Season of Birth Is Related to Child Retention Rates, Achievement, and Rate of Diagnosis of Specific LD

Abstract

A sizable literature has demonstrated that the achievement of children in early elementary school is related to their season of birth: Those born in summer typically perform less well than those born in the fall. A small literature indicates that more children diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are born in the summer. We have begun to explore the possibility that the same processes may account for both outcomes. In order to better understand these processes, the standardized achievement levels and rates of diagnosis of SLD for children born during each season were studied in one geographical area of the State of Georgia served by 28 school districts. Standardized achievement scores in reading, mathematics, and science were reliably lower for those born in the summer. Furthermore, there was a strong relationship between season of birth and the rate at which children received a diagnosis of SLD. Summer-born children were diagnosed with SLD at a higher rate than their peers. Four hypotheses for both the lower performance in the general school population and the greater rate of SLD diagnosis among these children are discussed.

The Extent and Specificity of Relative Age Effects on Mental Health and Functioning in Early Adolescence

“…Although we found that more of the youngest children within cohorts scored above clinical threshold than older children, the present study was not positioned to determine how this translates into higher risk of diagnosis or need of specialist mental health treatment. However, there is evidence that the SDQ is a fairly reliable public health indicator of clinical need [31], and existing research indicates that disproportionately more of the youngest children in a school cohort are likely to be receiving psychology services and intervention [7] and special educational needs assessment [12,32].…”

Season of birth is associated with anthropometric and neurocognitive outcomes during infancy and childhood in a general population birth cohort

“…However, it is difficult to partition out the relative contributions of a btrueQ season of birth effect on neurocognitive development from the fact that summer-born infants in northern hemisphere countries tend to be educationally disadvantaged (due to the interaction between age and school intake policies) (Goodman et al, 2003). A recent US study of children in the fifth grade (n = 7395), confirmed that summer-born children did significantly worse on a range of standardized educational tests, and that these seasonal differences persisted when the children outside the appropriate age band (i.e., dretainedT or dadvancedT students) were excluded (Martin et al, 2004).…”

“…The research that has examined season of birth and later cognitive development have produced mixed results (Gordon and Novak, 1950;Berglund, 1967;Farley, 1968;Williams et al, 1970;Kanekar and Mukerjee, 1972;Mascie-Taylor, 1980). With respect to school performance, there is a sizeable body of research showing that summer-born children tend to have poorer educational outcomes (see review by (Martin et al, 2004)). However, it is difficult to partition out the relative contributions of a btrueQ season of birth effect on neurocognitive development from the fact that summer-born infants in northern hemisphere countries tend to be educationally disadvantaged (due to the interaction between age and school intake policies) (Goodman et al, 2003).…”

The significance of student age variance in estimating value added measures for Polish lower secondary schools

“…This effect is observed both with regard to various subject skills (Bell and Daniels, 1990;Hutchison and Sharp, 1999;Konarzewski, 2013;Martin, Foels, Clanton and Moon, 2004;Smith, 2009), as well as broadly understood teaching results, such as motivation, involvement in learning or attitude towards school and teaching (Martin, 2009). Some researchers focus on the situation of the youngest students in a class among children born in the same year and prove that these children more often experience school failures, such as not being promoted to the next class or being assessed as having special education needs (Langer, Kalk and Searls, 1984;Martin et al, 2004;May and Kundert, 1995;Verachtert, De Fraine, Onghena and Ghesquière, 2010). These results support the hypothesis that students' age is significant for school achievement.…”

“…The reader who is interested in such analyses can find interesting hypotheses in the studies of other authors (Konarzewski, 2013;Martin et al, 2004;Sykes, Bell and Vidal Rodeiro, 2009;Verachtert et al, 2010).…”