Academic Outcomes of School Start Times

 School start times for the young has always been a debate for current school systems. The question at hand is; is starting school later more beneficial to the students than the normal start time in the US? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics (2014) have stated that earlier school starting times are associated with increased health risks of obesity, depression, and drug use and poorer academic performance (Owens et al., 2014; Wheaton et al., 2015). A 4-year observational study using a before-after-Before design by The United Kingdom Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders and other UK organizations, was carried out in an English state-funded high school.

This school was mixed sex and performed below the national mean at the beginning of the study. The process determined to delay the start time 1 hour and 10 minutes starting school now at 10:00 am. After 2 years with the 10 am start time, administration reinstated schools back to the 8:50 start time. The measurement of school performance was the percentage of students achieving good academic progress. Absences in ages 13-16 were reported lower in students with start times of 10am. Following a change to a 10:00 a.m. school start time, rates of absence due to illness in students aged 13–16 reduced, and academic performance of students aged 14–16 significantly improved Schools in US such as Oak Ridge High School now has a start time of 7:50am while performing over the national school average.

With results as such, implementing a later start time in our school system would be boost the performance, making it a top school in the country Researchers from the Department of Psychology in the University of Kentucky supported by Joseph A. Buckhalt from the University of Auburn conducted a study collecting data from 718 elementary schools in Kentucky. The study did not only look at the effects of an early start time but also free lunch. Extracting the data from only delaying school time 1 hour. Study has shown that every additional minute in a later start time increased retention., earlier start times were related to poorer test scores, lower school ranks, and more student absences. This information agrees with previous research (Epstein et al., 1998; Wahlstrom, 2002; Wolfson et al., 2007).

These studies required extensive research backing my idea that school time should be delayed at least an hour. According to a 2004 poll done by the National Sleep foundation, at least 25 percent of school age children do not obtain the recommended amount of sleep. Sleep deprivation has been associated with asthma, compromised cardiovascular health, also reducing the strength of the immune system.

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