Dive Brief:

• In light of robust research indicating that later start times benefit teens’ health and performance, some districts, such as Durham, NC, have shifted start times later.
• But many who do struggle to balance the research with complex family scheduling, sports, and logistical hurdles.
• Even when they do shift times later, most struggle to meet the recommended time of 8:30 a.m. For example, Fairfax County, VA, managed to shift high school students’ first classes back to 8:00 a.m. and Montgomery County, MD, shifted their’s to 7:45.

Dive Insight:

A significant amount of research backs later high school start times. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionreleased a report earlier this year in favor of later start times, the American Academy of Pediatrics has called for change, and a University of Minnesota study found that such a shift could have impressive healthy, safety, and academic effects.

But few issues have proved so difficult to change. Compared with standardized testing or charter schools, the positive benefits of which are much more disputed, later start times have made snail-like progress in the American education system. In Durham, NC, one of the few districts to successfully do so, district administrators went through an extensive planning process, conducted parent surveys, held focus groups, and will likely continue to face challenges.

"There will be some pain for some families, and we don't take that lightly, but at the same time, the investment those families make will pay off down the road,” assistant superintendent Scott Denton told Education Week.

Recommended Reading

Education Week: Teens Need More Sleep, But Districts Struggle to Shift Start Times