Relative age effects (RAEs) explain the (dis)advantages individuals experience as a result of when they are born relative to a pre-determined cut-off date. Within an interuniversity setting, academic timing (AT) may moderate the RAE pattern due to some student-athletes having eligibility years that do not correspond with their birth years. The…

Many states require children to reach age 5 by a specified date in the calendar year in order to begin kindergarten. We use birth certificate records from 1999 to 2004 to assess whether parents systematically time childbirth before these eligibility cutoff dates to capture the option value of sending their child to school at a relatively young…

In many low enrolment countries children are over age for their grade. Conventional indicators of enrolment rates conceal this and better indicators are needed. Over age entry and progression disadvantages late starters; generates wide age ranges in classes and results in pedagogic difficulties; and is likely to especially disadvantage older…

Economists have identified a substantial adult wage premium attached to high school leadership activity. Unresolved is the extent to which it constitutes human capital acquisition or proxies for an "innate" unobserved skill. We document a determinant of high school leadership activity that is associated purely with school structure, rather than…

Presents findings on academic success of early entrants to school that show children younger at school entrance often have academic problems that last throughout their school careers. Suggests changing the cutoff dates for school entrance and using better developmental assessment to determine children's readiness to enter school. (MD)

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…

This study examined scores on second, third and fourth grade reading and mathematics tests to determine the effects of beginning school age on later school success. The analysis involved 352 participants in one rural school district in Western New York. Participants were divided into three groups: (a) age appropriate for entrance to school, (b)…

This monograph presents information to help educators consider how to determine the best age for each child to begin his or her formal schooling. Trends in state requirements for school entrance age are described, and research in areas such as mental age, reading readiness, child development, screening instruments, and experimental preschool…