It bases its claims on a growing body of evidence that starting middle and high schools too early in the morning is unhealthy, counterproductive, and incompatible with adolescent sleep needs and patterns.
Before that, conventional bell times for most ages through the 1960s rarely began before 8:30 or 9 a.m.[2] [3] Sleep research suggests that morning classes should begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. for middle and high school students.
In 2014, a three-year project using data from more than 9,000 students attending eight high schools in three states, found that when schools switched to a start time of 8:30 a.m. or later, attendance, standardized test scores and academic performance improved, and tardiness, substance abuse, symptoms of depression, consumption of caffeinated drinks, and the rate of traffic accidents involving teen drivers decreased.
[11][12] Despite sporadic reform efforts on the part of educators, public health officials, legislators, and grassroots groups, however, most American middle and high schools still require students to begin instruction prior to 8:30 a.m. Failure of efforts to delay start times over the years has primarily been due to pushback from community members who fear that a shift to later school hours will be prohibitively expensive and/or disrupt after-school sports and other extracurricular schedules, student jobs, daycare arrangement, teacher training, or time for homework.
[14] In 1993, a team led by Mary Carskadon, PhD, of Brown University showed that changes in circadian biology during puberty drive a "sleep-phase delay," a shift in the sleep-wake patterns of adolescents that leads them to fall asleep and wake up later than younger and older people.
[21][22][23][24][25][26][20][27] The most recent data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey show that 70% of American high school students are sleep-deprived and about 40% get six or fewer hours of sleep per night.
Another outcome of the Minneapolis study was a decrease in disciplinary problems indicating that chronic sleep debt also drove behavioral issues amongst the student population.
[37] Sleep deprivation can result in low motivation, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, slowed reaction times, lack of energy, frequent errors, forgetfulness, and impaired decision-making skills.
A 2017 report by the RAND Corporation concluded that delaying school start times to 8:30 a.m. is a cost-effective, population-level strategy that would significantly impact public health and the U.S. economy, with benefits quickly outweighing any immediate costs.
[44] A Hamilton Project Report published by the Brookings Institution authored by economists Brian A. Jacob and Jonah E. Rockoff predicted that starting high schools one hour later, at about 9 a.m., would result in roughly $17,500 in increased future earnings per student in present value—a benefit:cost ratio of at least 9:1 even when changing schedules requires upfront investment to alter bus schedules and/or accommodate later after-school activities.
[59] The National Education Association issued a resolution supporting school schedules that follow research-based recommendations regarding the sleep patterns of age groups.
[62][63] A move to a later school start time is also consistent with the Healthy People 2020 Objective to increase the proportion of students in grades 9 to 12 who get sufficient sleep.
[64] California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren has repeatedly introduced versions of a "ZZZ's to A's" Bill and Resolution to the U.S. Congress since 1998, all proposing limits on the hours at which American high schools can begin required instruction.
[77] In June 2013 FCPS contracted a team from the Children’s National Medical Center's Division of Sleep Medicine to partner with Fairfax County students, parents, educators, administrators, and other community stakeholders to develop a plan to accomplish this task.
[79] This editorial was tweeted by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan along with the comment that starting high school later and letting teens sleep more was a "common sense" way "to improve student achievement that too few have implemented.
Professors Russell Foster and Colin Espie with their project "Teensleep" will assess whether ten half-hour lessons in year 10 will improve academic performance and well-being.
[91][92] Many advocates also support campaigns using materials from California attorney Dennis Nolan's website, an exhaustive and frequently updated compilation of research about adolescent sleep deprivation and its relationship to early school start times.
[15] In spring 2013 the Mayo Clinic updated its online information about teen sleep to recognize grassroots efforts to start school at later times in sync with the internal clocks of adolescents.