This episode of DNews is brought to you by Audible.
All you kids out there who hate waking up early for school?
Worry not, 'cause science has your back.
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and like many of you out there, I am NOT a morning person.
Having to wake up at 6am was probably the single thing I hated most about school growing
up - and now, there's research to prove that it can actually affect our academic performance.
A new study conducted throughout 718 public elementary schools in Kentucky - finds that
earlier school start times are associated with lower performance - but ONLY in students
from middle or upper class backgrounds.
Researchers assessed academic performance using standardized test scores, as well as
attendance rates, teacher-student ratios, and retention rates - which is the number
of students required to repeat a certain grade.
They theorized that earlier start times would be associated with lower performance in almost
all of those areas - particularly in disadvantaged schools.
But to their surprise, the results showed that wasn't true.
Kids who attended schools in disadvantaged districts saw no difference in performance,
regardless of what time school started.
But children attending affluent schools, saw a significant decrease in their academic performance,
the earlier school started.
Researchers say sleep deprivation could be what's at hand here.
Not getting enough sleep could cause students to lose the ability to remain alert and focused
in class - and it may also lead to an increase in illness.
As for why this only seems to affect children in affluent schools, the answers are still
unknown.
Although they believe it may be because disadvantaged children have so many other risk factors at
play.
Now before we go rallying to have schools start at 9am - there were some other unexpected
findings.
The study also found that the later school starts, the higher the chance there is of
students having to repeat grades.
For every additional minute later school starts, retention rates increase by 0.2%.
So starting the school day off even 5 minutes later than normal - could lead to a 1% increase
in the amount of students being held back.
That's pretty antithetical to the rest of the study, which links later start times with
improved performance.
One possible explanation, researchers say, is that starting school later may cause average
students to improve, while those with learning disabilities have an even harder time keeping
up.
They also warn that because this is the first study to ever examine the relationship between
school start times and student retention in pre-adolescents, more research is needed before
solid conclusions can be drawn.
Still - think of all the things you could get done if school didn't start til 10am!
You could read a book - or better yet, you could listen to a book on Audible.com!
Audible is the leading provider of downloadable digital audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.
And they've got over 100,000 titles to choose from, including books for kids!
Just download them to your iPod or MP3 player, and listen to them anywhere you want - on
the bus, at home, or at recess, if you're the indoor type.
No shame in that, it's the reason I'm so pale!
Best of all, you can get a free audiobook download of your choice by signing up at audiblepodcast.com/dnews.
Every sign-up helps support the show, and encourages reading - the best education of
all.
And in the meantime, let us know you think of this study!
Would you hate it - or love it - if school started a half hour later?
Parents, I'm sure you feel differently than your kids, but let us know anyway!
Just leave your answers in the comments below - and as always, thank you for watching!