Changing School Start Times: Findings and Issues

Kyla L. Wahlstrom, PhDUniversity of Minnesota

Earliest Research Completed in 1996-1998 by Univ. of MN

• Edina, MN school district in 1996 was first in U.S. to shift to a later start, based on medical research about sleep phase shift in teens: 7:20 8:30

• Minneapolis School District in 1997 also shifted start time, based on findings in Edina: 7:15 8:40

Matched Comparison Analysis on Student Surveys

• Edina compared with two neighboring suburban districts which are highly similar on demographic variables (SES, ethnicity, family structure, graduation rates)

• Minneapolis compared with neighboring urban district very demographically similar (SES, ethnicity, family structure, graduation rates)

Findings from Teacher Survey

• Teachers in both Edina & Minneapolis report students as more alert in the first two periods of the day.

Strongly disagree Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree Agree

Strongly agree

12.8 14.3 15.8 28.3 28.9

Teacher Survey: [With the later start time] I have more students who seem alert and “with it” during the first two periods of the day (n=335).

Findings from Student Sleep Habits Survey (n=7,168)

• Students report earning higher grades and are less sleepy than peers in comparable populations.

• Students reported lower frequency of falling asleep in class or during a test.

Letter grades coded as 5 = B & C; 6 = B; 7 = B & A; 8 = A

Means of Sleepiness Scores on Student Sleep Habits Survey

17.37***

15.38***

***p<.001

Additional Findings

• There is no relationship between participation in sports and letter grades when practice occurs after school or on the weekend.

• The more days per week students spend practicing before school, the lower the self-reported grades.

Socio-Emotional Findings

• Students in Edina reported statistically significant less depression:

Edina mean = 9.96Comparable District B = 10.43Comparable District C = 11.43***

p<.001

• School counselors and nurses reported fewer students seeking help for emotional problems and somatic physical complaints.

5-15 Years Later—Is Changing to a Later Start Time the Answer?

It depends on the question. . . . . .

Educational benefits? Psycho-social effects? Health and sleep outcomes? Achievement gains?

Educational Benefits for Urban Students (N = 12,000)

• Rate of continuous enrollment (2 years in same school) rose every year in grades 9-11, leading to higher graduation rates.

1995 2000• Grade 9 49.0 57.8%

• Grade 10 54.4 65.6%

• Grade 11 60.8 68.5%

Educational Benefits for Urban Students (Cont’d)

• Attendance rates for all students in grades 9, 10, and 11 statistically significantly improved from before to after the change.

• Attendance rates for students not continuously enrolled notably revealed grade 9 having the greatest improvement: 72% 76% (p< .001)

Psycho-Social Benefits—as reported in Kentucky, Connecticut,

Massachusetts, and Minnesota• Parents overwhelmingly said that their teen-

agers were “easier to live with”.• Parents note that they now have a

“connection time” over breakfast.• Later start has not negatively affected

participation rates in after school sports and extra-curricular activities.

• Principals reported fewer discipline incidents in the halls and in the lunchroom.

Health and Sleep Outcomes

• Bedtime preference remained at about 10:45 PM, even with the later start time.

• Average one hour more sleep per school night or 5 hours more per week than in early start schools; persisted four years after change.

• Significantly lower scores on the “Struggled to stay awake” items.

• Significantly fewer days home sick.

Recent Car Crash Research

• Danner and Phillips (2008) compared accident rate data for the 17- and 18-year-old age groups before and after the school start time delay in Fayette County, KY. After the school start time delay was initiated, teen crash rates in that district dropped by 15.6%, while crash rates throughout the rest of the state increased by 8.9% during the same time period.

• Pack et al. (1995) examined crash records and found the peak age of sleep-related car crashes is 20 years, and the peak time of accidents is between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m.

• The researchers assert primary contributing factors are:sleep-deprivation the challenge of operating a motor vehicle

before teens’ circadian-dependent alertness is fully engaged

all compounded by the teens’ lack of driving experience.

Depression by Average Number of Hours of Sleep on a School Night

Eighth, Tenth and Twelfth Grade StudentsFairfax County Public Schools, 2009

Source: Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, 2009, Youth Survey

Depression and Suicide by Average Number of Hours of Sleep on a School Night

Eighth, Tenth and Twelfth Grade StudentsFairfax County Public Schools, 2009

Source: Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, 2009, Youth Survey

Achievement Outcomes

• Note: Minimum of three years of grade data is needed to assess effects

• Trend lines for achievement in earned letter grades were flat prior to the change, and rose slightly continuously after change, although not statistically significantly

• Mild rise in SAT scores, but not statistically significant—difficult to factor out other influences

Summary Chart Based on Regression Coefficients of Relationships Between Study Indicators and

Achievement in Treatment vs. Control High Schools

• Sleep Time During School Week

• Struggled to Stay Awake in Class Scale

• Depression Scale

• Time Spent on Homework

• Academic Aspirations

• Academic Achievement

Hingham, MA—Academic Outcomes

• Pre-post (early vs. late start) outcomes on state tests over three years reveal students scoring proficient or advanced in math increased from 76% to 83%.

• Students scoring proficient or advanced in English increased from 86% to 90%.

• Percentage of students needing improvement dropped from 19% to 13%.

Hingham SAT Scores

Early Start

2002Verbal Math Combined

564 565 1129

Late Start

2004 573 587 1160

How Late is “Late Enough?”

• Early findings suggested that districts who made a modest move to a later start (e.g., from 7:25 to 7:55; from 7:35 to 8:05) experienced only modest benefits, but have experienced the same amount of community disruption as did the districts that made the change to start at 8:30 or later.

Secondary Teachers’ Opinion of Optimal Start Time for First Class Period for

Majority of Students

<7:30 382 12.8%

7:45 162 5.5

8:00 1062 35.2

8:15 294 9.8 68.5

8:30 707 23.53

8:45> 371 12.2

No Opinion 36 1.0

TOTAL 3014 100.0%

35.7

Research Findings: Real Issues vs. Those Not Substantiated

Real • Athletics—schedules and

last class missed

• Younger children in AM darkness

• Child care schedules for younger kids before and after school

• Parents’ work schedules

• Local traffic patterns

Not Substantiated• Athletics—less

participation, fewer games won

• Transportation costs higher

• After-school activities decline

• After-school employment negatively affected

Caveats and Difficulties in Educational Research

• Impossible to control for individual teachers’ grading schemas and practices.

• Transience of students in urban districts is problematic.

• Grades, tardiness, and attendance for 12th graders often decline in final semester.

• Grade inflation.• Comparison among similar courses is very

difficult due to “creative” naming of courses.

Implications for Changes

• Policy initiatives (e.g., accountability pressures) stimulate interest

• Culture of resistance in schools & districtschanging start times for secondary schools usually

also affects elementary schoolsschools are highly bureaucratic structureschange destabilizes our cognitive and

interpersonal worldspersonal belief systems often override facts

On-Going ResearchCDC recently awarded U of MN a two-year

grant to study student outcomes & community decision processes:

• Longitudinal view of academicsoGrades earnedo Performance on standardized tests (ACT,

Advanced Placement, state achievement, etc)• Attendance, tardiness, extracurriculars• Health & safety (depression, car crashes)

wahls001@umn.edu

Conclusions

• Need to emphasize the use of all data when measuring the change, and not a single metric.

• Need frequent reminders that the sleep phase shift is based in human development and not in rebellious adolescent behavior.

• Keep focus on the child, not the system.

For more information:

wahls001@umn.edu