Has research been done on an ideal start time for high school students in the USA?
We start at 9 and I rarely have students sleeping in first period.
Samuel3 said:
We start at 9 and I rarely have students sleeping in first period.
We start at 8:15am but my first period is at 9am. If I have 10 students in class it is a GOOD day.
After 8:30, research says that teenagers are more likely to get enough sleep when school starts after 8:30. Teenagers stay up later because of changes in their circadian rhythms, so just telling them to go to bed earlier won’t work.
@Brianna
Yes, I read this research too. I have also have years of anecdotal evidence teaching high school English.
Not specific to the US, but the ideal time for teens to start school in the morning is generally considered to be 8:30 AM or later because it aligns better with their natural sleep-wake cycles and has been shown to improve their sleep duration, academic performance, and overall well-being.
Most recent study I could find: Dikker, S., Haegens, S., Bevilacqua, D., Davidesco, I., Wan, L., Kaggen, L., Mcclintock, J., Chaloner, K., Ding, M., West, T., & Poeppel, D. (2020). Morning brain: real-world neural evidence that high school class times matter. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15, 1193 - 1202. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa142.
10:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Research says no earlier than 8:30am.
Around 9am
I switched from teaching at a school that started at 7:20 to one that starts 8:40. 1st period is a night and day difference. I never have kids asleep in class there are fewer car accidents from snow and too tired students.
Before dinner and after breakfast?
Research show no earlier than noon when students are asked. Highly credible.
It doesn’t matter what time it starts. Teenagers are going to stay up too late, and they’re going to be tired in the mornings.
ScholarlySpark said:
It doesn’t matter what time it starts. Teenagers are going to stay up too late, and they’re going to be tired in the mornings.
We have data for this. Teens who attend schools with later start times get more sleep. Probably because part of what’s keeping them up is that their bodies don’t get physically tired as early after sundown as adults’. Later School Start Times Better for Adolescent Development - School of Public Health - University of Minnesota
@Scofield
I’ve seen the study.
Later wake-up times were associated with a reduction in risk for some, but not all factors. Later start times were significantly associated with greater sleep duration.
Part of what’s keeping them up is being on devices and not getting enough exercise.
ScholarlySpark said:
It doesn’t matter what time it starts. Teenagers are going to stay up too late, and they’re going to be tired in the mornings.
Is this true? Do you have a study to back it up?
ScholarlySpark said:
It doesn’t matter what time it starts. Teenagers are going to stay up too late, and they’re going to be tired in the mornings.
This is the truth! And if high schools want to keep athletics in their schools then school can’t start too late due to that reason alone.
I have seen research that suggests later start times are beneficial, I will have to dig them up.
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