Every school has its own policy for accepting kindergartners. For some, it’s a birthday deadline, others it’s a developmental readiness assessment. And, yet there is no definitive answer. When to accept students, or start students, is a difficult decision—and often one that is ultimately made by the parents.
The traditional age to start children in kindergarten is five. However, conflicting studies are discouraging parents from starting children based solely on their age. Recent findings from the Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that nearly 10% of all kindergarten-age children are now redshirted. The incidence is highest for boys born late in the year.
Some report findings show that older students in a class are more likely to have behavioral issues, while other reports show that redshirting gives students an academic advantage. However, the academic advantage it gives students in elementary school is not maintained as they reach middle and high school.
Short-term effects for redshirted students seem to be an advantage in motor skills and size. However, for extremely tall students, studies find they feel alienated.
Students held back tend to hold onto their academic advantages through third grade. Yet, conflicting reports show that these students tend to need special education services, and suggest that it might be because they did not receive early intervention. And, as far as long-term effects, there is no direct evidence that redshirting causes harm or benefit.
So, what does all this conflicting data mean? It means the real referee in the battle of redshirting is the parent, and that your role as Admission Officer is to guide parents, helping them make the best possible decisions for their child.
When parents seem uncertain whether to begin their child in kindergarten or to give them another year to develop, ask them to not think about if their child will the youngest or the oldest, but to rather take into consideration their childs’ emotional development. There is no proven academic advantage to starting a child sooner or later. The real decision should be based on how they think their child will handle and adjust to a school setting.
If your school has a unique formula to the redshirting debate, we would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment, or contact our editor directly at eletters@isminc.com.
