Later School Day Start Time: Overview
The topic of later school day start times has been a contentious issue in the U.S. educational system, particularly regarding middle and high schools, since the 1990s. Many schools traditionally begin their day early, with high schools often starting as early as 7:20 a.m. Advocates for later start times, including organizations like the National Sleep Foundation, argue that the unique sleep needs of adolescents necessitate a later start to improve student health, academic performance, and overall well-being. Research has linked early start times to chronic sleep deprivation, impacting students' physical and mental health, academic outcomes, and public safety concerns related to drowsy driving.
The movement gained significant traction in 2019 when California mandated that high schools start after 8:30 a.m. and middle schools after 8:00 a.m., marking it as the first state to implement such a policy. Other states, like Florida, have followed suit, showing a growing recognition of the importance of adequate sleep for adolescents. However, the discussion remains complex, as opponents of later start times highlight logistical challenges, such as the impact on transportation schedules and after-school activities. This ongoing debate reflects broader concerns about balancing educational structures with the health needs of students.
Later School Day Start Time: Overview
Introduction
The issue of school day start times has been the subject of intense debate within the United States educational system since as early as the 1990s, with individuals and organizations concerned about the issue focusing in particular on the daily start times of schools serving adolescent students, primarily middle schools and high schools. In many school districts throughout the United States, high schools begin first of all the schools in the district, with some school days beginning as early as 7:20 a.m. Middle schools typically begin the day later, while elementary schools open last. While this sort of schedule is deeply ingrained in the day-to-day operations of the school districts in question, some assert that school day start times for middle and high schools need to be moved later, for the good of their students. Organizations dedicated to the science of sleep, such as the National Sleep Foundation, argue that because of the unique sleep needs of adolescents, schools serving students in that age range should open later in the day to ensure that students get an adequate amount of sleep. Proponents of later start times argue that thanks in part to early start times, many students suffer from chronic sleep deprivation, which scientific studies in fields such as pediatrics and psychology have linked to physical health issues, mental health disorders such as depression, decreased academic performance, and increased danger from drowsy driving.
The debate surrounding school day start times continued into the first decades of the twenty-first century as school districts throughout the United States began to experiment with moving high school and middle school start times to later in the day. The most significant such change came in 2019, when California became the first state in the country to pass a new statewide mandate that required high school start times to begin at 8:30 a.m. and middle schools to start at 8:00 a.m. Proponents of such changes continue to point to scientific studies on adolescent sleep needs, asserting that moving start times later in the day will dramatically improve the health, academic performance, and morale of students. While proponents generally acknowledge that any adjustments to long-standing school schedules bring with them a host of logistical challenges, they argue that the benefits to the students far outweigh any potential drawbacks. Opponents of later school day start times likewise acknowledge that adolescent students may benefit from later school day start times. However, they argue that the challenges such changes impose on school districts outweigh the potential benefits to the student population. In particular, opponents argue that changing start times would force districts that transport students by bus to reconfigure their transportation schedules completely and would likewise have a detrimental effect on after-school activities such as sports.
Understanding the Discussion
Chronic sleep deprivation: The condition of getting an insufficient amount of sleep on a regular basis.
Drowsy driving: The potentially dangerous act of driving a vehicle while tired or fatigued.
National Sleep Foundation: A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting sleep health and sleep science.
Sleep phase delay: A shift in a person's circadian rhythm that causes the person to feel alert rather than tired at a particular time.
Start School Later: A nonprofit organization devoted to promoting later school day start times.
History
Throughout the twentieth century, many aspects of the educational system in the United States—from teaching style to class size to classroom structure—shifted frequently in keeping with evolving trends in education as well as changing student needs and budgetary restrictions. The schedule of the school day has been no exception to that trend. Prior to the mid-twentieth century, many school days began around nine o'clock in the morning, corresponding with the start of what would become known as standard business hours. In the second half of the century, however, many schools—particularly public schools—began to shift their daily start times earlier in order to allow for the creation of bus schedules that would enable districts to transport students of all grade levels to their respective schools in separate waves and save on transportation costs. The relatively early start times established in that period in many cases remained in place into the twenty-first century. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), by the year 2014, about 40 percent of high schools in the United States had a start time of 8 a.m. or earlier, while an estimated 15 percent of US high schools began the day by 8:30 a.m. or later. Middle schools typically opened later than high schools, but they nevertheless often began the day well before the start of business hours; the AAP reported in 2014 that the median start time for US middle schools was 8 a.m. With such start times mainstream and widespread, a host of additional activities became scheduled around them. After-school activities such as sports, for instance, became reliant on early school day start times and the correspondingly early end times, while school bus schedules remained tied closely to the schedule of the school day. Early start times made after-school childcare a necessity for many families, and with elementary school students the last to begin school each day—sometimes after the start of business hours—morning childcare became prevalent as well.
Beginning in the 1970s, researchers devoted significant attention to the subject of adolescent sleep patterns, focusing in particular on how the sleep patterns and circadian rhythms of adolescents differ from those of adults or younger children. Although some had previously believed that adolescents needed less sleep than young children, the studies conducted beginning in that period showed that adolescents actually need as much sleep as their younger counterparts. In addition, researchers found that adolescents, as part of progressing through puberty, tend to experience a phenomenon known as a "sleep phase delay," a shift in an individual's circadian rhythm that causes the individual to experience alertness later in the evening and at night, times at which a person without a sleep phase delay might feel tired. Efforts to research the sleep patterns of adolescents continued over the following decades, and researchers eventually began to describe many adolescents as suffering from chronic sleep deprivation, which were linked to a variety of physical and mental health problems as well as public safety and academic performance concerns. Researchers cited a number of causes for the widespread sleep deprivation found among adolescents, including media consumption in the evening. However, reports from organizations and governmental bodies such as the AAP and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cited early school day start times as a primary cause of chronic sleep deprivation among adolescents.
In light of such findings, schools with early school day start times began to experiment with moving their start times later toward the end of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, several urban and suburban districts in the state of Minnesota shifted start times from 7:15 a.m. or 7:25 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. or later. Similar experiments took place in states such as Kentucky. In such test cases, school officials noted higher attendance rates, increased alertness, and correspondingly improved academic performance.
Later School Day Start Times Today
The debate surrounding later school day start times continued into the early twenty-first century, as more school districts throughout the United States tested the efficacy of such a move. Later start times continued to be championed by a number of nonprofit organizations, such as Start School Later, explicitly devoted to promoting that cause. The issue likewise had the continued support of various organizations focused on physical and mental health, including the National Sleep Foundation, the AAP, and the CDC. In 2014, with the support of the National Sleep Foundation, California congressional representative Zoe Lofgren sponsored a bill addressing the issue. Another iteration of the ZZZ's to A's Act, which had been introduced in its original form as early as 1994, the bill directed the US secretary of education to research the effects of school start times on students' health and academic performance. The bill was introduced to Congress in September 2014 but ultimately was not enacted. However, in 2019, the bill, which required middle school classes to start no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and high school classes to start after 8:30 a.m., was finally passed into law, making California the first state to implement such a policy. The statewide mandate went into effect in the fall of 2022. Additionally, many districts across the country implemented later start times during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when hybrid or remote learning allowed schedules to be adjusted more easily. Then, in 2023, Florida became the second state in the nation to require later school start times after passing legislation that prevented high schools from starting earlier than 8:30 a.m. and middle schools from starting earlier than 8 a.m. for the 2026 school year.
While later school start times have gained the support of many organizations as well as teachers, parents, and students, the feasibility of implementing later start times has remained in question. While most school officials and others opposed to later start times recognize the potential benefits of additional sleep for adolescents, many have raised concerns about the challenges involved in making such a change a reality. One of the most prominent concerns has been the effect of later start times—and consequently, later end times—on after-school activities such as sports, clubs, arts programs, and part-time jobs. At the same time, school administrators and other stakeholders have likewise expressed apprehension about the changes that would need to be made to transportation schedules in districts with school bus service, noting that shifting all times later could result in children arriving home after dark in some cases. In light of such concerns, opponents argue that the benefits of later school day start times do not justify the major organizational changes necessary to implement them. This debate will likely continue into the next decades as further research into adolescent sleep needs and their role in health and academic achievement is performed.
About the Author
Joy Crelin is a freelance writer and editor based in Wethersfield, Connecticut. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College.
These essays and any opinions, information, or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.
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