A Population Study of Relative Age Effects on National Tests in Reading Literacy

Vestheim, Ole Petter; Husby, Magne; Aune, Tore; Bjerkeset, Ottar; Dalen, Terje

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01761

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Students born in January had up to 15% greater average scores than their peers born in December of the same year, with the greatest differences in Grade 5 (Aune et al, 2018). The same researchers (Aune et al, 2017(Aune et al, , 2018Vestheim et al, 2019) also found differences in relation to gender. In marks in physical education (Aune et al, 2017) and in scores on the national test of numeracy, boys born early in the year were overrepresented among high-performing students (Aune et al, 2018), whereas Vestheim et al (2019) found that girls were overrepresented among high-performing students in reading literacy in Grades 5 and 9.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Thus, both their gender and their birthdate would be associated with a developmental lag compared with their peers. As discussed in the introduction of this paper, boys are known to be overrepresented in a host of populations with developmental problems ( Root et al, 2019 ), as well as to receive poorer marks than girls (e.g., Statistics Norway, 2009 ; Aune et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Vestheim et al, 2019 ). The same holds for children born late in the year, as has been demonstrated in a plethora of studies on the RAE.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strøm (2004) came to the same conclusion for reading tests in the PISA study measured at the end of compulsory school (i.e., age 15–16 years). Relative age differences have also been identified in national test scores for arithmetic skills ( Aune et al, 2018 ) and reading skills ( Vestheim et al, 2019 ) in Grades 5, 8, and 9 in Norway. Students born in January had up to 15% greater average scores than their peers born in December of the same year, with the greatest differences in Grade 5 ( Aune et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relative age effect shifts students’ choice of educational track even within a school system promoting equal opportunities

et al. 2023

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In most education systems, the age of a given cohort of students spans up to 12 months, which creates a within-class age difference, or relative age effect, that tends to disadvantage younger students. Because birth month indeed correlates with academic performance, with poorer outcomes for students born later in the year, the effect can have lifelong consequences for students, whose academic performance justifies their acceptance into different educational tracks. Although past studies have identified the relative age effect in students’ choice of educational track in school systems in which students make such choices at the age of 10–14 years, we examined data from the Norwegian school system, in which education tracks are chosen at the age of 15–16 years. The dataset included the variables birth month, track choice, and gender, of all 28,231 pupils at the upper secondary school level in a school county in Norway. Birth month was compared between vocational and academic track choices and the results revealed a significant relative age effect on educational choices between academic and vocational tracks, such that younger students were significantly more likely to apply for vocational tracks. The effect was significantly stronger for boys compared to girls. This indicates that the choice of educational track may reflect students’ relative age, especially among boys, and hence, not be based on interests alone. Those findings have implications for actors involved in ensuring equity in education systems in Norway and elsewhere.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The relative age effect shifts students’ choice of educational track even within a school system promoting equal opportunities

et al. 2023

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“…However, in the sport domain, relative younger individuals may counter the RAE if they are more maturational advanced [21,33], while there is substantial variability in effect sizes for RAEs observed in PE, from small to large [7,[28][29][30]. Additionally, RAEs are previously found for numeracy and reading literacy [34,35], where maturity associated physical advantages should be of no importance. This highlights the independent nature of these two constructs, with separate factors underlying biological maturity and relative age.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

The association between academic achievement in physical education and timing of biological maturity in adolescents

et al. 2022

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Individual differences in tempo and timing of biological maturity, especially in adolescents, has been argued as a potential underlying cause of relative age effects observed in Physical education (PE). Indeed, differences in maturation could influence pupils`achievement in PE where motor behavior and physical activity are central tenets. However, the timing of biological maturity has not previously been investigated in the context of academic achievement in PE. Therefore, the current study`s aim was to investigate the association between timing of biological maturity and relative age on adolescents`academic achievement in PE. The data material consists of two samples from lower secondary schools (13–16 years old). Sample 1 (45 boys and 31 girls) was used to compare differences in anthropometrics and indicators of biological maturity between pupils with different grades (i.e., 3/4, 5, 6), while in sample 2 (114 boys and 127 girls) differences in mean grade were compared between birth quartiles. Pupils`final grade in PE were collected for both samples as a proxy for academic achievement. A one-way analysis of variance indicated a moderate-to-large association between timing of biological maturity, through age at peak height velocity, and academic achievement in PE, where later maturing pupils received a higher grade compared to earlier maturing pupils. Results from a factorial analysis of variance indicated an interaction effect between gender and birth quartile on academic achievement in PE. Post hoc analysis revealed that relatively younger boys received significantly lower grades as opposed to their relatively older peers. This effect was not present for girls. Collectively, these results indicate that developmental differences are associated with academic achievement in PE. Hence, PE teachers should be aware of these individual constraints in their teaching and assessment practice to accommodate fair and equal opportunities for achievement in the subject.

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“…Donolato (2019) also argued that the influence of the home environment on children's reading is important, and they suggested that children's relationship with reading begins to develop before they start school, and that home facilitation has a similar role to the development of intentional reading in kindergarten [19]. Vestheim (2019) confirmed that test scores at each grade level decreased approximately linearly between birth months [20]. Yuan-Hsuan et al (2013) examined the effects of two types of online reading activities on reading literacy through mediation analysis based on metacognitive strategy knowledge [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation and application of digital reading model for college students based on deep learning model

Tian

2023

Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences

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Digital reading has changed the traditional reading pattern, and it is popular among college students because of its portability, fast content update and rich presentation, but the phenomenon of shallow reading such as lack of concentration, lack of thinking and superficiality in the process of reading is also becoming more and more obvious. In this paper, we construct the model of college students’ reading ability based on RoBTANet model, construct the index system of college students’ reading ability evaluation based on the relationship structure between the main categories derived from the rooted coding, and finally design the model of college students’ reading ability evaluation to achieve the purpose of analyzing the results of college students’ reading ability evaluation. The scoring results correspond to the data of 59 initial concepts, 27 valid indicators, and 5 main categories of a student, which can be mapped to the reading ability of students through the various scores and provide effective countermeasures for the digital reading mode of college students. This paper effectively evaluates the reading ability of college students, broadens the application value and research field of RoBTANet model, actively explores the digital reading mode of college students, provides development ideas, and is important to promote the innovation and application of digital reading mode of college students.

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A Population Study of Relative Age Effects on National Tests in Reading Literacy

Cited by 6 publications

References 32 publications

The relative age effect shifts students’ choice of educational track even within a school system promoting equal opportunities

The relative age effect shifts students’ choice of educational track even within a school system promoting equal opportunities

The association between academic achievement in physical education and timing of biological maturity in adolescents

Innovation and application of digital reading model for college students based on deep learning model

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