Schools, Teens, Sleep, Research, Politics

One of the more important/interesting educator's blogs is Larry Cuban's; usually it's about research, or about his career as teacher and superintendent. Recently, though, he blogged on the way that research takes a subordinate (but still essential?) role in the school-district political process, using the story of "17-year-old Jilly Dos Santos" as the center. BTW, I hope everybody knows that we could (with pretty high confidence) improve high school learning outcomes by starting the day later. If not, read the links. And we don't do that because...well, mostly because it's not convenient. Cuban's point is about research within politics....he doesn't go all that far, but it's something to think of. Often.

Politics, Research, and School Reform: Letting Teens Sleep in

Santos created a Facebook page and Twitter account telling hundreds of fellow  students that the school board was going to start school at 7:20 AM. She contacted a non-profit group about sleep that gave her the scientific studies about how teenagers needed more, not less, sleep. She emailed all teachers in the district and started an online petition. She brought other students together and they made posters. She tweeted everyone that “If you are going to be attending the board meeting tomorrow we recommend you dress up.”

You guessed it. The school board turned down the earlier start time. A few months later, the coalition that Santos had pulled together worked successfully to get the school board to start high school at 9 AM. The superintendent said after the board voted 6-1 in favor of the later time: “Jilly kicked it over the edge for us.”

Who said that schools are apolitical institutions?...

Without the political muscle of the coalition Santos and others mobilized, ho-hum responses from the school board would have occurred.

Well, maybe nobody said schools are apolitical institutions.

(And if so, nobody was wrong. At least about that.)