www.collaboratingpartners.com

Delaying Entrance to Kindergarten
November 2006 – working draft
credits

What is the issue?

In the past there was much discussion about delaying the entrance of age-eligible children into five-year-old kindergarten (5K). The practice has been called “Redshirting.” While those issues have been quiet for a while, they are re-emerging with the increase of four-year-old kindergarten (4K) programs in Wisconsin.

School districts are beginning to report being approached by parents of 5K-eligible children, who want to hold their child back and enroll them instead in 4K. Occasionally, a community early childhood provider or school personnel will also tell a parent that it may be good to “hold the child out” one more year from 4- or 5-year-old kindergarten.

The discussion of holding children “back” started over 20 years ago.  David Elkind circa 1985 was began raising concerns about the issue.  Many people feel this practice has grown to “epidemic proportions over the years.   Parents are under increasing pressure to “prepare their child for school”. With the recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation, schools face increasing pressure to assure “academic success”. Misuse of kindergarten screening may occur when parents are suggested to “hold their child back” because they are “not ready”.

What do Wisconsin Statutes say about eligibility for kindergarten?

State statutes define age as the only criteria for eligibility to kindergarten and first grade: Statute 118.14 Age of pupils

(a)  No child may be admitted to a 4–year–old kindergarten unless he or she is 4 years old on or before September 1 in the year that he or she proposes to enter school.

(b)  No child may be admitted to a 5–year–old kindergarten unless he or she is 5 years old on or before September 1 in the year that he or she proposes to enter school.

(c)  No child may be admitted to 1st grade unless he or she is 6 years old on or before September 1 in the year that he or she proposes to enter school.

The state statutes {120.12(25)} allow each school district to decide if their policies will allow early entrance, but the statutes are silent on delaying entrance.

How do districts handle parental requests to delay entrance to kindergarten?

In response to this issue, a question was sent to the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) Forces for Four-Year-Olds Listserv. Responses from a number of districts show a wide variation in how districts handle these requests. Responses ranged from:

  • District has no written policy and look at each child and family on a case by case basis. For instance if a child's birthday is August 30 and they will just turn 4, a parent can request late entrance.
  • District works with parent to help them understand implications.  They strongly encourage parents to place children with their age-mates, but let parent decide.
  • District has a written policy that lets the parent decide.
  • District has a written policy that does not to allow 5K-eligible children to enroll in 4K program.

What are guiding the practices?

The practice of delaying school entrance to age-eligible children is very controversial. Some responding to the DPI listserv survey raised issues and suggested a number of references. A web review identified a number of other resources. Nearly all of the articles reference the same research from the same researchers and come to different conclusions regarding it. While many argue that the research is not consistent, most of the resources identified did not support the practice of delayed entrance or “red-shirting.”

What does the research say?

·          “UW-Madison Education Professor Elizabeth Graue and Lehigh University’s James DiPerna examined the school records of more than 8,500 Wisconsin students in 47 districts in 1995.

o        Approximately 7% of kindergartners were redshirted, and 3% retained K-3.

o        The majority of redshirts are boys with summer birthdays. Retainees (students who are asked to repeat a grade) follow this pattern; additionally, children of color and of poverty are overrepresented.

o        On the Wisconsin third grade reading test, all groups were statistically and practically even in their test results, with the exception of students who were retained during early elementary years. Redshirts achieve on par with their grade-level peers, including summer birthday children who entered on time (though they are not on top as some would suggest). All retainees performed at levels below their grade level peers. These proportions and patterns hold true in nationally representative samples.

o        Students do not seem to benefit socially from being redshirted. Their self-concept and acceptance by peers are about the same, as are teacher ratings of behavior for oldest (redshirted) and youngest (not redshirted) children.

o        Redshirting has serious economic effects for parents. It involves an additional year of either lost wages or of childcare, which is a luxury that many families cannot afford.

o        Web page about James DiPerna, and M. Elizabeth Graue, ‘Redshirting and Early Retention: Who Gets the "Gift of Time,"’ American Educational Research Journal 37(2): 509-34, (Sum) 2000.

·         Lorrie A. Shepard and Mary Lee Smith conducted research on kindergarten retention from 1984-88 What Research Says about Retention (1989). There were three major findings:

  1. Kindergarten retention does nothing to boost subsequent academic achievement;
  2. Regardless of what the extra year may be called, there is a social stigma for children who attend an extra year;
  3. Retention actually fosters inappropriate academic demands in first grade.

·         The Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting (CEEP) lists many of the immediate and short term benefits of “red shirting.”

o       Some of the immediate benefits that are experienced include: academic achievement in math, reading, and general knowledge, as well as conduct, generally above or on par with grade-level peers who are younger, academic achievement and conduct on par with same-age children in higher grade and “redshirted” kindergartners exhibit more confidence in interactions with peers and tend to be well-liked more often than younger classmates.

o       There are more benefits that appear in grades 1-3 and they include: less likely than younger classmates "to draw negative feedback from teachers about their academic performance or conduct in class," and higher academic achievement and lower need for special education than children who were retained as kindergartners. It is still inconclusive as to whether or not a student is harmed in the long term by red shirting.

·         The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) found that students that whose kindergarten entrance was delayed demonstrated slightly higher reading knowledge and skills than those who started on time. Delaying children’s entrance to kindergarten is based on the belief that the additional time will allow children to develop socially and cognitively for school.

·         Lillian Katz in her article “Academic Redshirting and Young Children” found that the immediate effects of “redshirting” include: it raises the child’s achievement in math, reading and general knowledge and conduct to on par or above that of younger classmates. It also increases the child’s confidence in social interactions, and may add to the age diversity in the classroom. She reported many of the same short term (grades 1-3) findings as above including, equal academic achievement levels, lower likelihood of negative feedback from teachers and less need for special education.

Resources that “take a stand” on delayed entrance

·         The National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education position statement, STILL Unacceptable Trends in Kindergarten Entry and Placement, is “Children are enrolled in kindergarten based on their legal right to enter . . . . . families are not counseled or pressured to delay entrance of their children for a year by keeping them at home or enrolling them in other programs. Rather, families are strongly encouraged to enroll age-eligible children.”

·         Debra J. Ackerman and W. Steven Barnett tie the practice to the concept of “school readiness” in Prepared for Kindergarten: What Does “Readiness” Mean?: “Readiness testing is common. Although these assessments may be used to determine instructional needs, schools may also use results to discourage parents from enrolling their age-eligible child in kindergarten. Research finds the predictive validity of these tests to be extremely limited. Thus, their use in making decisions about kindergarten enrollment is highly questionable.”

·         Marilou Hyson, an executive with the National Association for the Education of Young Children, feared that we were creating a vicious cycle. Kindergarten might continue getting more advanced, causing the average age of kindergarten students to go up in response, which in turn would allow the academic demands to be ratcheted up further. Eventually, after much turmoil, kindergarten might turn out to be simply first grade under a different name, with the same curriculum and the same age students as first grade traditionally had.

·         Lillian Katz offers suggestions for parents in her article regarding redshirting your child. She says when considering delaying entrance for your child to not just look at age or birthday, but other factors that play into school readiness. Be sure to use screening methods to see how your child might fare in their kindergarten class placement. Ask teachers about the size of the class and their opinion about your child’s abilities. Also be sure to consider the options if your child won’t attend kindergarten and are there other options for development.

An internet search will find a variety of resources including:

 
This document includes a summary of comments from a question posted on the Wisconsin Forces for –Four-Year-Olds listserv as well as a web search on the topic.  This document was prepared by Jill Haglund, John Philips, and Justin Steiner from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.