We are halfway through the year and we are starting to see the results of the later start times. Although teachers believed the new start time would reduce tardies in the morning, there are still around 100 students showing up to class after school has started each day, and according to the Buffalo leadership team there hasn’t been a change in attendance so far compared to years past.
The district has teamed up with the University of Minnesota to conduct research on the health of students after the later start time, but there has been no official results yet from the research. The district also has yet to see if the new start times are going to affect MCA scores, which they are hoping to see increase overall. But even without knowing the effects that the start times might have on standardized tests, the start times will probably not be changing back to what they were in the years past, according to principal Mark Mischke.
A link on the district website that leads to a Hanover research document suggests that there should be an overall increase in academic success for adolescents after a later start time is applied. According to first block teachers, students have been more attentive and focused during class.
