School & District Management Report Roundup

Delaying Kindergarten

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo — August 25, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Children who enter kindergarten a year after they are eligible do better in school initially than their younger peers, but the advantage tends to fade later in their academic careers, according to a study set to appear in the Journal of Human Resources.

The findings go against earlier research suggesting that age is a significant factor in student achievement. Many states have changed kindergarten-eligibility requirements to give younger students more time to mature before starting school.

“One way to think about it is that the oldest kid in kindergarten has about 20 percent more life experience,” said Darren Lubotsky, a economics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who co-authored the study with Todd Elder, an economist at Michigan State University. “But once they start, they basically learn at the same rate.”

The delay may be a disadvantage to older students later on, the study concludes, given the cost of entering the workforce late.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the August 27, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management What the Research Says About School Boards: How Much Conflict Really Is There?
Plus, how competitive are board elections? How much do teachers' union endorsements matter?
7 min read
Houston ISD's appointed school board votes on the "District of Innovation" status during their monthly work session meeting at HISD Central Office on Sept. 7, 2023 in Houston.
Houston's appointed school board takes a vote during a meeting on Sept. 7, 2023 in the district's central office. A number of studies from recent years have answered questions about school boards' makeup, how competitive board elections are, whether conflict is on the rise, and more.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP
School & District Management Opinion How a Weekly Email to My Staff Made Me a Better District Leader
Writing helps make sense out of what feels messy and focus us on what's most important.
George Philhower
5 min read
Blue hand holding red pen.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week
School & District Management What Superintendents Say Went Right—and Wrong—This Past School Year
Superintendents who shared their reflections with Education Week cited local successes, as well as funding uncertainty.
1 min read
Miniature people sitting on a bar graph.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion Data Can Be Intimidating to Educators. But It Doesn't Have to Be
An unexpected insight from a child offers teacher and leadership teams a way to appreciate a more nuanced use of evidence.
4 min read
Screen Shot 2025 04 29 at 6.47.20 AM
Canva