Synchronizing education to adolescent biology: ‘let teens sleep, start school later.’
Open accessAbstract
Arne Duncan, US Secretary of State for Education, tweeted in 2013: ‘let teens sleep, start school later’. This paper examines early starts and their negative consequences in the light of key research in the last 30 years in sleep medicine and circadian neuroscience. An overview of the circadian timing system in adolescence leading to changes in sleep patterns is given and underpins the conclusion that altering education times can both improve learning and reduce health risks. Further research is considered from education, sleep medicine and neuroscience studies illustrating these improvements. The implementation of later starts is briefly considered in light of other education interventions to improve learning. Finally, the impact of introducing research-based later starts synchronized to adolescent biology is considered in practical and policy terms.
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Converging evidence demonstrates that later morning school start times have beneficial effects on adolescents' sleep.
“Indeed, converging evidence demonstrates that later morning SSTs have beneficial effects on adolescents' sleep [8,[12][13][14][15][16].”
From The Power of Flexible School Start Times: (2026) · cites this paper as [13]
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References 76 · Cited by 56
- Authors
- Kelley, P., Lockley, S. W., Foster, R. G., & Kelley, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- University of Nevada, Reno (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kelley, Paul
- Venue
- Learning, Media and Technology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-08-01
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 210-226
- ISSN
- 1743-9884 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-9892
- OpenAlex
- W1970347582
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 7.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Learning Media and Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Surrey Research Insight Open Access (The University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
- Keywords
- school start time, adolescent sleep, circadian rhythm, sleep medicine, learning outcomes, health risks, education policy
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