The Relationship Between School Start Times and Educational Outcomes
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SLEEP AND LEARNING (M SCULLIN, SECTION EDITOR)
The Relationship Between School Start Times and Educational Outcomes Sarah C. Fuller 1
&
Kevin C. Bastian 1
Accepted: 10 November 2020 / Published online: 20 November 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Purpose of Review Evidence shows that adolescents need later wake times for sufficient sleep and that starting school later improves sleep outcomes. In recent years, there has been increased interest in the effect of school start times on educational outcomes. We aim to summarize recent studies, evaluate key findings, and identify limitations in the literature. Recent Findings Recent studies examined the relationship of school start times to attendance, discipline, grades, test scores, and other outcomes. Many studies found that later start times improved attendance and grades. The results for test scores and other outcomes were more mixed. Nascent evidence suggests the relationship between start times and educational outcomes exists for younger students as well. Summary While findings suggest that later school start times were associated with better educational outcomes, the methodological approaches employed have limitations. Few studies used rigorous methods to examine within school changes in start times. Keywords Sleep . School start times . Educational outcomes . Academic achievement . Adolescents
Introduction Around the onset of puberty, the secretion of nocturnal melatonin is delayed, circadian rhythms shift, and the pressure to fall asleep accumulates more slowly [1–4]. This shift in sleepwake cycles makes it more difficult for adolescents to fall asleep before 11:00 p.m. and wake before 8:00 a.m. [5]. These hours are in direct conflict with the school start time for many adolescents in the USA, where the average middle and high school start times are 8:04 a.m. and 7:59 a.m., respectively [6]. Early school start times contribute to insufficient sleep for adolescents—60% of middle school students and 87% of high school students do not get the recommended hours of nightly sleep [7, 8]. This matters because chronic This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sleep and Learning * Sarah C. Fuller [email protected] Kevin C. Bastian [email protected] 1
Department of Public Policy, Education Policy Initiative at Carolina, UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
sleep loss is related to a range of physical and mental health outcomes including obesity, hypertension, stimulant use, anxiety, and depression [9–11]. In addition, insufficient sleep limits memory formation and reduces alertness and attention [12, 13]. In response to this evidence, states and school districts across the country are delaying their middle and high school start times in the hopes of benefitting the physical and academic development of their students. Most notably, California recently enacted legislation requiring public middle schools to start no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and public high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Later school start times are more com
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