No, your teen is not lazy. She's just sleep deprived.
Next fall, the Seattle Public School district will implement a plan to change school start times. High schools and middle schools will start about an hour later, while elementary schools will start an hour earlier.
This change follows scientific research that shows that teens have different circadian rhythms than younger kids. Not only can they not fall asleep earlier, but if they do, they still won't likely be able to get up earlier. That results in learning issues and other ancillary issues, like increased traffic accidents - especially in the morning.
Sam Market is project manager for the Seattle Public Schools. He helped implement the bell time switch for his district.
Market told KNPR's State of Nevada that the change came after a lot of research and a lot of public outreach.
Some of the biggest issues parents, teachers and students had were after-school activities, child care and school safety.
However, according to Market, many of those concerns were addressed when the school district collaborated with the city, after-school programs and after-school athletic programs.
Market also said the school district was able to make it 'cost neutral' because it essentially flipped the schedule of elementary schools with secondary schools.
Dr. Mike Barton is chief student achievement officer for Clark County School District.
He said the district has put 11 middle schools on a pilot program, which pushed back their start times to 9 a.m. or later. The district is interested to track whether the change will improve tardys, participation and most of all academics.
"We know the science behind it, the sleep that is required of adolescent students but we really want to do with this pilot to measure the academics as well," Barton said.
Barton said they also need to dispel some of the myths associated with a change in bell times.
For instance, before the times were changed at the pilot program schools, many principals were worried teachers would transfer, but that has not been the case.
They were also worried there would be a drop in participation in extra-curricular activities but that also has not happened.
"We've got to dispel the myths that are out there and part of that is the academic myth too or showing that the academics can improve," he said.
Problems with testing and scoring last year has made it difficult for the district to evaluate the bell time initiative but Barton is hoping they'll know soon.
"I know that the principals that are serving in some of these schools with the later start times they're seeing the benefits and I truly believe it will impact student achievement. We just have to be able to show it in a quantifiable way with real data," he said.
Sam Markert, project manager for the Seattle Public Schools; Dr. Mike Barton, chief student achievement officer for CCSD
