Interesting study just out of rand corp that looks at entry age/maturity of kindergarterners. Study finds that older children do better not because of size or learning ability, but because of maturity and background knowledge. The differences show lasting results in achievement up to eighth grade. The differences are less pronounced for children who are from poorer neighborhoods, apparently because preschool education/exposure adds to background knowledge. Older entry ages have helped decrease identification of ADD ADHD and older children perform better on academic achievement tests. Interestingly, it also talks of younger children in classes with older children then being more prone to retention and identification of learning disabilities. etc.
I found this to be an interesting study given our discussion on retention. http://www.rand.org/labor/adp_pdfs/2007_lubotsky.pdf :)Bonita _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
