Findings supported the theory that children born late in the year are significantly more likely to be referred for academic problems in the primary grades than are children born early in the year. (CL)

We need to develop better forms of school readiness assessment that do not encourage tracking, narrowing the curriculum, or kindergarten retention. This article describes three examples of work-in-progress from the state of Georgia, a test publisher (CTB Macmillan/McGraw-Hill), and a research scientist, Samuel Meisels. Includes seven references.…

Data from 102 of 108 local education authorities in England showed a trend toward earlier admission to school (age 4). Provision of appropriate conditions for four-year olds had been a low priority in many districts. Factors influencing the trend included government policy, funding changes, and lack of high-quality preschool facilities. (SK)

In Experiment 1, it was found that 5-year-old new school entrants taught by a synthetic phonics method had better reading, spelling and phonemic awareness than two groups taught analytic phonics. The synthetic phonics children were the only ones that could read by analogy, and they also showed better reading of irregular words and nonwords. For…

How much can late schooling investments close racial and ethnic skill gaps? We investigate this question by exploiting the large differences in completed schooling that arise among teenagers with birthdays near school-entry cutoff dates. We estimate that an additional year of high school raises the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) scores of…

The ages at entrance to school of a group of learning disabled students and a group of systematically selected students were compared. The learning disabled group showed a moderate tendency to be younger than their peers when starting school, indicating their risk of being identified as learning disabled. (Author/BS)

Twenty-one studies reporting on early admission of children to elementary school are reviewed and discussed in terms of methodological design and findings. An appendix summarizes studies with implied or explicit comparisons. (Author/MT)

This article reports on the results of a study in which performances of kindergarten tasks by early entrants to kindergarten and regular-age entrants were compared at the end of the school year. The need for research-based criteria for success in kindergarten for males and females is explored. (DF)

A review of literature on the effects of age of entry to infant schools showed that a majority of studies found differences in performance between the oldest and youngest children. One large-scale study determined that preschool education is an overriding factor in performance. (Author/SK)

A five-year longitudinal study examined initial placement decisions of six Virginia districts with junior kindergarten programs. Relationships between placement into regular or junior kindergartens, and socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, and age are analyzed. Young, poor boys were more likely than members of other groups to be placed in…

This short report identifies the academic and environmental experiences that support the reclaiming of students at high academic risk and describes an applicable school-wide programme emanating from the call for educational change in Israel. The proposed structured academic programme demonstrates how schools can achieve broad student knowledge and…

Argues that "redshirting" in kindergarten (or maintaining children in grade) can be a positive intervention if (1) the concept is used to enhance ability rather than underline failure and (2) the time periods children spend in the primary grades are made more flexible (to accommodate children's different rates of mastering skills). (KS)

Investigated attitudes of 194 teachers toward a policy which allowed children to enter school at the age of 4 years, 6 months in a single intake at the beginning of the school year. Although teachers were generally in favor of the single intake, many were concerned about the entry age. (RJC)

This article analyzes why schools fail to provide for early admission of intellectually advanced children. Reasons cited include misinterpretation of research findings, bias of school personnel, expense of screening, convenience of administering a uniform entrance age procedure, etc. Benefits accruing from early admission are discussed. (JDD)

Comparison of three groups of gifted students (total n=275) in grades two through eight whose birthdays were either early, intermediate, or late in their school entry year found higher achievement for the older students but concluded that age position in relation to classmates does not appear to be a critical variable in the school performance of…