There are sizable and pervasive academic achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students in the United States. Non-minority students -- particularly boys -- are more likely to enroll in school one year after they become eligible, a practice known as 'redshirting.' Consequently, non-minority students are on average more mature than…

We provide causal estimates of the effects of delayed kindergarten entry on achievement outcomes by exploiting a policy change in the birthdate enrollment cutoff in North Carolina that forced children born in a six-week window to redshirt. Using multiple peer group comparisons, we identify impacts on achievement and gifted or disability…

This study examined relationships between specific data on students referred for and placed in the exceptional children's program. The context is a rural North Carolina county and included 206 records of K-6th graders spanning academic years 2007-08, 08-09 and 09-10. The kindergarten entrance ages of students were divided into categories of on…