The Incidence of Delayed School Entry: A Twelve-Year Review

Brent, Donna; May, Deborah C.; Kundert, Deborah K.

doi:10.1207/s15566935eed0702_2

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…This controversial phenomenon, sometimes referred to as academic redshirting (Frick, 1986) after the college practice of using red shirts to differentiate the status of athletes who sit out one year of competitive eligibility in order to mature physically, has become more common in recent years (Brent, May, & Kundert, 1996;Connell, 1987). In fact, in one district, over a 12-year period, the proportions of students who delayed school entry in-creased significantly from 5% to 16% of the students eligible to enter kindergarten (Brent, May & Kundert, 1996).…”

Section: School Readiness Practices For Children At-riskmentioning

confidence: 89%

School readiness practices and children at-risk: Examining the issues

May

Kundert

1997

Psychol. Schs.

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This article examines school readiness practices for children at‐risk. Conceptual problems with the ways that “readiness” and “at risk” are defined are examined. The research on school readiness practices, including screening and testing, delayed school entrance, and extra year programs, for children at risk is reviewed; methodological problems with this research are also noted. Particular emphasis is placed on research studies that have examined future school retention rates, later use of special education services, and drop‐out rates for students who have used school readiness practices to reduce school failure. Suggestions for best practices are offered, considering the issues of “readiness” and “at risk” from a constructivist perspective that recognizes the ongoing interactions between students and the intervention programs they receive. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Section: School Readiness Practices For Children At-riskmentioning

confidence: 89%

School readiness practices and children at-risk: Examining the issues

May

Kundert

1997

Psychol. Schs.

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“…In fact, about 10% of American parents defer their children's kindergarten entry in such a manner (e.g., Brent, May, & Kundert, 1996;May, Kundert, & Brent, 1995; NCES, 1997), especially for sons (Bellisimo, Sacks, & Mergendoller, 1995;Brent et al, 1996;May et al, 1995). Children whose birthdays are closest to the cutoff, and thus who would be youngest at time of school entry (were they to begin school when the law permits), are most likely to be held back from kindergarten by parents (Cosden, Zimmer, & Tuss, 1993;May et al, 1995; NCES, 1997), a process known as redshirting.…”

Section: Trends In Entry Agementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parents routinely identify age as one of the most important dimensions of their readiness judgements (e.g., Brent et al, 1996;West et al, 1993). The rising rates of redshirting in the United States show that parents view age-and use age-as a mechanism to manipulate their children's school experiences and outcomes, indicating the extent to which beliefs about the importance of age as an indicator and predictor of developmental success dominate some parents' conceptualizations (e.g., Brent et al, 1996;Ma et al, 1995;NCES, 1997). It is also clear that parents and teachers focus their attention regarding school readiness on a number of early literacy skills, dispositions toward learning, and social competencies that extend across the 3 to 7 age span (e.g., Heaviside & Farris, 1993;Rimm-Kaufman et al, 1999).…”

Section: Belief Context Of Debates About School Entry Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Network¹

2007

Early Education and Development

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Research Findings-Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock-Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.Practice-The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).Perhaps no other issue appears so frequently and dominantly in parents' discussions of school readiness or school districts' readiness policies as that of the age at which children are eligible (or required) to start kindergarten. When parents are surveyed about their children's school readiness and enrollment, one of the most frequent questions noted is whether their child is too young to enroll (e.g., West, Hauske, & Collins, 1993). Kindergarten teachers identify age as a factor that figures prominently in definitions and beliefs about readiness for kindergarten, and age is often used as a post hoc explanation for decisions to retain children in kindergarten (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 1993a).Age of entry to school is also of considerable policy importance (Meisels, 1992(Meisels, ,1999. It is an index society uses as an eligibility or selection mechanism for access to public resources and, consequently, an index that triggers potential benefits of stimulation gained by attendance in school. Given that, within a 12-month year, older children tend to show more advanced developmental skills than younger children, changes in age of entry can have effects on the percentages of children who meet certain academic or skill standards and can boost a district's standing on certain metrics (Vecchiotti, 2001). In short, age of entry to school figures prominently in teacher ...

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“…Incidence data on the use of delayed school entry are limited and contradictory. For example, whereas Gredler (1992) stated that the use of delaying kindergarten entry has decreased in popularity because more mothers are in the workforce and unable to stay home with their child an extra year, Brent, May, and Kundert (1995) presented data from a 12-year period that showed a significant increase in the use of delayed school entry, with a low of 5% to a high of 16% of the kindergarten-age-eligible children delaying entrance, or redshirting as it has been called (Frick, 1986). Graue (1993) reported the incidence of delayed entry to be 7%, 14%, and 25% of males in the three schools she studied, and Bredekamp in an article in Time magazine ("The Redshirt Solution," 1989) noted that the percentage of children who delayed school entrance could be as high as 30%.…”

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confidence: 99%

A comparison of students who delay kindergarten entry and those who are retained in grades K−5

1995

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Retention has been one way that school personnel have dealt with the problem of school failure. Some authors have proposed delayed school entry as an alternative to retention, especially since there are concerns about the effects of retention on students' self-esteem. It is unclear from the literature whether retention and delayed entry have differential outcomes on measures of school success. This study explored whether there were differences in IQ and achievement (at grades 2 , 5 , and 7) between students who delayed school entry and those who were retained in later elementary grades, as well as any interactions with gender. There was a significant 6-point difference in IQ, favoring the delayed-entry group. Furthermore, when the achievement test scores were analyzed using an ANCOVA with IQ as a covariate, no significant differences were identified for either group or gender. Implications for school practices are provided.

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The Incidence of Delayed School Entry: A Twelve-Year Review

Cited by 20 publications

References 4 publications

School readiness practices and children at-risk: Examining the issues

School readiness practices and children at-risk: Examining the issues

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

A comparison of students who delay kindergarten entry and those who are retained in grades K−5

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