1. Impact of school start times on middle school students
Valerie McLaughlin Crabtree, Ph.D., CBSM
Licensed Psychologist
Certified, Behavioral Sleep Medicine
Presented to Lakeland School System
November 14, 2016

3. Outline Sleep needs of middle school students
Impact of insufficient sleep on children’s learning and health
Implications for school start times

4. Sleep Needs in Middle School
Age hours
Age hours

5. Puberty in Middle School
Average age of puberty onset
Girls age 10
African American girls age 9
Boys age 12
Sleep changes often evident prior to the physical changes
Encompasses all of middle school ages

6. Circadian Changes in Puberty
Biological changes occur with the onset of puberty
Delayed sleep onset with delayed wake times
By age 12.5, typical sleep onset is 11:00 p.m.
Early school start times interfere with sleep duration
Sleep time 11:00 pm needs wake time of 8:00 am
Crowley et al., 2007; Owens et al., 2010; Sadeh et al., 2009

7. Implications for School Start Times
Delayed sleep onset coupled with early school start times are associated with:
excessive daytime sleepiness
falling asleep in class
inattention
decreased school performance
Initial moves to early middle and high school start times related to bus cost savings
No science to support this
Resulted in negative impact to most vulnerable group

8. Insufficient Sleep in Middle Schoolers
< 8 hours sleep significantly more likely to use drugs
< 7 hours sleep significantly more likely to engage in antisocial behavior
8th graders: 1 hour less sleep per night associated with increased:
Hopelessness
Suicidal thoughts
Suicide attempts
Substance use
Owens et al., 2016; Winsler et al., 2015

9. Sleep Loss
Middle school students with lower grades (Mostly Cs, Ds, and Fs):
Obtain less sleep on school nights
Have later bedtimes on school nights
Sleep later on weekends
21% of poor sleepers had school failures and were behind in grade level by one or more years
Wolfson & Carskadon, 1998; Kahn et al., 1989

10. Positive Impact of Later Start Times
Wake County, NC
Moved M.S. start time to 8 am:
reading and math scores
Particularly beneficial to lower performing students
Watched 15 minutes less TV each day
Spent 17 more minutes on homework per week
Jacob & Rockoff, 2011

11. Positive Impact of Later Start Times
8:05 am vs. 7:25 am schools
Bedtimes 7 minutes later in later starting schools
Wake times 24 minutes later in later starting schools
Overall 17 minutes more sleep (46% return on investment; 85 minutes per week)
Later school students with significantly less sleepiness
Girls with less sleep
Lewin et al., 2016

12. Late vs. Early Middle School Start Times
8:37 am (L) vs. 7:15 am (E) start time
School L students with average of 50 minutes more sleep per night
Wolfson et al., 2007

13. Late vs. early middle school start time
Wolfson et al., 2007

14. Cost savings

15. Impact of Later Middle School Start Times
Total sleep time
Sleepiness
Test scores
Grades
Tardies
Substance use
Mood
Suicide risk

16. Recommendations 2014 American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement
Early start times (before 8:30 am) are a “key modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep”
Urges middle and high schools to have start times that allow for sufficient sleep (8.5 to 9.5 hours per night)
2015 Centers for Disease Control
Urges school officials to:
Learn about research connecting sleep and school start times.
Good sleep hygiene + later school times improves health and academic achievement

17. Recommendations 2016 American Medical Association Policy Statement
Encourage middle and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 am
Sleep essential for physical and mental health of adolescents “based on their proven biological need”

18. Experiences of Other Districts
No “one size fits all”
Some used parent surveys
Many did not
All collected community input
Focus groups
Working groups
Solution-focused
Successful districts educate parents on positive health and academic impact of later start times
Many saw cost-savings

19. Questions?