Get some sleep

Talking about sleep learning...Student sleep problems aren't just about individual behavior - Boing Boing

Taken together, the evidence we have on the connection between sleep and academic performance suggests that the problem isn't merely an issue of student behavior, and the solution probably shouldn't be confined to lecturing kids on how they ought to be getting a full 8 hours of rest. It's also a systemic problem with the way we do education. Consider when high school starts, for instance. Studies in Minnesota (and elsewhere) have shown that simply shifting first period from 7:20 to 8:30 makes a difference not only in attendance, but also in how well students do once they get to school.

(Links to study reports included.) They talk about a substantial difference between 6 hours and 8 hours of sleep; I wonder what effect an increased bus drive has on student sleep.
Update: A slightly more nuanced view from Students Who Stay Awake to Study do Worse in School the Next Day | GeekDad | Wired.com

Interestingly, they found that in 9th grade, there was no penalty for cramming. In 10th grade, staying awake to study started to predict higher next-day hits for the responses “did not understand something taught in class” and “did poorly on a test, quiz, or homework.” And by 12th grade, kids who traded sleep for study showed a marked spike in academic problems the day after cramming.

And this is plausibly connected to overall reduced sleep, year by year.