Adolescent Sleep and High School Starting Times

1
Adolescent Sleep and High School Starting Times

• Presentation Seeking Parent/Staff Input.
• PRAA Board Report in the Fall of 2009.
• May/June 2009

2
Circadian Rhythms

• Everyone has an internal clock that influences
  body temperature, sleep cycles, appetite and
  hormonal changes. These biological and
  psychological process follow a 24-hour internal
  clock.

3
Preadolescence

• Before adolescence, these circadian rhythms
  direct most children to naturally fall asleep
  around 8 or 9 pm.

4
Puberty

• Puberty changes a teens internal clock,
  delaying the time he or she starts feeling
  sleepyoften until 11 pm or later.

5
Adolescent Sleep Needs

• Teens need more sleep as they go through
  adolescence. Even with more than 9 hours of
  sleep teens struggle with drowsiness, especially
  early in the day. When puberty hits, the bodys
  production of sleep-inducing melatonin is
  delayed, making an early bedtime impossible for
  most teens.

6
Teen Sleep

• Most teens need about 9 hours of sleep, but few
  actually get that much sleep regularly.
  Part-time work, homework, school activities and
  friends are prioritized higher than sleep. Teens
  report sleeping only 6 ½ hours a night or less,
  according to the National Sleep Foundation.

7
Minneapolis Public Schools School Start Time Study

• Minneapolis was the first large urban district in
  the nation to make the shift to a later starting
  time, moved the opening bell from 715 to 840
  am. Two very in depth studies were done by the
  University of Minnesota in 1998 and 2001. The
  study initially compared MPS to an unnamed
  District B.

8
Findings (1998)

• Students who had the later starting had fewer
  depressive feelings and behaviors and less
  sleepiness.
• The average number of days home sick over a two
  week period was significantly lower for
  Minneapolis high school students than for
  District B students.
• Students reported lower levels of sleepiness in
  association with different school activities,
  i.e. during class, taking tests, studying or
  doing homework.
• Fewer students reported falling asleep in class,
  arriving late to school because of oversleeping ,
  and feeling tired during the day.
• The average sleep time difference was 7 hrs, 27
  minutes vs 6 hrs, 28 minutes. Though only a 45
  minute difference the extra sleep came at a
  critical point in the sleep cycle, early morning.

9
Findings

• A control group within the district were student
  council members. They reported less benefit from
  the later start time. This was attributed to
  greater participation in school activities,
  including athletics and school-related
  extracurricular activities.

10
Findings

• However, there was no significant difference in
  the amount of time slept on school nights. There
  was also no difference between these two groups
  in terms of school day wake time.

11
Grades

• Students in Minneapolis report getting higher
  grades than students in District B. The
  researchers hypothesized that there could be many
  reasons for the differences including the extra
  hour of sleep or grade inflation.

12
Homework

• Minneapolis students reported spending less time
  doing homework than District B students. There
  was a suspicion that Minneapolis may have more
  grade inflation.

13
After School Activities

• There was no indication that the late start time
  restricted participation in organized sports or
  extracurricular activities.

14
Middle School Comparisons

• Minneapolis middle schools start at 940 am,
  District B middles schools start at 730 am. The
  was no significant difference between the two
  districts despite the fact the times are
  significantly different.

15
Student Employment Hours

• The more hours students worked during the week
  the lower the self-reported grades.
• The more hours worked on weekends the lower the
  grades
• Teenagers had less time to work or worked later
  to put in as many hours as they were able to do
  previously.

16
Sports Participation

• No relationship between participation in sports
  and letter grades when practice occurs after
  school or on the weekend.
• Significant negative correlation exists between
  practicing before school and letter grades.
• Letter grades are not affected positively or
  negatively by participation in extracurricular
  activities other than sports.

17
Student Attendance

• There was a modest improvement in attendance
  rates at the high schools during the first year
  after the later start time had been implemented.

18
Student Behavior

• Teachers reported that a greater number of
  students were more alert during the first two
  periods of the day.
• Teachers notice fewer students sleeping at their
  desks.

19
Later Hours

• Students arrived home later even with shortened
  practices and extended day programs. This
  fostered parent concerns about safety and
  somewhat reduced student participation in after
  school activities.

20
Impact on Instruction

• Teachers reported that the later start enabled
  students to come to school more rested, and
  therefore were more ready for learning. The
  trade-off, however, meant that at the end of the
  day, some student athletes needed to be excused
  from their last hour of class to get to an
  athletic event on time.
• Teachers reported that fewer students sought help
  before or after school.

21
Transportation

• Transportation issues and their impact appear to
  be huge.
• Busses arrive late much more because of delays
  that occur during the first run for elementary
  schools.
• Late arrivals have made teaching more difficult.

22
Other Teacher Reactions

• Many teachers commented on the positive effect
  later starting times had on their own preparation
  for the instructional day.
• Teachers are having faculty or department
  meetings before school instead of after school
  and find that they are fresher for thinking
  through difficult curriculum changes and feel
  greater energy to be engaged in professional
  discussions.

23
Impact on Teachers Personal Lives

• Most of the teachers responding experienced a
  positive personal outcome from later start times
  including improved health, more personal family
  time in the morning, more sleep/more alert in the
  morning, and time to exercise in the morning
  before going to work.
• Negatives included teachers having to drive in
  heavier traffic both to and from school, being
  more tired at the end of the day, and decreased
  teacher supervision of after school activities.

24
Community Services

• Parks and recreation, libraries, the YMCA/YWCA,
  etc. had been fully involved in a plan to
  transition to the new schedule. The result was
  many respondents feeling abandoned by the
  district and the community. Families of students
  and the families of teachers and support staff
  often found it difficult to access services such
  as day care, recreation, and health care.

25
Athletic Coaches

• About half of the coaches interviewed indicated
  that the change was difficult and they had to do
  a lot of accommodating, but that, overall, it had
  not been a very big deal.
• Leaving early for athletic competitions was a
  problem, lack of facilities for team practices
  and competitions, less student participation in
  athletics, and a shortage of buses to take
  athletic teams to practices and games.

26
Third Year Executive Study

• In the fall of 2000-2001 school year the district
  asked for an examination of the data about
  student grades and attendance and to repeat the
  School Sleep Habits Survey.

27
Results 2001

• Attendance rates for all students in grades 9,10,
  and 11 in the district showed improvement in a
  statistically significant way. The greatest
  improvement was for 9th graders from 84-87.
• Attendance rates for most students continuously
  enrolled in the same school stayed around 93-94
  daily.
• Attendance rates for non-continuously enrolled
  students ranged from 72-78.

28
Findings By Ethnic Groups

• Attendance rates appeared to improve as the grade
  of the student rises (e.g., 11th graders have
  better attendance than 9th graders).
• For the ethnic groups of Asian, Hispanic, Black
  and White in grades 9-11, there was an
  improvement in the attendance rates for pre- to
  post- change in start time. For American Indians
  there was an increase in grades 9-10 and a slight
  decrease in grade 11.
• Attendance for rates for continuously enrolled
  students in the district or in the same school
  were similar, and ranged from 89-96 with
  continuously enrolled Asians having the highest
  percentages.

29
Impact on Grades

• The ultimate findings from the analysis of the
  letter grades earned by students in grades 9-12
  in the three years prior to the change (starting
  time of 715 am) versus the grades earned in the
  three years after the change (starting time of
  840 am) reveal a slight improvement in grades
  earned overall, but the differences are not
  statistically significant.

30
High School Schedules Fremont Unified School
District

• American High School--735 am-235pm
• Irvington High School 735 am- 235 pm
• Kennedy High School 735 am235 pm
• Mission San Jose High School-740-232 pm
• Washington High School 730 am-222 pm

31
High School Schedules

• NUSD
• Newark Memorial High School745 am-245 pm
• NHUSD
• James Logan High School 840 am325 pm
• HUSD
• Hayward High School 800 am- 310 pm
  
• Mt. Eden High School 805 am-315 pm
  
• Tennyson High School 805 am -315 pm
• SLoUSD
• Arroyo High School 800 am-310 pm
  
• San Lorenzo High School 800 am- 310 pm
• SLeUSD
• San Leandro High School 805 am 308 pm
  

32
High School Schedules

• OUSD
• Castlemont High School- 800 am 300 pm
  
• Fremont High School 815 am- 300 pm
• McClymonds High School 815 am-325 pm
• Skyline High School 805 am 305 pm
• PUSD
• Piedmont High School 800 am 305 pm
• BUSD
• Berkeley High School 830 am 315 pm
  
• EUSD
• Emery Secondary School 827 am 327 pm
  

33
High School Schedules

• MDUSD
• Clayton Valley High School- 800am-250pm
• College Park High School 750 am- 300 pm
• Concord High School 810 am-310 am
• Mt. Diablo High School 800 am 315 pm
• Northgate High School 755 am- 305 pm
• Ygnacio Valley High School 800 am-310 pm
• PAUSD
• Gunn High School 755 am-310 pm
• Palo Alto High School 755 am- 310 pm

34
Research

• Carskadon, Acebo, Richardson, Tate, Siefer, An
  Approach to Studying Circadian Rhythms of
  Adolescent Humans. Journal of Biological
  Rhythms, 1997
• Walhlstrom, Wrobel and Kubow, School Time Start
  Study, Center for Applied Research and
  Educational Improvement University of Minnesota,
  November, 1998
• Walhstrom, Davidson, Choi, Ross, School Time
  Start Follow-up Study, Center for Applied
  Research and Educational Improvement University
  of Minnesota August 2001
• Teen sleep Why is your teen so tired?, Teens
  Health Mayo Clinic.com August , 2008
• Adolescent Sleep Needs and Patterns National
  Sleep Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org 2000
• Overly Tired Teen? Sleepiness May Signal Serious
  Health Problem, Brown University,
  www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2004-05-1
  45.html
• Circdiana The early bird catches the worm.
  ClockNews-Adolescent Sleep http//circandiana.blo
  gspot.com/2006/03/clocknews-adolescent-sleep.html
• Adolescent Sleep Needs, http//www.sleepdex.org/ad
  olescent.htm