Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/120877
SLEEPING AND LEARNING What the RESEARCH shows Craig Hochhaus says offering students a choice about when they start the school day works well at Agoura High School. SDTA members voiced concerns that parents might drop off students early on their way to work, leaving them unsupervised, and that students involved in extracurricular activities would walk home in the dark. Staff were especially concerned lowincome students from East Palo Alto would not benefit from the plan because these students would still wake up early to catch the school bus and return home at dark. ���It���s an equity issue,��� says teacher Justin Raisner. ���Not all of the population would get the benefit of a later start time, which did raise questions.��� Carlmont teachers questioned whether a later start time would actually give students more sleep. ���I think kids would just stay up later posting on Facebook,��� says Carolyn Wade. ���I get e-mails from some of my students at 3 in the morning.��� Justin Raisner Students were split on the topic. ���I want more sleep so bad,��� sighs Sarah Levin. ���It���s really hard with after-school clubs, homework and college applications. Sleep falls by the wayside. I know if I got more sleep I���d get more done. I���m exhausted.��� ���I���m against a later start time,��� says Gabriela D���Souza. ���If students need more sleep, they should just go to bed earlier. Instead, they are texting, on Facebook, playing video games and procrastinating homework.��� PALO ALTO RESETS THE CLOCK Gunn High School students gained a half hour of sleep after the start time changed from 7:55 to 8:25 last fall. The highachieving school made the change to address student ���fatigue��� and stress. Students can still attend zero period if they choose. ���I think it helped to address the stress issue,��� says Kristy Blackburn, Palo Alto Educators Association. ���I personally enjoy the later start, and feel more rested in the morning. But I don���t like getting home at 4:30 or 5.��� 12 California Educator April 2013 A 2011 study by the Centers for Disease Control reports that nearly 70 percent of high school students are not getting the minimum 8.5 hours of sleep recommended on school nights. Of these, nearly 40 percent sleep six or fewer hours per night, which leads to illness, including a compromised immune system. The National Sleep Foundation says 80 percent of U.S. students in grades 6-12 fall short of recommended sleep time, and that overtired students struggle with depression, weight gain and lower grades. Some turn to caffeine, which keeps them up at night. 70% 80% While most young children fall asleep naturally around 8 or 9 p.m., puberty shifts a teen���s sleep pattern and most adolescents can���t fall asleep until 10:45 p.m. or later, reports the Mayo Clinic. A 2010 study by Colby College in Maine titled ���Early to Rise? The Effect of Daily Start Times on Academic Performance��� found that starting school an hour later led to a 3 percentile point gain in math and reading. P.M. + 3 pts. California school districts with late start times: ��� Las Virgenes Uni���ed School District ��� Palo Alto High School District ��� Oak Park Uni���ed School District ��� Newport Mesa Uni���ed School District ��� Sequoia Union High School District School districts considering later start times: ��� Long Beach Uni���ed School District ��� Temecula Valley Uni���ed School District