01/16/08 Starting School Late

It's a known fact that the US education system is in crisis and it seems everybody has their idea of a quick fix; more funding, better testing, teacher incentives etc& but it could be as simple as turning the clock back. According to researchers the typical teenager's body follows a schedule far different from adults and children producing the sleep inducing hormone melatonin after 11:00 at night and well into late morning. The National Sleep Foundation reports that 28 percent of teenagers fall asleep during their first class. In the 6 years since some high schools in Kentucky moved the first bell to 8:40 from 7:30 both attendance and test score rose dramatically. So what's the problem? A new schedule would extend the high school until 5:00 p.m., a benefit for working parents but many school boards feel it would negatively impact sports and after school activities plus be perceived as an inconvenience by teachers. The six and a half hour school day with summers off commenced in the 19th-century maybe it's time to revisit it for our 21 century students.