Changing School Start Times: Impact on Student, Family, Teacher, and Community Health

September 27, 2022 updated by: Lisa Meltzer, National Jewish Health
Sleep is not an optional luxury, but a fundamental biological need, essential for health and well-being. Insufficient sleep is a significant public health issue, with 69% of adolescents in America obtaining less than the minimum requirement of 8 hours of sleep per night. Early school start times has been identified as the most significant and modifiable factor that restricts sleep duration in adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2014 that all middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m., yet few school districts have implemented this change. In fall 2017, the Cherry Creek School District, a diverse district of almost 55,000 students outside Denver, changed school start times. Although previous studies have shown increased sleep duration, decreased daytime sleepiness, and improved academics following start time changes for secondary students, there remains an urgent need to understand how this policy impacts health and well-being for all students, including youth in elementary school. Recognizing that students are part of a complex system that includes parents, school staff, and the community, this observational study will be a multi-year, broad-based evaluation that includes key stakeholders, multiple sources of quantitative data (i.e., surveys, academic records, district nursing electronic health records), contextual qualitative data (i.e., open-ended surveys and focus groups), and community-based outcomes (i.e., data on vehicle crashes and juvenile crimes). The primary hypothesis is that later school start times will have a positive impact on middle and high school students sleep and health outcomes, while earlier school start times will have a neutral impact on elementary school students sleep and health outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

118000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Colorado
      • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80206
        • National Jewish Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

8 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants were drawn from the Cherry Creek School District outside of Denver, Colorado

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Students in grades 3-12 enrolled in the school district
  • Parents of students in grades K-12 enrolled in the school district
  • School-based teachers and staff in grades K-12 in the school district

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Students Grades 3-12
Other: Change in school start times
Elementary start times changed from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.; middle school start times changed from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.; high school start times changed from 7:10 a.m. to 8:20 a.m.
Parents of Students Grades K-12
Other: Change in school start times
Elementary start times changed from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.; middle school start times changed from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.; high school start times changed from 7:10 a.m. to 8:20 a.m.
School Based Teachers and Staff Grades K-12
Other: Change in school start times
Elementary start times changed from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.; middle school start times changed from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.; high school start times changed from 7:10 a.m. to 8:20 a.m.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in sleep duration from before start time change to 1 and 2 years after start time change
Time Frame: Typical bedtime and wake time, assessed prior to start time change, and 1 and 2 years after start time change
Reported sleep from bedtime to wake time
Typical bedtime and wake time, assessed prior to start time change, and 1 and 2 years after start time change

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Jewish Health

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 11, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 22, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 24, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 29, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 27, 2022

Last Verified

September 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HS-3155
  • 75277 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evidence for Action)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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