School buses begin rolling before dawn in many Georgia communities where high school students are due in class by 7:30 a.m.

Research shows that adolescents and teens do better with later school starting times, but administrative needs, bus schedules and after-school activities often collude to prevent any major tinkering with starting and dismissal bells. 

In writing about this in the past, I noted an experiment in Minneapolis where seven high schools began classes at 8:40 a.m. instead of 7:15 a.m. A University of Minnesota study found that students got more sleep and missed fewer classes. Conducted by the university's Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, the study also suggested the later schedule may be producing improved behavior, slightly better grades and less depression.

I have interviewed Dr. David Rye, an Emory University sleep expert who says that teens typically stay up until 10 p.m. To achieve their required nine hours, they should sleep until at least 7 a.m. – which they can’t do if their classes start 30 minutes later.

While parents could try to alter their teenagers' natural sleep patterns and force them to bed earlier, Rye told me that it would be a considerable challenge.

As a practical matter, it makes more sense to push back the start of school.

And that is what is now being recommended in Montgomery County, Md., one of the nation’s top performing and most innovative school districts. Montgomery Superintendent Joshua P. Starr is recommending that the district push back high school start times by 50 minutes and extend the elementary school day by 30 minutes.

The recommendation comes after a 10-month study. 

Among the interesting points in the study group report, which is worth reading in full if this topic interests you:

· The United States has the highest numbers of sleep-deprived students of all countries participating in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). TIMSS researchers hypothesize that the lack of sleep in affluent countries like the United States and Saudi Arabia results, in part, from affluent students having cell phones and tablets and the impact of artificial light from the screens on their ability to fall asleep.

·While the sleep research emphasizes the importance of more sleep for students, school start time research does not conclusively demonstrate that later high school start times produces academic gains. While the findings on academic gains may be inconsistent, research consistently does show a relationship between starting high school later and lowering the traffic accident rate among school-aged drivers.

·Adolescents generally need 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night.  During puberty, however, developmental changes in the circadian timing system and the homeostatic sleep system result in a later shift in the time adolescents can fall asleep. This shift to later bedtimes—combined with early high school start times—results in adolescents reporting that they are not getting enough sleep. In a 2006 poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), adolescents reported sleeping 7.6 hours on school nights.  Compared to the hours of sleep adolescents generally need, this represents a sleep gap of between 0.9 and 1.9 hours

·Through a nationally representative telephone survey of United States drivers ages 14 to 22, researchers found that aside from length of licensure, only driving alone while drowsy and being a smoker were associated with having been involved in a traffic collision. These results held true even after controlling for gender, average hours driven per week, urban vs. suburban driving, sensation-seeking driving, and hours slept per night.

According to a statement from the district today:

“I am making this recommendation because I believe it is in the best interests of our students. There is extensive research that demonstrates that adolescents are simply not getting enough sleep. This is a public health and safety issue,” Dr. Starr said. “If we are truly committed to the well-being of our students, we must consider the feasibility of adjusting our start times to support their health and success.

“At the same time, I realize my recommendation may have a substantial impact on the lives of our students, staff, families, and school communities,” Dr. Starr said. “Therefore, we must take the time to determine the costs and operational impact of my recommendation and gather input from as many stakeholders as possible before we make a final decision next year.”

Dr. Starr is recommending the following changes be studied:
 
- Move high school start times 50 minutes later, from 7:25 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. (school ending at 3 p.m.)
-  Move middle school start times 10 minutes earlier, from 7:55 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. (school ending at 2:30 p.m.)
-  Keep elementary school start times as they currently are (8:50 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.), but extend the school day by 30 minutes (school ending at 3:35 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

Currently, the elementary school day in MCPS is 6 hours and 15 minutes, which is 30 minutes shorter than middle and high school students. MCPS has the second shortest elementary school day in the state of Maryland.

“This would add the equivalent of 14 days of instruction to our elementary grades, providing additional learning opportunities for students and staff,” Dr. Starr said. “We will work with our community, our employees, and our employee associations to fully study the impact of this change and how this additional time could be used most effectively.”