Sleep Deprived Test Scores

When do students in Shanghai, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan take key standardized tests, such as those in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)? Of the 15-year-olds who took these tests in 65 countries, students in these four countries came out on top in the latest (Dec. 3, 2013) PISA. Could timing contribute to testing success?

     After a Friday night when high school students hang out with friends at football games and movies or stay up playing video games, my granddaughter was among classmates who had to turn up at her high school at 7:45 am on Saturday to take the standardized PSAT exam that determines National Merit Scholarships and has a big impact on which colleges students attend. A policy statement, published online by the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics on August 25, 2014, challenges the timing of such an important test.

    According to the findings of the Academy's Adolescent Sleep Working Group and Committee on Adolescence and the Council on School Health, "making middle and high schoolers start classes before 8:30 am threatens children's health, safety, and academic performance." Lack of sleep contributes to a teen's risk of traffic accidents, depression, and obesity. Since biology determines a shift in a teenager's sleep-wake cycle, these students find it difficult, if not impossible, to go to sleep before 10:30 pm. Studies show the average teenager can't even fall asleep at 11 pm. (Incidentally, on the "Dr. Oz" television show October 21, 2014, a woman who couldn't fall asleep when she went to bed at 9 pm was advised to go to bed much later when she was really tired.)

     Based on these findings, the American Academy of Pediatrics called on school districts to move start times to 8:30 am or later so that teenagers who are getting six to seven hours of sleep a night can get at least 8 1/2 to 10 hours of sleep. Those who do get enough sleep do better academically, have better standardized test scores, and enjoy a better quality of life. Nonetheless, at present, research shows only about 15% of high schools begin at 8:30 am or later and 40% start before 8 am. But Stacy Simera, the outreach director for Start School Later Inc., reports "the number of schools opening later has grown exponentially," with positive results, such as those reported by researchers at the University of Minnesota. In the eight Minnesota high schools that began using later start times, grades, attendance, and punctuality all improved, and there was a 70% reduction in teen-aged auto accidents.

    Simera acknowledges that there are critics of starting high schools later who complain that parents can't get their students off to class that late because they have to leave earlier to get themselves to work. Then, there are the problems of school bus schedules that have to change two shifts that accommodate elementary and high schools, problems scheduling after-school activities, the needs of older siblings who need to get home before the younger ones they care for, and the time when after-school jobs begin. Sumera has found, however, that despite these concerns, schools have been able to adjust.

   Even if criticisms continue to block changes in some school week day schedules, they do not apply to important tests given on weekends. It would be worthwhile to see if beginning tests at a later start time could improve the lagging performance of U.S. students on the PISA. When administering tests of the new Common Core State Standards to teenagers in the United States, it also would be worthwhile to compare performances on tests that began at various times.



     

 

Learning Can Be Fun

Do longer school days and longer school years promote learning? Only, if they include time for play (and the playground is not an asphalt parking lot).

A growing body of research suggests play provides an important learning experience at any stage of a student's life. Besides, moving develops a body's core strength which enables children to pay attention and learn, and research also finds kids can develop language, math, and social skills while interacting with each other. In Finnish kindergartens, something new happens every day: Monday might have a field trip, ball game, or running activity; Friday, songs and stations of choice, such as making forts with sheets, selling ice cream (paper scoops pasted on a stick and plastic coins used for change), or doing arts and crafts.  You have to wonder about China's academic schools that do not set aside any time for gym or exercise classes. Promising Olympic athletes go to separate schools.

Finland has a saying, "Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily." When it rains a bit, Finnish kindergarteners put on their rubber boots, grab shovels, and make dams in the mud. Before entering first grade, at Swiss Waldkindergartens, Canada's all-day kindergartens, and at some schools in Washington state, Vermont, and Brooklyn, four to seven year olds have child-directed free play outdoors in all kinds of weather. In  contrast, a survey found 7 out of 10 children in the UK spend less time outside than prisoners.

Play at the Nordahl Grieg Upper Secondary School takes a different form, video games. At Mind/Shift on July 21, 2014, Tina Barseghian called attention to Paul Darvasi's article about this Norwegian high school, where Tobias Staaby uses the video game, The Walking Dead, to pose an ethical question. Of 10 survivors, who should receive the last four pieces of food? Students were asked to use what they had learned about situational ethics, utilitarianism, or consequentialism to justify their choices.

 At the same school, the history simulation video game, Civilization IV, which gives students an opportunity to make decisions that leaders have to make about setting up a government, legal system, labor laws, economy, and religious options, has been used to teach English and Social Studies. Those who were unfamiliar with the game's complexities learned from students who were pros. Lin Holvik, principal of the school, always has viewed video games as a tool to foster collaboration and an appreciation for the "art of failure."

Common Sense Graphite, a company that evaluates the learning content of computer games, gives high praise to the following:
Elegy for a Dead World
Better than other English lessons, students visit alien planets inspired by romance poets, write prose and poetry about the lost civilizations they find there, and share their literary works with other students.
Never Alone
A cultural game that incorporates stories from the Inupiat people of Alaska that demonstrate how students need to cooperate with nature to win.
Valiant Hearts
Invites students to apply facts from the history of World War I to critique war in general.

Other video games and their subject applications include:

     Portal 2: Physics
     The Last of Us: Literature
     Republia Times: Writing, Journalism, Social Studies
     Minecraft EDU: Virtual building blocks to construct a landmark or environment (Also see the earlier post, "Build a Global Icon.")

Another type of play to consider is the role playing used in the Model UN game mentioned in the earlier blog post, "Know the Issues." Also see the later blog post, "Convert Stories into Foreign Language Games."