Stacy Simera
-
The Basics
-
Stacy on Patch
-
More Stuff
Comments
-
On the Blog Post How Many Casualties Do We Need Before We Consider Student Health and Safety?
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
9:14 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Teresa, I provided a sampling of studies that look just at grades in the post below this, but I realized I didn't clarify what they are, sorry - it's the post dated Feb 21. I tried to find studies that you can easily see online (the journals and articles are usually only available through library accounts - university or public).
-
On the Blog Post Research shows North Olmsted schools should move start times later, not earlier.
Stacy Simera
5:20 pm on Sunday, March 17, 2013
ReplyTransportation seems to be the tail that wags the dog in our schools, Terry. When most of us who graduated 30 or more years ago jog our memories, we realize we never started school as early as kids do now - and it's mostly due to busing, particularly multiple bus runs. We do have the excuse that most current school busing systems were set up before we knew about the circadian shift that occurs during puberty - but that excuse is running pretty thin with all the research making it to daylight. In an interesting comparison to North Olmstead: in January a school system in Columbia, Missouri was set to move the high school earlier - from 7:40 to 7:20 - in order to add a third bus tier. Parents and students were appalled and cited so much clinical data that the school board not only rejected the original proposal, but last week the board voted to start the high school at 9am! Transportation is complex, but shouldn't trump education, health and safety. (And I'm glad your daughter is able to go to sleep so early - that's rare for an adolescent.)
-
On the Blog Post Research shows North Olmsted schools should move start times later, not earlier.
Stacy Simera
12:10 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
ReplyI agree, Teresa. Research such as what came out of Minnesota is definately why hundreds, if not now at the thousands level, of schools have already changed to later start times and why so many groups endorse it (and why moving earlier is not a good idea at all). Regarding my credentials: MSSA, LISW-S, SAP: I have a Master of Science in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University, I am an independently licensed social worker with a supervisory designation (I'm permitted to supervise others), and I have certification through Federal Department of Transporation regulations as a Substance Abuse Professional.
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
12:37 pm on Monday, March 11, 2013
ReplyChanging school start times shouldn't have to cost money. But even if it does, a Hamilton Project (Brookings Institute) report estimates a 'conservative' 9 to 1 benefit to cost ratio in delaying school start times for adolescents: http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2011/09/organization-jacob-rockoff
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
6:47 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
ReplyCowdung and KHD: The National Transportation Safety Board just answered your question today about daylight savings: a 17% increase in auto accidents the Monday after springing forward. Dr. Rosekind of the NTSB: "This year when we all spring forward, lose an hour in some other part of your life. Get the sleep you need and then maintain that sleep amount throughout the year. Sleep as if your life and those around you depend on it." http://safetycompass.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/sleepless-america-the-deadly-cost-of-fatigue-in-transportation/
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
7:29 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
ReplyWhen you read research and opinions on how well we can tweak our circadian rhythm nearly every expert will say it's possible - so quite a few of you are correct on that - but those same experts also admit that we can only effectively adjust it by about an hour - not enough for teens - and definately not enough for 3rd shift or other off-shift work - which is why people who work night shift have shorter life spans and why agricultural work has the highest rates of occupational accidents. We reset our circadian rhythm every day with input from the sun ('entrainment'). Daylight savings adjustments are meant to make our human conceptualization of time to be more in sync with Mother Nature's - and it doesn't always go smoothly for us during the first week or so - but since it is in that one-hour window we eventually adjust. A few partial quotes from physicians who reinforce current comfortable beliefs doesn't compare well to endorsements by state and national medical groups - from the Minnesota Medical Association who endorsed later school start times back in 1993 to the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics who endorsed later school start times just last week.
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
4:07 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
ReplyMy son actually goes to bed at 9pm but, like most adolescents, he doesn't fall asleep until close to 11pm (ie the 'tossing and turning' that I mention above). That's the concern raised by state medical associations, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Sleep Foundation. The argument that school schedules have worked fine for generations is flawed considering what the start times were 30 years ago. It has been in recent decades that we started moving times earlier to allow for more bus runs, and we did so as a nation without being aware of the pubertal shift in sleep cycle and we did so with minimal knowledge of the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. It shouldn't necessarily cost a school a dime to change start times back to what they used to be, but even if it does the Brookings Institute's Hamilton Project estimates a 9-fold return on the investment due to the educational benefits. Some parents with the knowledge and means to purchase expensive full-spectrum lights and melatonin can try to compensate, but it was once said that instead of hitting yourself with a hammer and then taking a pill - stop hitting yourself with a hammer. We need to stop hitting our kids with early school start times.
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
3:59 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
ReplyMy son actually goes to bed at 9pm - but, like most adolescents, he doesn't go to sleep until 11pm (ie the 'tossing and turning' that I mention above). That's the concern raised by Brown University, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Sleep Foundation, and state medical associations. And for us to use the argument that school start times have worked for generations isn't accurate when we look at what start times used to be 20 and 30 years ago. As a nation we starting moving start times earlier to have multiple bus runs, and we did that before we knew about the shift in sleep cycle that occurs during puberty or the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. It shouldn't cost a school a dime to change start times back to what they used to be, and even if it does the Brookings Institute's Hamilton Project estimates a minimum 9-fold return on the investment. As to whether us parents should try to tweak the sleep cycle by purchasing full spectrum lights and melatonin - which many of us do use - someone once said: instead of hitting yourself with a hammer and then taking a pill, stop hitting yourself with a hammer. Shouldn't we stop hitting our kids with early school start times?
-
On the Blog Post Sports Injuries and School Start Times - Doing the Math
Stacy Simera
2:39 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
ReplyHere's a sampling:
Middle school - Wolfson, A., Spaulding, N., Dandrow, C., & Baroni, E. (2007). Middle School Start Times: The Importance of a Good Night's Sleep for Young Adolescents. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 5(3), 194-209. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17680731
High School - CAREI: Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, University of Minnesota, College of Education, School Start Time Study (1998-2001), available at: www.education.umn.edu/CAREI/Reports
1st year of college (Air Force Academy - since cadets are still going through the pubertal shift) - Carrell et al (2011) A’s from Zzz’s, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 3: 62–81 http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/scarrell/sleep.pdf
More: http://startschoollater.pbworks.com/w/page/60412535/Sleep%20Loss%20and%20Academic%20Achievement
Stacy Simera
8:33 am on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
If any state were to propose legislation to limit school start times I would assume the legislation would say 'what' to do but now 'how' to do it. Humans, and by extension schools, have the ability to problem-solve - but usually only with clear recognition that there is a problem. Thus far many schools have coasted with current school start times for various reasons, but state legislation, based on sound evidence and precedent for protecting our youth, can provide the much needed motivation for schools to prove just how many wonderfully individualized and community-supported ways they can accommodate safe and healthy start times.