Monfredo: What Can Be Done To Change Starting Time In Our Secondary Schools?
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Many adults are quick to point out that we all had to get up early growing up and we made it so what’s the big deal? Well, the big deal is that researchers in the health field see this as harmful to teenagers. They concluded that poor sleep has been linked to increased reliance on caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol, and they also discovered a link between sleep deprivation and poor academic performance.
While it may seem the solution is for teens to simply go to bed earlier, researchers say that isn't a viable solution. Teens experience hormonal shifts that make falling asleep earlier difficult, if not impossible. Their biological clocks simply won’t allow them to fall asleep at 8 p.m., even when they’re tired.
Numerous studies have been done with schools that have shifted to later start times; while individual differences in communities and research methodology have led to different outcomes, results are almost always positive. Benefits observed from later high school start times include:
•Increased attendance rates
•Decrease in disciplinary action
•Decrease in student-involved car accidents
•Increase in student GPA
•Increase in state assessment scores
•Increase in college admissions test scores
•Increase in student attention
•Decrease in student sleeping during instruction
•Increase in quality of student-family interaction
According the National Sleep Foundation and other researchers, sleepy teens fare worse in school than their well-rested peers. Data from more than 9,000 students at eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming found that shifting the school day later in the morning resulted in a boost in attendance, test scores and grades. Schools also saw a decrease in tardiness, substance abuse, and symptoms of depression.
The evidence is indisputable and administration agrees but the problem is how to do it so that it would not cost a substantial amount of money in transportation? My recommendation at the Standing Committee was to create an advisory committee made up of school personnel, community members and health officials to study how we can move on this issue. Can we consider a pilot in two secondary schools with an earlier starting time? The recommendation is to have the advisory committee come back with a plan sometime in April.
I am asking that we review this issue creatively and see if we can come up with a starting time of 8:00 a.m. without “breaking the bank” and in addition let’s look to see what other large districts that have changed to a later starting time have done a accomplish the change.
Many of school districts in Massachusetts have started to make the switch to a later starting time. Shrewsbury changed their time to an 8:00 opening in 2004 after approximately nine months of studying school start time and the sleep of adolescents. North Andover made the switch after the Superintendent formed an advisory committee to collect research and spoke to sleep experts. The resulting change in 2011 was a success for it showed positive outcomes in improved grades and in attendance. There was also a decrease in tardiness and disciplinary action.
In Eastham, Nauset High School changed their time in 2012 and according to their statistics there was a 53% drop in the number of failing grades and the number of days students were suspended for disciplinary reasons plummeted and there was an improvement in attendance and tardiness
In the meantime, parents need to support their teen in getting plenty of high-quality sleep. They need to teach teens about appropriate sleep hygiene. Establish a reasonable bedtime and limit teen’s screen time before bed - studies have shown it interferes with sleep. According to many health professions, teens should sleep eight to ten hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health.
We as a committee need to make healthy policy decisions for all students so let’s move away from the discussion stage and see what can be accomplished. We know the benefits from the research but we are always stuck in neutral. Let’s be creative and see what can be done. Come April 2017 perhaps we will have a change… let’s hope so!
Related Slideshow: Central MA’s Top High Schools 2015
#100 Nipmuc Regional High
#95 North Central Charter Essential
#90 Shrewbury Senior High
#87 Lunenburg High School
#73 Tahanto Regional High
#63 Tantasqua Regional High School
#51 Algonquin Regional High
#45 Nashoba Regional
#40 Hopkinton High
#26 Westborough High
#14 Bromfield School
#8 MA Academy for Math and Science
#5 Advanced Math and Science Academy
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