Abstract
Objectives
The first purpose of this study was to investigate changes in high school graduation
rates with a delayed school start time of later than 8:30 am. The second aim of the study was to analyze the association between a delayed high
school start time later than 8:30 am and attendance rates.
Design
In the current study, a pre-post design using a repeated-measures analysis of variance
was used to examine changes in attendance and graduation rates 2 years after a delayed
start was implemented.
Setting
Public high schools from 8 school districts (n = 29 high schools) located throughout 7 different states. Schools were identified using
previous research from the Children's National Medical Center's Division of Sleep
Medicine Research Team.
Participants and measurements
A total membership of more than 30,000 high school students enrolled in the 29 schools
identified by the Children's National Medical Center's Research Team. A pre-post design
was used for a within-subject design, controlling for any school-to-school difference
in the calculation of the response variable. This is the recommended technique for
a study that may include data with potential measurement error.
Results
Findings from this study linked a start time of later than 8:30 am to improved attendance rates and graduation rates.
Conclusions
Attendance rates and graduation rates significantly improved in schools with delayed
start times of 8:30 am or later. School officials need to take special notice that this investigation also
raises questions about whether later start times are a mechanism for closing the achievement
gap due to improved graduation rates.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep FoundationAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- When worlds collide: adolescent need for sleep versus societal demands.Phi Delta Kappan. 1999; 80
- Sleep, circadian rhythms, and delayed sleep phase in adolescence.Sleep Med. 2007; 8: 602-612
- Regulation of adolescent sleep: implications for behavior.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004; 1021: 276-291
- Prevalence of insufficient, borderline, and optimal hours of sleep among high school students.J Adolesc Health. 2010; 46: 399-401
- The impact of school daily schedule on adolescent sleep.Pediatrics. 2005; 115: 1551-1561
- Sleep in adolescents: the perfect storm.Pediatr Clin N Am. 2011; 58: 637-647
- Sleep in America Poll.National Sleep Foundation, Washington, DC2011
- More proof sleepy teens learn less.Educ Digest. 2005; 70: 43-48
- Delaying school starting time by one hour: some effects on attention levels in adolescents.J Clin Sleep Med. 2011; 7: 37-143
- School start time and its impact on learning and behavior.in: Ivanenko A. Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Informa Healthcare, New York2008: 79-94
- Changing times: findings from the first longitudinal study of later start times.NASSP Bull. 2002; 86: 633
- A survey of factors influencing high school start times.NASSP Bull. 2005; 89: 47-66
- Sociodemographic and behavioral predictors of bed time and wake time among U.S. adolescents aged 15-17 years.J Pediatr. 2009; 154: 426-430
- Sleep schedules and daytime functioning in adolescents.Child Dev. 1998; 69: 875-887
- High School Students with a Delayed School Start Time Sleep longer, Report less Daytime Sleepiness.Science Daily, 2008
- Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report.2015
- Schools and Staffing Survey.public school data file, 2011–12, August, 2015
- School start times for adolescents.Pediatrics. 2014; 134: 642-649
“LIS > Bill Tracking > HB34> 2014 session”. Leg1. Opening of the school day. Public high schools. United States House of Representatives; 2013.
- The prickly politics of school starting times.Phi Delta Kappan. 1999; 5: 344-347
- Sleep tendency during extended wakefulness: insights into adolescent sleep regulation and behavior.J Sleep Res. 2005; 14: 239-244
- Sleepless in Fairfax: the difference one more hour of sleep can make for teen hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and substance use.J Youth Adolesc. 2014; 44: 362-378
- Obese youths are not more likely to become depressed, but depressed youths are more likely to become obese.Psychol Med. 2013; 43: 2143-2151
- Sleep disturbance preceding completed suicide in adolescents.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008; 76: 84-91
- Adolescent sleep, school start times, and teen motor vehicle crashes.J Clin Sleep Med. 2008; 4: 533-535
- Dissimilar teen crash rates in two neighboring southeastern Virginia cities with different high school start times.Am Acad Sleep Med. 2011; 7: 145-151
- Relationships between hours of sleep and health-risk behaviors in US adolescent students.Prev Med. 2011; 53: 271-273
- The consequences of insufficient sleep for adolescents: links between sleep and emotional regulation.Phi Delta Kappan. 1999; 5: 354-359
- Sleep and risk-taking behavior in adolescents.Behav Sleep Med. 2005; 3: 113-133
- Pathways to adolescent health: sleep regulation and behavior.J Adolesc Health. 2002; 31: 175-184
- The Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS): sleep habits and school outcomes in middle-school children.Sleep. 2003; 26: 455-458
- University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement; 1998.Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, 1998 (http://hdl.handle.net/11299/3902)
- Middle school start times: the importance of a good night's sleep for young adolescents.Behav Sleep Med. 2007; 5: 194-209
- Early to rise? The daily effect of daily start times on academic performance.Econ Educ Rev. 2012; 31: 970-983
- Examining the Impact of later School Start Times on the Health and Academic Performance of High School Students: A Multi-Site Study.University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2014 ([DOI: http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/162769])
- School start time change: an in-depth examination of school districts in the United States.Mind Brain Educ. 2014; 8: 182-213
- The power of a paired t-test with a covariate.Soc Sci Res. 2014; 50: 277-291
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 01, 2017
Accepted:
January 11,
2017
Received in revised form:
December 19,
2016
Received:
November 6,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
