitute for proper starting time though.
Ever read “Bartleby the Scrivener”? Nippers and his table/desk…
The proposal for a later start time, I think, assumes that everything else would stay the same, thus allowing students to get that 8.5-9 hours of sleep nightly. But I don’t think that would happen. It would be too difficult to cram sports practice and games, band, play practice, after-school jobs and other activities into what effectively would become a shorter time after school. Then you would have two options. The first would be skipping after-school activities, which isn’t likely because colleges look for them on applications, many students need to earn money, and students enjoy extra-curricular activities. The other options is that the rest of the day runs longer into the evening. For example, football practice would run until 7 or 8 p.m. rather than 6. The end result: Students go to bed later and get only the same 6 hours of sleep every night. As mom to three teenagers, I wish school started later too. But I just don’t see how it’s feasible anymore.
Teacher,
One difficulty for teenagers is that they can not fall asleep until later anyway. If school starts at 7:00 (as it does in my district for those with a 0 hour class) or if it starts at 9:00, teenagers will still fall asleep at midnight.
Exactly. I taught at a charter high school for “at risk” students that began at 10:00 a.m. The late start didn’t cut late arrivals–we still had kids straggling in anytime betwen 10 and 11 because they didn’t go to bed until 2:00 pm because after all, they didn’t have to get up in the morning.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx It’s only been 10 yrs since I had 3 closely-spaced teen boys in the local public high school, whose hours haven’t changed. Perhaps typical of the modern over-scheduled lifestyle, the h.s. has 9(!) periods in an 7:20-2:45 day– in my humble opinion due to a ludicrous array of electives [at the expense of what I firmly believe should be a universal 1 study hall per day per kid, to get a jump on homework]. However, students could opt for an 8-period day with 8:15 start, as my kids did, & there was room for all reqts (incl resource room). All that remains is to slide the entire town’s schedule by 15mins & hey presto you’ve got an 8:30 start for high school.
S&F,
My local high school has basically the same set up, except the zero hour starts at 7 and the first period at 8. Unfortunately some classes are only offered during the zero hour, and that means that students have to choose between taking those classes and sleep.
Could be worse. My son has jazz band for 0 hour and it starts at 6 am three days a week. Yesterday he had jazz band, then school, then play practice, and then playing in pep band for the football game. He got home at 10 pm.
We have not allowed our students to sign up for zero hour classes. For my youngest child it means that he can not take the AP music theory class that is offered only at that time. Luckily there are some very good resources on the web for him to learn from.
I would not have been able to succeed without at least one free period a day in HS when I was a student back in the 1970s. And so I feel very uneasy being a teacher in a school which insists underclassmen are I a class every period/block of tHe day.
You are so right. It is not feasible at all. BTW, all I took piano lessons at 8 am every Sat when I was a teen. Deal with it!
Whoops. That’s “other option,” singular, not options plural. Sorry.
Teens arose to take care if farms. Much of the problem may be lack of physical exercise. When we played sports in high school, I was tired from wrestling/track and zonked at 9pm. We often had short pre-class runs that woke us up in the mornings. I’d be curious if any PE teachers here have a thought. The cuts to PE in favor of overtesting may be a reason.
MathVale,
Perhaps you could take a look at the press release by the American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Let-Them-Sleep-AAP-Recommends-Delaying-Start-Times-of-Middle-and-High-Schools-to-Combat-Teen-Sleep-Deprivation.aspx
Among other things the physicians argue that lack of sleep causes students to be overweight, not the other way round.
I’m a new American school teacher but I was raised and educated in Ireland, and in Ireland school typically started around 09:00. I’m quite sure this has something to do with the sun not coming up in winter until about 08:45! Either way, I was rather surprised when I got to America and found schools starting before 08:00, which is way too early to be kosher.
Starting high schools later is a research based suggestion. Some schools have found ways to implement this. But is it “the best reform?” How about, one of many valuable reforms?
Which are the other valuable reforms?
a) VAM
b) merit pay
c) extended days and years
d) abolition of tenure
e) union busting
f) teacher churning
g) endless testing
h) all of the above
Other valuable reforms include
* Strong early childhood education programs that work with both families and students. They include lots of time to play, learn to be with other kids, arts and some work on letters & numbers
* Project based learning, including combining classroom work with community service
* Co-location of social service agencies and schools
* Allowing parents, educators and community groups to work together to create new public school options, open to all, no admissions tests
* Use of multiple measures to help assess progress of students and schools
* Giving as much attention and honor to students who excell in arts and academics as those who excell in athletics
That’s my brief list. What would you put on such a list?
My 7:45 – 8:30 students are doing much better than. My 1:10 – 2:42 students.
The issue isn’t the science, but, rather, the will to change. When communities see sleep and school hours as the public health issues they clearly are, they find cost-effective, feasible, and creative ways to run schools at safe, healthy hours. But it will take many more years for this to happen if we keep waiting for local school boards to overcome fear of change and failure of imagination. See http://www.StartSchoolLater.net for information on a national nonprofit to change this situation.- Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, Executive Director and Co-Founder, START SCHOOL LATER.
I see this everyday. Students are not ready to learn until about 11:00 o’clock. By that time half the day is over!!!
I have wondered this for years, and for the same reasons. In the iron age when I went to school (50s), HS started at 8:25, and elementary at 9.
I don’t know what’s going on in my classroom, but my early-morning (7:45-10:30) students generally outperform my later-in-the-day (11-3) ones. This is for grades 9-12.
Then how did we get through it? Are teenagers today so different from previous eras? I don’t think so. If they would go to bed earlier then the “required” hours of sleep would be met. Now, if this doesn’t happen where does the fault lie? Well, of course, the schools. Sorry, I don’t buy it.