Essay: Correlation between entrance age for kindergarten & academic success.

INTRODUCTION
“Mr. and Mrs. Boirard. We feel that it is in Josiah’s best interest that he goes back to kindergarten. You are doing more damage than good by leaving him struggle in the first grade,” said Mrs. Grenon. Confusion, anger, frustration, distress…these were all feelings that my parents and I I encountered when I found out that I would have to repeat kindergarten. I was born on September 3rd, 1996 which was two days after the Massachusetts kindergarten cutoff date of a September 1st. Up until that point, I was always the youngest in my class. Since I was born only two days after the cutoff, starting prekindergarten and kindergarten early did not seem like a grave issue. My teachers, however, from day one noticed signs that my parents did not notice from the start. For instance, my preschool teachers noticed that I was not talking properly, getting bullied by some of the older students, and not cognitively ready to handle the material. Nonetheless, my preschool teacher still advanced me to kindergarten the following year (Fall, 2001).
Although I was able to have an decent grasp of the material presented in kindergarten, my teachers still noticed some areas of weakness. By the next year when I was in first grade, major problems started to once agin resurface. I recalled feeling a lack of confidence in school work, dealing with bullies, making friends, and even motor abilities; it also didn’t help my experience being the shortest in the classroom. After two weeks in first grade, that is when my first grade teacher, Mrs. Grenon, called my parents in and told them that she thought it would be best if I went back to kindergarten. Although it was tough for my parents to accept, they did not think it would be fair for to place me in an an environment where I could potentially fail both cognitively and socially. As a result, I ended up going back to kindergarten for the second time.
Although it was frustrating knowing that I had to repeat kindergarten, it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. Being in kindergarten for the second time allowed me to gain solid mastery of the material, build confidence in forming healthy friendships, and also develop a strong work ethic. Since I never wanted to have the experience of repeating a grade again, I pushed myself to be the best in my academics. When I returned to first grade the following year, not only was I able to catch up with the material but I was made the honor roll at the end of the year. Throughout the years, I continued my high academic performance which eventually has led me to be a member of the University of Massachusetts Commonwealth Honors College.
Though I attribute many of my academic achievements to the experience of repeating kindergarten, it made me ponder about the children’s academic success based on whether or not they were among oldest in their kindergarten class. Since I have experience in being both the oldest and youngest in a kindergarten class, I felt strongly compelled to examine the trends associated with the entrance age for kindergarten and children’s academic success.
HISTORY OF PRESCHOOL & KINDERGARTEN
Many would agree that preschool and kindergarten are an important milestones in helping young children transition from home into the school environment. A 2015-2016 study conducted through the National Institute for Early Childhood Health had shown that over 1.5 million children, which includes 5% of five year olds and 32 percent of four year olds, were enrolled in preschool (Pasquantonio, 2018). From this sample, about 54% of children enrolled in preschool were specifically enrolled in full-day programs. Furthermore, is estimated that each year (in the last decade), about four million children in the United States attend a full day or half-day kindergarten (US Department of Education, 2015).
Although the curriculum of preschool programs across the world may vary, the idea and concept of preschool trace back to the late 18th century (Morgan, 1999). Around 1767, Johann Friedrich Oberlin and Louise Scheppler started one of the world’s very first preschool in France. Often nicknamed as knitting schools, Oberlin and Scheppler started these schools to provide care child care for local working class families. Oberlin and Scheppler’s educational appraoah was facilitating the children through language interactions and small crafts while the teachers worked on their knitting…hence the term knitting schools (Morgan, 1969). In 1816, Robert Owens established the United Kingdom’s first nursery school (Bradburn, 1966). Owen’s curriculum was creating a play based environment where children learn important life skills through interaction with other kids and informal teaching (Bradburn, 1966).
In 1965, Preseident Lyndon B. Johnson started the United States first publicly funded preschool program known as Head Start (Hudson, 2015). Johnson originally started this program to help young children coming from poverty stricken homes by attending to their social, physical, social, psychological, and intellectual needs. Throughout the years, the success of this program has inspired an increased in a state preschool program from a 10% attendance rate among the nations three and four year olds (in 1965) to nearly 70% participation in a state preschool program (Hudson, 2015).
The concept and origins of kindergarten trace back to the early 19th century. In 1837, a German educator named Frierdrich Froebel opened the world’s first kindergarten in Blankenburg, Germany (Eschner, 2017). Froebel also coined the word kindergarten which literally means “a garden for young children.” Froebel believed that children as young as two and three years old were good and deserved a place to learn about their world around them through creativity, discovery, and imagination (Eschner, 2017)!
In the 1850’s, kindergarten eventually made its way to the United States. Specifically, German immigrant Margarethe Schurz opened the country’s very first kindergarten for children ages three through six in her local community (Mackenzie, 1886). In 1873, Saint Louis, Missouri became the country’s first school district to have a public kindergarten which was directed to children around the age of five years old (Mackenzie, 1886). For a long time, kindergarten was on a mission not so much to teach reading and writing but to help children develop the first steps in cognitive thinking, socializing, creative play and problem solving.
During the mid 1980’s through 1990’s, many parents across the country started to demand that a more structured, academic environment be placed in kindergarten classroom; teacher and parents believed that teaching reading and writing at a young age would help children better prepare for the academic rigors in successive grades (Gershon, 2015). This shift had also sparked a movement to make sure that children entering kindergarten are at least five years of age before the start of the school year (Hu, 2011).
EARLY VS. LATE KINDERGARTEN ENTRANCE AGE
For many years, determining whether one is too early or too late to start kindergarten has been an ongoing debate. Many countries (including the United States) develop a cutoff date, the age a child needs to be in order to attend a certain grade. During the past five fifty years or so, the kindergarten cutoff date in many countries has shifted from the start of the calendar year to the beginning of the academic year (Narahara, 1998). This shift could partly be due to the increased academic rigors (proficient reading, writing, arithmetic, etc.) now expected for children entering and finishing kindergarten. In the United States, the kindergarten cut off date varies across the country. Most states, however, state that a child must be of five years of age by the month closest to the start of school (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2007). In Massachusetts, the kindergarten cutoff date for child to turn five years old is September 1st (Conry, 2017). If a child’s fifth birthday is close to or even past the cutoff, parents could decide to do one of two things: parents could decide to send their child to kindergarten (being among the youngest) or choose to delay their child’s kindergarten entrance by one year (Elder and Lubotsky, 2009).
Children who start kindergarten early are those who turn five after the cutoff date; this could mean starting kindergarten at 4 1/2 years of age (Dickert-Conlin and Elder, 2009). These children often start school early due to their parents petitioning their local school to an exception to the cutoff going to a private school. Many times children starting kindergarten past the cutoff date posses a high level of intelligence, have strong maturity, are in good, physical health (Weiss, 1962). On the other hand, parents who delay their children’s kindergarten entry by one year is known as redshirting (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2007). The process of red shirting derives from the College sports and delays when a new student athletes could play on a varsity (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2007). In terms of kindergarten delay, some parents choose to redshirt their children in fear that they might not be at the appropriate stage of development needed for kindergarten success. Therefore, a delayed year might put their children ahead in terms of cognitive abilities, height, and even maturity (Bassok and Reardon, 2013). Some parents might also fear that children being the youngest in their kindergarten class might subject their children to bullying, academic struggle, and even more susceptibility to being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus, many parents are faced with the question of whether it’s better having their child being the youngest or oldest in their kindergarten classrooms.
“The Average Predicted Age and Actual Entrance Age by Birth Month in States with September 1st Cutoff Dates”
Figure 1 demonstrates that predicated entrance age for kindergarten most closely correlates with the actual entrance age. This figure also suggests that kindergarten students born near or after the cutoff date (September through December range) tend to start kindergarten at age 5 1/2 to 6 years old, making them among the oldest in their class. This figure also shows a steady decrease within the January through August range; this shows that children whose birthdays are from January to August tend to start kindergarten at age 5 1/2 to 5 years, making them among the youngest in their kindergarten class. From August to September range, there’s a sharp increase where it’s evident that children whose birthday is in August tend to be among the youngest in their grade (starting kindergarten at age five) whereas children whose birthday is in September, close to the cutoff, tend to be among the oldest in their grade (staring kindergarten close to age six).
Traditionally, the majority of children entering kindergarten were the age of five years old (Bassok and Reardon, 2013). In recent years, however, there has been an increase in the number of six year olds who begin kindergarten. Studies have shown that over 17% of the number of children entering kindergarteners are six years or older. As a result, the amount of six year olds who are enrolled in first grade or above has decreased from 96% in 1968 to about 83% in 2010. These results indicate that more parents and educators are developmentally mature to withstand the academic demands of school (Bassok and Reardon, 2013).
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
The early years of a child’s life is a unique time as the young child develops the skills necessary for later success in life. In fact, research within neuroscience has found that the child’s brain is about ninety percent developed by the time a child turns age five (Frist, 2013). Therefore, proper brain development is a prolong process that begins two weeks after a child is conceived and is complete around early adulthood; the intervening time in between is when synaptic pruning takes place (Tierney and Nelson, 2009). Most children between the ages of zero to five years have one hundred billion neurons in the brain that are making connections based on the sounds, sights, smells, and sensation that are being experienced (Frist, 2013). Specifically, the prefrontal cortex helps play a role in neuronal connections associated with varied cognitive functions such as reasoning, planning, and language development (Tsujimoto, 2008). The basic perception and sensation systems are fully developed by the time a child is about five to six years of age; as a young child grows well into childhood, higher level systems such as emotion, decision making, and memory start to further develop (Tierney and Nelson, 2009). Since early childhood is a period of time where a young child’s brain is constantly undergoing rapid change, the brain continues to form synapses with other neurons in a process know as synaptogenesis. The brain also undergoes synaptic pruning and myelination to further prune back the unused synapses in the brain. Ultimately, these processes help with higher cognitive and improved motor skills (Tierney and Nelson, 2009).
“Human Brain Development Time Course”
Figure 2 demonstrates the processes associated with human brain development. Neurulation and the process of cell proliferation and migration mostly occur during the prenatal phase. The synaptic processes involved with the sensorimotor cortex seems to be at its highest when the child is around two months and decreases at about two years old. The synaptic processes involved with the parietal and temporal cortex is at its highest when the child is around nine months and decrease at about seven years old. Finally, the prefrontal cortex seems to have high synaptic pruning when the child is around four years and decreases as the child enters young adulthood.
Through the use interacting with their environment, children have the opportunity to learn improve their language skills (*essential predictive factor for reading) and cognition (2013). In fact, children who are not able to develop sufficient language skills during their first five years are six times more likely to experience reading problems in kindergarten (2013). Therefore, one of the best things parents can do help their child develop the cognitive skills needed for school is through verbal interactions with their child.
KINDERGARTEN READINESS
“When is the right time to send you kids to kindergarten?” is a question that parents and teachers have and continue to ask to this day. Kindergarten readiness refers to a child’s skills and competency needed for children to be successful in kindergarten. In an addition to being a certain age, teachers often want to make sure that children have the social, emotional, and cognitive skills necessary to be successful in the classroom. With our country’s increased academic demands for kindergarteners, readiness now requires much more than reciting the Alphabet song and counting to ten. In addition to basic academic intelligence, a other important factor also induced but not limited to: maturity, emotional stability, social skills, and language skills. Often times, parents believe that kindergarten readiness only depends on whether or not his or her child is smart enough (which is far from the truth). Parents need to realize that there’s a difference between being smart versus being ready to begin school. Since kindergarten will be the first formal schooling experience for many of these children, its important that children feel ready to be in such an environment.
When I took my kindergarten assessment nearly twenty years ago, my mother said that some of the things I was tested on included: writing, identifying capital and lowercase letters, listening skills, in-seat behavior, tracing, counting to twenty, spelling my name, and even identifying opposites. My mom said the test lasted no more than twenty minutes; she also said that she had to wait outside the classroom while my assessment was taking place. I believe the teacher did this since the administrator wanted to see how I cope in a formal school environment without a parent. Once child starts formal schooling, his or her mom and dad won’t be their to constantly hold their hand and reassuring them. It’s important for young children to learn to become independent, curious young thinkers who develop into competent, independent adults.
Throughout the past few decades, the country has created laws and acts which push for children’s adequate readiness for kindergarten. In the 1990’s, the United State Congress set a law called The Goals 2000: Education America Act which had a mission to make sure that “all children in America start school ready to learn” (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). This law has ensured kindergarten readiness receives the necessary attention for the federal, state, and local levels (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act was emphasized the to ensure that standard testing was conducted in elementary schools (including kindergarten) to ensure that are meeting the academic expeditions for their respective grade levels (Lincove & Painter, 2006). Furthermore, the No Child Left Behind Act believes that standardized testing will help children stay on the right track for long-term academic success and helps increase high school graduation rate (Lincove & Painter, 2006). Overall, these laws help guide parents and teachers to make sure young children are entering kindergarten with the readiness and skills needed for success.
The spring prior to starting kindergarten in the fall, many children undergo a screening or assessment process to assess where each child is at in terms of his or her development (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). In the United States, there are currently a little over thirty-five tests, many of which are standardized, used by teachers and school administrators to assess each incoming kindergartener (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). Extant readiness tests are used to asses specific academic skills (e.g. counting, colors, shapes, alphabet, etc.), general cognitive skills (e.g. auditory skills, language, memory, etc), and social skills (Stipek, 2002). In addition, nearly fifty percent of private schools and nearly seventy percent of public schools nationwide administer kindergarten assessment tests (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). When administering these assessments, there are three vital points schools need to consider during screening each child. First, assessment should only be used to measure their intended purpose and not be interchangeable with other types of assessments (e.g. kindergarten readiness versus disability testing). Second, assessments should provide reliable information to help teachers and schools administrators determine whether the child is developmentally ready for kindergarten. Lastly, assessments need to be sufficiently reliable in predicting success in each child’s academic career (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005).
Although assessments could be helpful for determining kindergarten placement, screening and assessments tests could be subject to cultural biases and invalidity (Stipek, 2002). Therefore, it is just as important to include input from teachers’ perceptions on the academic demands of kindergarten. The Metropolitan Readiness Test, which is a widely used kindergarten assessment test, misidentifies the readiness of one out of every three children who take this test. Furthermore, assessments that test specific academic skills unfairly disadvantage students who have yet to be taught those skills. Since a young child’s brain is constantly undergoing rapid and episodic change, testing a child at one point in time poorly predicts’ children’s academic potential (Stipek, 2002).
Since academic screening tests do not always accurately display a child’s ability to learn, it is therefore important that teachers (who are actually the ones teaching the material to child) implement their knowledge in determining the children ready to enter kindergarten. In 1990, a study conducted by the Carnegie Foundation asked 7,000 teachers across the country were asked to see how many children being tested were ready for kindergarten (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). The questions on the assessment were heavily focused on a child’s social, physical, cognitive, and emotional development. The items on the test included: a child’s listening and communication skills, child’s ability to take turns and empathize with classmates, and his or her overall health. In the conclusion of this study, it was found that 35% of the students evaluated by the teachers were not considered ready to enroll in kindergarten. These results probably are probably due to the fact that various teachers have slightly different expectations in what is considered developmentally ready. Despite these differences, a study done in 1993 evaluated over 1,300 kindergarten teachers and found that over 75% of them agreed that the top three readiness attributes for kindergarten readiness were for children to be: physically healthy and well-nourished, able to communicate thoughts and feelings with language, and a curiosity for learning new things. From the sample of teachers evaluated, less than 10% believed that knowing the letters in the alphabet or counting to twenty were essential readiness skills. Conversely, more than half the teachers from this study believed that skills such as taking turns, sharing, good manners, and children thinking about their classmates’ feelings were among the most important readiness skills (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). Many educators recognize creativity and social skills help provide children with the necessary practice  to behave in a structured learning environment, solve problems with their peers, think about the welfare of others, and even practice leadership skills.
When it comes to determining kindergarten readiness, parents also have a views on what skills are needed for their children. While less than 10 percent of kindergarten teachers across the country believed that skills such as counting and letter indemnification were needed for readiness, more than 58% of parents of preschoolers believed that these skills were among the most essential skills (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). The viewpoints of readiness amongst parents could also vary based on socioeconomic status. A study in the U.S. found that over seventy-five percent of preschoolers’ parents who did not graduate from high believed that letter identification and counting to twenty were the most important readiness skills. On the other hand, around 41-50 percent of preschoolers’ parents who are college graduates believed that children needed the aforementioned skills to be ready for kindergarten. Another study focused on 355, urban, low-income New York parents found that around 76-82 percent of these parents believed that children entering kindergarten need to know their colors, letters, and numbers (e.g. counting to ten or fifteen), and even shapes (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005).
Although many studies have examined kindergarten readiness in the eyes of teachers, parents, and educators, very little has been researched on children’s own views on what they believe they will learn in kindergarten. I believe that if more researchers examined children’s thoughts and ideas on schools, teachers and educators will have a better understanding of kindergarten readiness (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). In Australia, a study known as Starting School Research Project asked children to name the most important things that are needed for staring school. The most poplar choices listed were: making friends, following a teacher’s rules, and becoming familiar with where things are in the classroom (Ackerman & Barnett, 2005). It seems that children, for the most part, have a basic understanding in the importance of social skills and classroom etiquette. Furthermore, kindergarten readiness should be much more than letter identification and counting. Although basic academic concepts are essential, what’s more important is a child’s willingness to work together with other students and desire to learn new things.
READING & MATHEMATICS
Children whose birthday falls between late August through early September are at risk being the youngest in their classroom. Some parents believe that their child being the youngest in the class gives the child a head start of his or her academic career. Other parents, on the other hand, might fear that being the youngest entails to later struggles in reading and mathematics. Over the past few decades, there have been studies focused on whether or not a literacy achievement gap is present between older and younger members in the same grade; educators want to know if being the youngest puts the child at a disadvantage for not only kindergarten but a child’s later academic career.
In 2012, researchers Francis L. Huang and Marcia A. Invernizzi examined early literacy achievement gaps for 405 children (203 girls, 202 boys) in high poverty, low-performing public schools in Virginia. Using Virginia’s kindergarten cutoff date of September 30th, two groups of children were formed: one group contained children who were the oldest in their grade while the second group contained children who were the youngest in their grade. This longitudinal study examined the children’s literacy skills from the start of kindergarten until the end of second grade. In the fall of kindergarten, teachers measured each child’s literacy through Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS-K) for Kindergarteners assessments. The PALS-K assessment tested basic kindergarten reading skills such as spelling, lower-case letter recognition, and letter sounds. In the spring of kindergarten, first, and second grade, teachers again measured each child’s literacy through a slightly more advanced assessment known as the Stanford Reading First assessments. The SRF focused on elementary reading skills such as phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, and reading flouncy and comprehension. The results show that the group consisting of older students scored higher on the literacy tests than group consisting of younger students. The results could indicate that overall, students who are among the oldest in their grade (including kindergarten) have a higher literacy development than those who are younger (Huang & Invernizzi, 2012).
The Comparison of Growth Trajectories Among Age and Race/Ethnicity (Grades K-2)
Figure 3:
Figure 3 demonstrates the scores of children who took the Stanford Reading First assessments. The reading scores of older children (*both White and non-White) were compared with those of the younger children (*also both White and non-White). The graph shows an increase in scores as children in all groups advance as they get older. The graph also shows that older white students tend to do better than young children (*White and non-White) and non-white old. The group that had the lowest scores across all three grade were the young non-White children. In addition, both the White young and the non-White, old groups started off in kindergarten with the same reading scores until the first grade when the White young groups did slightly better than the older non-White groups.
In England, there was another longitudinal study focused on phonemic awareness and early literacy among old versus young kindergarteners (Cunningham & Carroll, 2011). The study consisted of forty-five children who were split into three groups: old kindergarten group (average age of five years), young first grade group (average of 5.2 years), the the old first grade group (average age of 5.11 years). The children who participated in this study came had similar home environments, reading vocabulary, and parents who with the same level of education. In this study, the children were given phonetic awareness tests which tests early literacy skills such as spelling, word reading, letter knowledge, and even letter sounds; these tests were given two times a year (one in fall and one in summer). The researchers found that all three groups had increased in all areas of their literacy skills during the test administered in the spring. Overall, the old first grade groups had higher literacy scores (*both fall and spring) than both the young first grade and the old kindergarten group (Cunningham & Carroll, 2011). Furthermore, these aforementioned studies indicate that children who are oldest in their kindergarten tests perform better in early literacy activities and assessments.
Just as there have been studies focused solely on literacy skills in kindergarten students, there have also been studies that have focused on mathematic skills within kindergarten and early primary school students. In 2006, researchers from the University of Delaware conducted a longitudinal study that studied number competence and mathematic achievement throughout kindergarten to the end of third grade (Jordan et al., 2009). Number competency refers to a child’s ability to make judgments about numbers and their magnitudes (e.g. 1 is closer to 2 than to 7), immediately understand the value of small quantities, grasp counting principles, and simple subtraction and addition concepts (e.g. 1 and 2 make 3, while 2 taken away from 3 makes 1). The children in the study consisted of kindergarteners from a public school district in northern Delaware. The children in the study were administered eleven tests from the start of kindergarten until the end of third grade to test each child’s math achievement between the start of kindergarten to the end of third grade. Early math achievement was measured four times in kindergarten and twice in first grade through number competency assessment tests. Progressed math achievement was later measured (once in first grade, two times in both second and third grade) through Woodcock–Johnson III Composite Mathematics Achievement tests (WJ Math). In the end of the study, researchers found and overall trend of increased growth in mathematic abilities through the start of kindergarten until the end of third grade. Researchers also found that children who were among the oldest in their kindergarten class had shown better performance and faster growth in mathematics achievement (Jordan et al., 2009).
Furthermore, these past studies on reading and mathematics achievement through indicate that children amongst the oldest in their class tend to outperform their younger classmates. This does not indicate that children who are the youngest in the class are automatically weak in mathematics and reading. The results, on the other hand, show that there may be greater maturity and more experience which enables them to do slightly better in these areas of academics.
RACE, GENDER, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
While age and maturity are taken into account for a child’s readiness for kindergarten, researchers and educators across the country also want to know if gender, ethnicity/race, and socio-economic (SES) status also plays into a kindergartner’s academic achievement. Many people have the belief that young girls mature faster than young boys, which could lead to an increase in focus and attention to classroom rules and academic instruction. Some of these people might believe that certain statuses such as race and socio-economic statuses play a role into achievement in school (e.g. low income minority students who are among the youngest in their grade are subject to lower academic performance than high class income, older White students).
Researchers Ummuhan Dagli and Ithel Jones investigated whether a kindergartener’s enrollment status (e.g. early, on-time, and delayed) and achievement in mathematics varies by his or her race, gender, and family socio-economic status (2012). The researchers examined data collected from the 1998-1999 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). The study had a nationally representative sample of 22,266 kindergarten children from the 1998-1999 school year. Within this representative sample, they were roughly equal percentages of both male and female students. In terms of race, there were: 59% White, 18% Hispanic, 16% Black, 2% Asian, and 4.5% children belonging to other racial groups. The number of children belonging to high socio-economic status was slightly higher than those coming from a lower socio-economic status. In addition, 91.5% of children were enrolled in kindergarten on time, 1.7% were enrolled early, and 6.7% were delayed. In both the fall and spring, these children were given mathematics Item Response Theory Model (IRT) tests which tests their mathematics skills (Daghli and Jones, 2012).
Mathematics Scores for Fall and Spring of Kindergarten in Terms of Sex and Enrollment Status
Figure 4 shows that female children who entered kindergarten at a delayed enrollment performed better than those with early on-time enrollment. With male students, on-time, delayed, and early enrollment started off in the fall with the same mathematics scores. By the end of kindergarten, the “on-time” male students performed better than than both delayed and early entry male students. The figure also shows that on-time and delayed female students (in both fall and spring) had higher scores than the on-time and delayed male students. In terms of early entry, male students performed better than females students.
Mathematics Scores for Fall and Spring of Kindergarten in Terms of Race and Enrollment Status
Figure 5 shows that children delayed children scored higher than on-time and early children (within White, Hispanic, and Other). Within Asian children, on the other hand, on-time children scored higher than delayed and early children. What’s also interesting is that this figure shows that black children appeared to have similar mathematics scores regardless of enrollment status. In terms of race, both White and Asian children are shown to have had the highest scores; in terms of enrollment status, both delayed and on-time children are shown to have scored higher than children of enrollment status.
Mathematics Scores for Fall and Spring of Kindergarten in Terms of SES and Enrollment Status
Figure 6 shows how mathematics scores are influenced by both enrollment and SES Status (SES1 being the lowest, while SES5 being the highest). For SES1, children in all enrollment statuses started off with the same scores until the spring where delayed entry scored higher than both on-time and early entry students. For SES2, SES4, and SES5, delayed children had higher scores than on-time and early entry students for both fall and spring. For SES3, children from all enrollment statues appear to have very similar mathematics scores in both the fall and spring.
Overall, the study Dagli and Jones underwent was interesting in observing how race, gender, and socio-economic status plays a role in kindergarten performance in mathematics. The results of this study show that children from delayed and enrolled status performed better on the Mathematics IRT assessment than children entering kindergarten at an earlier status (2012). From this study, it shows that kindergarten children who belong to higher economic statuses do better than children who belong to lower economic statuses. The study also shows that children who belong to White and Asian scored higher than children belonging to other races; this could be due to that certain races are predisposed to certain economic and academic advantages which better prepare children for the academic and social demands of school. Furthermore, there seems to be a trend that whether one discusses kindergarten achievement between gender, race, or socio-economic status, children who are delayed or on-time entrance generally do better than children who start kindergarten at an early age. Although this study focused on mathematic achievement in kindergarteners, this study could help educators and teachers realize that maybe there is an advantage of starting children at a later age.
DELAY KINDERGARTEN ENTRANCE: REDSHIRTING
It was not too long ago where kindergarten was a place where four and five year old children could socialize, learn through play, and prepare for the academic demands needed for success in later grades. In a society where there is an increased push for academic demands at younger ages, there is an increased pressure among parents in choosing to delay kindergarten entry until the child is older and more mature. As noted in an earlier chapter, redshirting is a process where parents choose to delay his or her child’s kindergarten entry by one year. The practice of redshirting could often happen for parent’s the of children were born close to the cutoff date, such as myself. Although my parents did not initially delay my kindergarten entrance, they could have if they desired since my birthday falls two days after the Massachusetts kindergarten date. Although my parents were not initially on board in repeating kindergarten, they noticed once I started that my school performance significantly improved. Personally, some of the most academically accomplished people I have known (many of whom have studied and done research at Ivy League colleges) had fall birthdays and among the oldest in their class. There has been research focused the prevalence among redshirted kindergarten children throughout the country and studies on parents who redshirted their children for kindergarten and their academic achievement compared to those who are younger. Researcher David Figlio, from Northwestern University, did research which focused on Florida children who were born right after and right before the September 1st cutoff date for kindergarten entrance (2017). Figlio found that within the socio-economic middle class in Florida families, children who were among the oldest in their kindergarten class had a 2.6% higher chance for attending college and for also attending and graduating from an elite college than their younger peers. The study also found that children who were among the youngest in their class were about 1% more likely than their older peers to be incarcerated (Ydstie, 2017).
In 2006, there was research done that examined whether or not delaying kindergarten entrance gave children the head start to early academic success (Datar, 2006). Based on the study obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal StudyKindergarten Class (ECLS-K), researchers evaluated both math and reading skills of children enrolled in kindergarten at a delayed enrollment compared to their younger classmates. Researchers believed that delaying entrance in kindergarteners will give young children advantage for greater academic success (Datar, 2006)!
Mean Test Scores (Math and Reading) Based on Entrance Age
The graphs show test scores that were administered during both fall and spring of kindergarten in addition to the spring of first grade. The graphs indicate children that although the children started off with low scores in both math and reading, there was an increase (for all ages) during the successive test administered. In addition, it appears that children who are about 70 months (nearly six years of age) scored higher in mathematics and reading than their younger classmates. Although these scores only represent two grades, it’s important to realize that academic experiences during the formative years could influence later academic success that lasts a lifetime.