LAUSR

Sleep is vital for healthy development in children. Suboptimal sleep health may play an under-appreciated role in educational achievement gaps among vulnerable student populations. Students of color, students from economically disadvantaged homes, and students with disabilities are especially likely to experience poor sleep. Sleep deficiency could interfere with school functioning, including academic achievement. Longitudinal data from the nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K: 2011) included ~12,000 students. We tested the hypothesis that parent-reported child sleep duration (typical hours per night) was associated with academic achievement trajectories (3rd-5th grade). We further tested the extent to which this relation is linked to parent-reported bedtimes in kindergarten. Preregistered analyses (osf.io) used structural equation path modeling, stratified by racial/ethnic group (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian), disability status, and socioeconomic status (SES) tertiles. Students were assessed using psychometrically-validated standardized academic achievement tests. Children with later kindergarten bedtimes had shorter sleep duration across 3rd-5th grade. Children with shorter sleep duration also had poorer achievement in 3rd grade. The path by which sleep associates with achievement differed by vulnerable subgroups. Among children from average- or high-SES families, earlier bedtimes were related to higher reading achievement growth across 3rd-5th grade, but not among children from low-SES families. For children with disabilities, longer sleep duration was significantly and positively associated with growth in reading achievement across 3rd-5th grade, but this relation among children with disabilities was not evident within racial or ethnic groups or SES strata. Sleep duration, a modifiable behavioral factor, may be a promising target of intervention in families for promoting healthy childhood sleep health behaviors. Results provide evidence that age-appropriate bedtimes and adequate sleep duration could be promoted among vulnerable populations including students with disabilities. For instance, although most screening instruments do not currently evaluate sleep or sleep disorders, assessing and treating disability or behavioral difficulties could include such evaluations for clinical and parent consideration. Penn State Center for Educational Disparities Research