![]() ![]() In the 2010-11 school year, six percent of first-time kindergarteners were redshirted. (This is the most recent year for which data is available.) We then focus on differences in redshirting rates by student gender and the families most likely to redshirt their sons. To get a picture of which families redshirt, we describe here data from the most recent large-scale US survey capturing detailed information about kindergarten delay and student attributes: the 2010-11 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, which surveys over 18,000 families of kindergarteners. But it does not have information on which kinds of parents chose to delay kindergarten entry. The Morning Consult/Ed Choice survey has the advantage of being recent. Interestingly, the share of redshirters surveyed at the same time was even higher - 15 percent - among teachers with school-age children. The main reasons given were that their child would have been “too young for their grade,” was “not emotionally ready,” or “not academically ready” or “the Covid-19 pandemic.” (Parents could choose multiple reasons.) For comparison, just six percent of parents in the survey whose children are over eighteen reported having redshirted a child in the same survey. It important to note here that some of these parents had children expected to enter kindergarten during the pandemic. ![]() In a 2021 survey conducted by Morning Consult and Ed Choice, 12 percent of parents with school-age children report having redshirted a child. Parents who have the option to redshirt often choose to do so. The option to delay school entry varies greatly, then, between different states and school districts, and between public and private schools. Private schools, by contrast, can set their own rules and exemptions when it comes to the age of school entry (including in places like New York City), and often offer a great deal of flexibility – especially in terms of a preference for a delayed entry. In many states, the rules about school entry are made by individual school districts. By contrast, New York City public school children must attend kindergarten in the calendar year of their fifth birthday, and parents are not allowed to elect to delay their child’s kindergarten entry. Oklahoma, for instance, requires children to enroll in half-day kindergarten in the school year after they turn five (September 1 birthday cutoff), but parents are allowed to delay their child’s kindergarten entry by a year at their own discretion by submitting a form. But states and school district policies vary widely, and many offer exemptions for parents who want to enroll their children in public school either earlier or later than the default age. Most states require children to attend at least half-day kindergarten in the school year after their fifth birthday. When are students supposed to start school? An alternative would be to go in the other direction, enabling and encouraging the lower income parents to have more opportunity for a delayed start in school for their children. Some school districts, including New York City’s, have forbidden redshirting on equity grounds. Given that it is bo ys from less advantaged backgrounds who seem to gain the most from a delayed start, this may raise questions in terms of equality of opportunity. ![]() The overall picture from previous studies is that rates of redshirting are higher for white boys from affluent backgrounds. In this piece I describe the existing evidence of the prevalence and patterns of redshirting, especially in light of what appears to have been a spike during the pandemic. But to the extent that there are advantages flowing from a delayed school start, it is important to understand the current patterns of redshirting. Delaying kindergarten entry by year is often dubbed “redshirting,” a term borrowed from a practice in collegiate sports, where a first-year student athlete practices with their team but is held out of regular competition for a season.įor sure any move in this direction would need careful pilot study and evaluation. ![]()
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