Impact of school entry on children across their primary school careers.

Abstract

This study explores the age of school entry and the impact that it has on students’ socially. This study answers the question how does age of school entry impact students’ socially across their primary school career? This study was proposed by a local school principal. The school currently has a cutoff date that states that a student must be five years old as of December 1st. The principal wanted to research to see if there would be a benefit to students socially if the cutoff date was moved to September 1st. The de-identified historical student records of ninety five fourth grade students from a local suburban school district were examined for this study. In reviewing the records, the students’ date of birth, gender, absences, and report card comments were analyzed comparing data on students’ who entered kindergarten at the age of four, five, and six years old. After analyzing the data the results showed that although there was some correlation between date of birth, gender, absences, and report card comments, there was not enough correlation to conclude that age of entry impacts students’ socially. Further research suggestions include a larger sample size, analyzing the same students after they have completed kindergarten, fourth grade, and an upper grade level, and analyzing and comparing students’ results to students’ in other surrounding school districts to further investigate whether age of entry impacts students’ socially.