The authors examined long-term outcomes for children who experienced delayed entry to kindergarten or kindergarten retention. They used a cohort of 6,841 students to compare these groups to each other and typically progressing peers. First, the authors compared the groups on demographic and early childhood variables. For the long-term school-based…

Drawing on information and references in the ERIC system, this literature review describes research related to a child's developmental placement. The issues examined include school entrance age; predictive validity, reliability, and features of Gesell School Readiness Assessment; retention; and the effectiveness of developmental placement. A…

If present trends in family life and education continue into the next decade, most children under five will spend substantial proportions of their early years in various types of early childhood programs, most five- to six-year-olds will attend all-day kindergarten, and during their elementary school years they will spend much of their time before…

Using a subsample of data relating to 4,668 first- and second-graders and their families from the 1991 National Household Education Survey, a study examined different ways of measuring whether a child is behind in grade and compared these measures with data about children who are below modal grade levels. Several profiles emerged. Children delayed…

This information packet contains nine articles that outline current trends in kindergarten retention/exclusion and their negative impact on student outcomes, particularly for high risk students. The 1980s saw increasing numbers of children required to repeat kindergarten, attend a transitional grade before first grade, or wait an extra year before…