This study examines the degree of correlation between the age of a child on entering kindergarten and the child's academic achievement. A review of literature provides evidence that premature learning may actually create a block to later learning. One study reported that many chronologically young children who had a higher than average I.Q. failed…

Research on the relation of age of admission to kindergarten and later school achievement has yielded inconsistent findings. This study examined the school district records of two cohorts of kindergartners who had been enrolled in the same school district during Fall 1989 and Fall 1990. Records for both cohorts were examined at the completion of…

The practice of delaying students' entrance into kindergarten raises several questions. This literature review asks: (1) How does the entrance age of kindergarten children affect academic achievement?; (2) Do age-eligible older students perform better academically than younger students?; (3) Do year-older or "red-shirted" students have…

Academic redshirting, the practice of postponing a child's entry into kindergarten, is intended to give a child an extra year to become ready for school, an especially important goal given the increasing academic demands of early elementary years. This digest presents information about the incidence of redshirting, and summarizes some of the…

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…

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)

This article explores the relationship between notions of development and practice in early education. Through an interpretive study of the experience of the "gift of time," the article follows small groups of children who delayed kindergarten entry, those who were relatively young but entered on time, and children retained in kindergarten to gain…

The National Education Association prepared this booklet on school entrance age because the association feels that the issue of a national cutoff date for entrance to kindergarten is perhaps the least controversial, most popular, and easiest educational reform issue to promote. The first part of the booklet: (1) provides information that supports…

This study tested hypotheses regarding the relation of differences in kindergarten entry and rentention that relate to gender and ethnicity. Hypotheses were: (1) the age at which children enter kindergarten would vary as a function of their gender and ethnicity; (2) children who were held out of kindergarten would be in the younger part of their…

Twenty-one questions parents may ask about kindergarten are answered in this booklet. Generally, the content aims to clarify the purpose and scope of kindergarten. Several questions have to do with entering a child in kindergarten: the required age, necessary information, attendance regulations, length of school day and screening tests. Questions…

Raising the age of eligibility to enter kindergarten has not eliminated variations in children's readiness for school, and parents and teachers have used delayed entry and retention as strategies to accommodate these variations. Information from the 1993 and 1995 National Household Education Survey is used to describe the numbers and…

Examined the effect of several variables on children's academic readiness at the end of kindergarten. Results indicated that age of entry into school and number of years in preschool predicted academic readiness. Children who entered preschool by age four scored higher on readiness measures than those who entered at age five. (BC)

A consideration of readiness for kindergarten must take into account the kindergarten program and the teacher's expectations of the child. This digest first examines kindergarten teachers' expectations for children's social, behavioral, sensory-motor, cognitive, and language abilities upon entrance to kindergarten. The issue of kindergarten…

Educators commonly recommend that children born during the summer months, especially boys, be given an extra year to mature before entering kindergarten so that they will not suffer from the academic disadvantages of being among the youngest children in a class. Terms such as "academic red-shirting" and "graying of the…

Educators commonly recommend that children born during the summer months, especially boys, be given an extra year to mature before entering kindergarten so that they will not suffer from the academic disadvantages of being among the youngest children in a class. Terms such as "academic red-shirting" and "graying of the…