Category Archives: Education policy

New study shows — Seattle’s switch to later school start times for adolescents is making a positive difference

Education policy, public education, Seattle, Seattle School Board, , , , , ,

A newly published study by professors at the University of Washington shows that the Seattle School District’s recent change to a later school start time for its adolescent students has had positive impacts.

“Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students,” was published in Science Advances magazine Dec. 12, 2018, by authors Gideon P. Dunster, Luciano de la Iglesia, Miriam Ben-Hamo, Claire Nave, Jason G. Fleischer, Satchidananda Panda and Horacio O. de la Iglesia. According to their abstract:

Most teenagers are chronically sleep deprived. One strategy proposed to lengthen adolescent sleep is to delay secondary school start times. This would allow students to wake up later without shifting their bedtime, which is biologically determined by the circadian clock, resulting in a net increase in sleep. So far, there is no objective quantitative data showing that a single intervention such as delaying the school start time significantly increases daily sleep. The Seattle School District delayed the secondary school start time by nearly an hour. We carried out a pre-/post-research study and show that there was an increase in the daily median sleep duration of 34 min, associated with a 4.5% increase in the median grades of the students and an improvement in attendance.

The study also made national news. NPR, CBS and locally, the Seattle Times, covered the story:

Later School Start Times Really Do Work To Help Teens Get More Sleep : Shots – Health News : NPR

No, teenagers are not lazy for sleeping in — and a new Seattle school policy is helping them get the shut-eye they need | The Seattle Times

I’m proud to have been a member of the Seattle School Board that shepherded this through,  as an advocate from the start, and finally, as a member of the 6-1 majority that passed it. Bell times were an ongoing topic the entire time I was on the Board (2013-17). After many delays, this change was finally implemented in Sept. 2016.

Much credit goes to the community members — parents, teachers, medical professionals and others — who tirelessly advocated for this sensible change for a number of years. That includes parents and teachers like Dianne Casper, Cindy Jatul and others.

If more school districts focused on common-sense practices and policies like this, which address the fundamental needs of students, rather than constantly looking for and wasting resources on the latest silver-bullet solution or reform trend from outside interests that stand to make a profit from public education, students would be better served.

Seattle is a national leader on this front. Hopefully other districts will follow suit.

— Sue Peters

(Note: I meant to post this last month. Apologies for the delay. Happy New Year!)

Come Hear Diane Ravitch Discuss Her New Book, Sept. 26, 7 p.m. at Kane Hall, U.W.

Education policy, Election 2013, public education, Uncategorized

DRav2

Don’t miss Diane Ravitch at U.W.’s Kane Hall tomorrow at 7 p.m!

The former U.S. Undersecretary of Education is currently touring the country with her new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools (Knopf, 2013) and will speak in Seattle on Thursday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m., at Kane Hall, Room 130, University of Washington, (206) 634-3400. Free.

Her previous book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (Basic Books, 2011) was a widely acclaimed bestseller.

An education historian and professor at New York University, Ravitch served in the Department Education in both the Bush I and the Clinton Administration.  She has since become a foremost national authority on public education and a powerful critic of controversial “corporate ed reform” policies that emphasize charter schools, high-stakes testing and teacher evaluations based on standardized test scores.

In August, Dr. Ravitch’s national organization, Network for Public Education, strongly endorsed my candidacy. She has also written about my School Board race on her blog (Seattle: Status Quo Crowd Fears Sue Peters) and tweeted: “Help elect Sue Peters to Seattle School Board, a champion of public education.”

I am thrilled and honored to have Dr. Ravitch’s support.  I greatly respect the years of experience and research she has dedicated to public education, and I have drawn many of the same conclusions she has. Privatizing public education via charter schools, excessive testing, and blaming teachers are failed policies that have done great damage to our schools and the morale of our students and teachers.

Instead, I support an investment in rich, engaging curriculum for all students, not excessive testing; respect and support for teachers, and keeping public education public.

As a founding member of Parents Across America (PAA), in Feb. 2011, I had the honor of speaking and sharing a panel with Ravitch at the organization’s kickoff event in New York City.  In the fall of 2010, I emceed a forum at Seattle University featuring Ravitch via Skype, educators and public education advocates Dr. Wayne Au, Jesse Hagopian and Dora Taylor, sponsored by the Seattle Education Blog.

PAApanelwithDRavitch

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