Brian Cohen
  • Making the Grade Blog
  • About Me
  • Tutoring
  • Press
  • Resources to Share

Changing school start times

11/18/2012

0 Comments

 
The "Speak Out" question in the most recent issue of the American Teacher, a publication created by the American Federation of Teachers, focuses on start times for schools across the country; in particular, should they be pushed back to accommodate the different sleeping schedules of teenagers or should we maintain the status quo due to all the potential issues that might crop up with the shift?

These two sides have been butting heads for years now with research from people like the National Sleep Foundation on one side and the critics on the other pointing out the detrimental effects to non-school aged society. The usual complaints regarding this time change involve the following:

  • Rush hour: there would be more traffic congestion as all students would be attempting to go to school at the same time people are going to work.
  • Extracurricular activities: it would be difficult to run these programs as students who need to commute long distances would be going home when it was dark outside.

On the other side, there are scores of articles describing the potential benefits of later start times in schools. Minneapolis, Minnesota piloted this idea with two school districts and found improvement in many categories with regards to their student population. As a nation we should really think deeper on what we care about: the externalities to traffic congestion or the future of our students? I vote the latter.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

    Picture

    Contact Me

    Picture

    Email Updates

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.