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Delayed school entry and academic performance: a natural experiment
Author(s) -
Jaekel Julia,
Strauss Vicky YuChun,
Johnson Samantha,
Gilmore Camilla,
Wolke Dieter
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/dmcn.12713
Subject(s) - propensity score matching , reading (process) , odds , academic achievement , affect (linguistics) , psychology , standardized test , natural experiment , developmental psychology , matching (statistics) , population , longitudinal study , medicine , odds ratio , demography , mathematics education , logistic regression , communication , pathology , sociology , political science , law , environmental health
Aim Recent reports suggest that delayed school entry ( DSE ) may be beneficial for children with developmental delays. However, studies of the effects of DSE are inconclusive. This study investigated the effects of DSE versus age‐appropriate school entry ( ASE ) on children's academic achievement and attention in middle childhood. Method In total, 999 children (492 females, 507 males; 472 born preterm) were studied as part of a prospective population‐based longitudinal study in Germany. Using a natural experimental design, propensity score matching was applied to create two matched groups who differed only in terms of DSE versus ASE . Teacher ratings of achievement in mathematics, reading, writing, and attention were obtained in Year 1, and standardized tests were administered at 8 years of age. Results There was no evidence of a difference in the odds of DSE versus ASE children being rated as above average by teachers in Year 1. In contrast, the standardized mean test scores for DSE children were lower than ASE children's mean scores in all domains (mathematics: B =−0.28 [−0.51 to −0.06)], reading: B =−0.39 [−0.65 to −0.14], writing: B =−0.90 [−1.07 to −0.74], and attention: B =−0.58 [−0.79 to −0.36]). Interpretation DSE did not affect teacher‐rated academic performance. However, missing 1 year of learning opportunities was associated with poorer average performance in standardized tests at 8 years of age. Future research is needed to determine the long‐term effect of DSE on academic achievement.