When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

by Daniel H. Pink

Many school districts—from Dobbs Ferry, New York, to Houston, Texas, to Melbourne, Australia—have heeded the evidence and shown impressive results. For example, one study examined three years of data on 9,000 students from eight high schools in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming that had changed their schedules to begin school after 8:35 a.m. At these schools, attendance rose and tardiness declined. Students earned higher grades “in core subject areas of math, English, science and social studies” and improved their performance on state and national standardized tests. At one school, the number of car crashes for teen drivers fell by 70 percent after it pushed its start time from 7:35 a.m. to 8:55 a.m.6 Another study of 30,000 students across seven states found that two years after implementing a later start time high school graduation rates increased by more than 11 percent.7 One review of the start-time literature concludes that later start times correspond to “improved attendance, less tardiness . . . and better grades.”8 Equally important, students fare better not just in the classroom but also in many other domains of their lives. Considerable research finds that delaying school starting times improves motivation, boosts emotional well-being, reduces depression, and lessens impulsivity.