Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Changes in school starting times

From the PG:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/some-city-schools-to-start-day-as-much-as-one-hour-earlier-630654/?p=2

8 comments:

Questioner said...

If the early start times and loss of a bus pass tip the decisions of only 1% of high school students toward attending a charter school, the savings from this change will pretty much be wiped out. That and effects on test scores make it likely that this is a change that will not last.

Anonymous said...

What effects do you think this will have on test scores and why?

Questioner said...

Virtually every study done shows that test scores of high school students improved when start times were delayed.

Anonymous said...

Can you provide the names of several of the studies that show this?

Questioner said...

Here is an op ed from the NYT that cites results from a number of different districts around the country:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14kalish.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

This link references many studies:

http://schoolstarttime.org/early-school-start-times/academic-performance/

Anonymous said...

There needs to more discussion of the impact to kids who have gotten PAT passes which allowed them to participate in afterschool sports. Might some kids have to back out of playing because they can't afford the transportation home if no activity bus is provided?

Anonymous said...

Also are we again putting a large number of teens downtown at 2:20 in the afternoon? This was an issue before, and then some schools staggered their times.
And is the real reason because there was no way to have professional development with so many schools getting out at 3:51?
(Obviously paying subs etc wont work in this economic climate.

Anonymous said...

No more extended day at ALA's. What is left of ALA's anyway?

http://php.pghboe.net/news/index.php/2012/04/09/efficiencies-gained-through-new-transportation-delivery-model-to-save-district-1-2-million/#more-8475