# data[].attributes.body
This article reflects the current trend in Kindergarten, academic red-shirting, and how it has expanded the age of classroom students.  Presently, a Kindergarten classroom may have students ranging from age four and a half to age seven.  Although parents view red-shirting a viable means to improve their child’s chances of being a successful student, there is no scientific data that supports this past third grade.

# data[].attributes.body
Researchers (Zill,Loomis, West) determined that when students were retained, there were little academic gains.  Students exhibited low self-esteem and were much more likely to be disruptive in class.  The research also inferred that children that delayed entry into Kindergarten had a better chance of success and avoiding school failure.  There was one innate problem with this proposal. Students who delayed entry, were for the most part, from wealthier families and could provide their child with a year of high-quality enrichment that lower income families could not.

# data[].attributes.body
According to this article, learning is “maximized not by getting all the right answers, instead by making errors and correcting them quickly”(Wang, Aamodt 2011). This allows students to experience being close to their ability limit.  Admittedly, too many errors on a routine basis are not a good thing either. That implies the learning gap may be too broad to allow for effective learning.  This would be justificationfor delaying the start up date for Kindergarten entry.

# data[].attributes.body
This article examines “maturational development, the belief that the passage of time will produce readiness and the assumptions of inter-actionists who believe that interactive stimulation rather that maturation alone contributes to development and to readiness”(Marshall2003).  Teachers and many professionals in the field unfortunately, foster this belief.  The two beliefs take credit for the success of students who can handle the more academic and rigorous demands of Kindergarten today.  Like all articles that discuss academic red-shirting, the article viewed red-shirting as unfair to the lowersocio-economic student.

# data[].attributes.body
This article is interesting due to the fact that when the research was completed, the authors could not support any clearly defined results whether academic red-shirting is beneficial.  This study monitored students from Kindergarten through high school graduation.  It provided data that suggested that older starting students were no better prepared for college or life skills than the students who started school on time.  They describe this state as “the Graying of Kindergarten”(Deming, Dynarski, 2008).

# data[].attributes.body
.  Researchers tracked a child’s social and emotional growth as well as their Language Arts and Math proficiency.  The results suggeste that the age at which children began school proved unrelated to their social-emotional functioning. However, children who began school at somewhat older age performed better at the start of school and made greater improvement over their first years of schooling.  Their school experience was positive, as was their success. Additionally, those students who began school somewhat younger scored lower on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking Scales.

# data[].attributes.body
This study found that the performance gap in the early grades that resulted from date of birth entry to Kindergarten much larger than was the gap caused by gender differences by the time students entered eighth grade. This study did show that differences of birth date could be a much larger factor regarding academic performance than gender differences throughout the elementary years.

# data[].attributes.body
The research participants in this study were kindergarten boys and girls.  The study examined how a student’s age affected stamina, maturity and work habits.  These were the significant factors which determined whether students were ready or not for Kindergarten.  This research suggested that teachers and administrators have strongly held notions regarding the age of a student and their academic success.

# data[].attributes.body
The results of this study concluded that red-shirting a child in Kindergarten had little effect on their phonological awareness skills but did have an effect on their letter-sound understanding.  Since letter sound understanding is the basis of all reading, students experiencing difficulty in this area would struggle attempting to read words unfamiliar to them.  These findings do not in itself determine a child’s success as a proficient reader.  Outside factors in conjunction with these findings determine a child’s success and contribute to their social, emotional and cognitive growth.

# data[].attributes.body
This resource describes how many states are considering modifying their start date for Kindergarten.  It compares the plight of urban students to that of wealthier districts.  The research concluded, “the youngest pupils are more likely to miss class, have difficulty focusing and are not developmentally ready”(Hu 2011).  What distinguishes the urban student from other students is a parent’s inability to give their child the “gift of time”(Hu2011).  As characterized by this terminology, a parent’s ability to keep their child home an additional year helps prepare them more effectively socially, emotionally and cognitively, for a more vigorous academic Kindergarten.

# data[].attributes.headline
Much of the research has not
substantiated age being a factor for academic achievement in Kindergarten.  Yet, many students are promoted each year as
struggling readers and they are “young” Kindergarteners.  What can we do as educators to change
this?  Many view academic red-shirting,
the trend in the more affluent socio-economic school districts, as the
solution.  Prolonged studies show that
there was no long term evidence supporting this. 

 

# data[].attributes.subject
Much of the research has not
substantiated age being a factor for academic achievement in Kindergarten.  Yet, many students are promoted each year as
struggling readers and they are “young” Kindergarteners.  What can we do as educators to change
this?  Many view academic red-shirting,
the trend in the more affluent socio-economic school districts, as the
solution.  Prolonged studies show that
there was no long term evidence supporting this. 

 