Forced to Redshirt: Quasi-Experimental Impacts of Delayed Kindergarten Entry

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Early Childhood Outcomes

Abstract

A new concern in parents’ child rearing decisions is whether to enroll their child in kindergarten “on time”, when they are first age-eligible, or to delay their kindergarten entry, known as “redshirting”. A change in NC’s enrollment cutoff date required children born in a six week period of the year to delay kindergarten entry, essentially forcing parents to redshirt their children. We compare the outcomes of these “forced” redshirted children with their peers to identify the impact of redshirting on achievement outcomes and on students’ curricular determinations of giftedness or disability status. We find that delayed entry provides small benefits to students’ academic achievement, and makes children slightly less likely to be identified with a disability.

Authors

• Jade Jenkins, University of California - Irvine

• Kevin Fortner, Georgia State University