Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Having older classmates in kindergarten improves educational outcomes, increasing test scores for up to eight years


This study estimates the effects of relative age in kindergarten using data from an experiment where children of the same age were randomly assigned to different kindergarten classmates. 

The study finds that, holding constant own age, having older classmates on average improves educational outcomes, increasing test scores up to eight years after kindergarten, and raising the probability of taking a college-entry exam. 

These findings suggest that delaying kindergarten entry, or so-called academic “redshirting,” does not harm other children—and may in fact benefit them—consistent with positive spillovers from higher-scoring or better-behaved peers.


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