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Summary

The article discusses the potential impact of Connecticut's early kindergarten entrance age guideline on equity and the implications of "redshirting" for children's academic readiness.

Abstract

The article examines the debate around the optimal age for starting kindergarten, with a focus on Connecticut's unique guideline that allows children to begin kindergarten at a younger age compared to other states. It presents research on the effects of age on ADHD diagnoses and academic performance, highlighting the practice of redshirting—delaying kindergarten entry—particularly among parents with higher education levels. The author points out that this practice may exacerbate equity issues, as children from low-income families are less likely to be redshirted and thus may start kindergarten at a comparatively younger age. The article also compares Connecticut's kindergarten age guidelines to those of other states, noting the potential for a significant age gap that could affect children's educational experiences and outcomes.

Opinions

  • The author suggests that the common practice of redshirting, especially among more affluent parents, may not be as beneficial as commonly believed.
  • There is a concern that the current system disadvantages younger children from low-income families, creating an equity issue that is not fully understood.
  • The author implies that the age disparities in kindergarten classrooms are more pronounced in Connecticut due to its early cutoff date, potentially leading to a wider range of maturity and readiness levels among students.
  • The article questions the fairness of the current kindergarten entrance age guidelines, given the potential long-term effects on children's education and the societal implications of these disparities.
  • It is argued that the decision to delay kindergarten should not be based solely on a child's birth month or on anecdotal evidence from a small sample of children.

Why Connecticut Must Review Its Kindergarten Entrance Age Guideline ASAP

Redshirting, state guidelines, and equity

Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

Do you believe starting kindergarten as one of the oldest in the class confers children an advantage?

Otherwise put, do you feel your child would be at a disadvantage if she was among the youngest students in her kindergarten class?

Many parents have strong opinions about this, largely based on very small samples that include their own children, and their relatives’ or friends' children.

These examples are meaningless in that no general conclusion can be drawn from such small numbers or without controlling for other variables that might have affected the outcomes — or our views on such outcomes.

Let’s turn to the research then, and the unique situation of my state, Connecticut, when it comes to its kindergarten age cutoff guideline.

What does the research actually show?

Well, it goes both ways.

One example often cited to support delaying kindergarten is the survey of data published in 2018 in the New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that:

“Younger children in a school grade cohort may be more likely to receive a diagnosis of attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than their older peers because of age-based variation in behavior that may be attributed to ADHD rather than to the younger age of the children.”

Others assert that redshirting almost never makes any difference and is often a bad idea. Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten? by Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach and Stephanie Howard Larson is, to my mind, the most convincing article supporting this view, as it considers various lines of research to arrive at the following conclusion:

“We find that redshirting at the kindergarten level bestows few benefits and exacts some substantial costs. Both research and experience suggest that the gains that accrue from being an older student are likely to be short-lived.”

All told, the practice of delaying kindergarten — particularly by parents with college degrees and beyond — appears to be more common than justified. (More on this later!)

One problem with the research, however, is that it assumes a common kindergarten age cutoff. It doesn’t account for the differences in guidelines across states.

As you’ll see, this makes the whole delaying issue a bit more complicated, especially in the case of the state of Connecticut.

Connecticut, it turns out, is the state which allows children to start kindergarten the youngest: children must be 5 by January 1 of their kindergarten year.

What to make of the various kindergarten cutoff dates across states, and where does Connecticut stand?

Almost all states in the US — 41 to be exact, plus the District of Columbia — have age guidelines for kindergarten. (You can find a summary of such guidelines across states in the Addendum below.)

Connecticut, it turns out, is the state which allows children to start kindergarten the youngest: children must be 5 by January 1 of their kindergarten year.

In Connecticut, the youngest children start kindergarten at approximately 4 yrs 8 months (4.8) and the oldest at 5.8 — assuming the school year begins mid to late August, which is the case for most students across the country.

Meanwhile, the most common kindergarten age guideline in the country — followed by 25 states plus the District of Columbia — is 5 years old by September 1 (or August 31).

This means, of course, that in such states, the youngest children would start kindergarten at 5 and the oldest at 6 (one day short of their 6th birthdays).

As a teacher in a wealthy school district in Connecticut, I know it’s common for parents who can afford to do so to delay kindergarten for children with fall birthdays (after 9/1). The reasons are varied, but a recurring one is the feeling that children should be 5 by the start of kindergarten or that they’ll be at a disadvantage if they’re amongst the youngest in the group.

Parents make their decisions based on what seems to be the best option for their own children, not on scholarly research about the general population. Isn’t that what all parents (this one included) do when they have a choice?

Now, parents in other states are doing the same thing as CT parents but given other parameters for “youngest in the class.”

Take my sister, whose son’s birthday’s in April. She wasn’t even concerned about her son being the youngest. She just didn’t think him “ready.” Well, with a 9/1 start date in her state, kindergartners there are, on average, 4 months older than in Connecticut, which means that on average, they will also be more “mature.”

What I’m getting at is that, in CT, my nephew might not have appeared immature for his age. Even if he had, however, delaying kindergarten for a child with an April birthday is so uncommon in CT that my sister might not have considered it.

The youngest kindergarteners in Connecticut are also the youngest kindergartners in the country.

What does this all entail, especially when it comes to the issue of equity?

In kindergarten classrooms across the US, the average age of the children varies significantly. In CT, if everyone abided by the guideline, the average kindergarten start age would be around 5.2 years. In many other states, it would be around 5.6.

As a result, the youngest kindergarteners in Connecticut are also the youngest kindergartners in the country.

Is this difference a big deal?

I’d say it may well be.

As I wrote above, many CT parents who can afford to do so delay kindergarten for their children with late birthdays. (It’s also interesting to note that most CT private schools require children to be age 5 by the start of kindergarten.)

Obviously, CT children from low-income families tend to be redshirted less. Preschool and child care are expensive, plus parents may not be aware of these redshirting trends.

It’s no wonder the highest percentage of 4-year-olds in kindergarten live in poorer districts (Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk, according to a 2014 article in the Stamford Advocate), while the lowest percentage live in wealthy districts (Darien, New Canaan and Wilton).

These age disparities are compounded when we bring other states into the picture. For example, the redshirting rate for children of college-educated parents, in states with a September 1 cutoff, is about 10% for boys (20% for boys with summer birthdays), according to the authors of Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?, widening even more the age gap between CT children with later birthdays and children from other states.

There may well be a significant percentage of low-income CT children who start kindergarten at 4.6 years, while a similar proportion of children from high-income families in other states are 6+ years when they begin kindergarten.

I’d say this is problematic. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know how huge an issue it is. What I can say, though, is that there’s certainly an issue of equity here whose impact we don’t really understand.

I kind of lose patience with the argument that it’s preferable for these younger low-income children to be in kindergarten classrooms instead of at home or in child care. I say that would be the case if they got to do kindergarten twice!

Obviously, some children have to be on the younger end and others on the older end (unless all were born in the same month!). Why, though, should more of the younger children also be from low-income families?

Addendum:

Following is a summary of the cutoff dates, that is, the date by which the child must have turned 5 to be eligible for kindergarten (Source: Education Commission of the States, dated September 2020):

6 August-1 States:

Hawaii, Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Missouri (metropolitan districts can set a cutoff date between August 1 and October 1)

1 August-15 State:

Tennessee

25 September-1 States:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia.

2 September-15 States:

Wyoming, Iowa

8 October-1 States:

Colorado, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Virginia, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio (though individual districts are allowed to set an August 1 cutoff date)

1 October-15 State:

Maine

7 No-specific-cutoff-mandate States:

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin

1 January-1 State: Connecticut

The cutoff date includes states with a date one day before/after the date listed. For example, the August-1 cutoff states include states with an August 31 cutoff date.

Related article:

Kindergarten
Equity
Education
Parenting
Social Justice
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