Reply to Why is redshirting so rare if it's so advantageous?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP- the crazy anti-redshirting parents came out in full force for this one! I held my kid back because his preK teacher recommended it for social/speech reasons. He could ready by four and has always scored in the 99th percentile for everything, so my teacher friends were appalled that I was holding him back. He’ll be bored! they said. Nope. He was just mature enough to cope with the mundane aspects of public school- all the sitting and paperwork that now constitutes first grade etc. As he’s gotten older, I have never once regretted holding him back. I think for boys especially, it’s a good thing. I don’t think of it as “cheating”. I don’t care about his performance on whatever tests. I care about MY KID and that decision was best for him. The anti-redshirting families are weirdly competitive and they are very vocal. They are the families who pay attention to their child’s scores etc compared to their classmates’ etc. My kid isn’t sporty so he isn’t taking anyone’s prized basketball spot or anything either. Just make the right decision for your kid, listen to people you trust. If you can afford to give your kid one more year of sweet non structured preK living, go for it! Good luck. [/quote]

We aren’t crazy, we just believe the evidence that says that for the typical kid there is no benefit and could have deleterious effects in the long term. But since your kid had delays, of course it makes sense to redshirt him. Good for you for doing that, seriously.

A quick summary of some research:

“In the academic arena, advantages are seen not for older students, but for those who are young for their year. In a large-scale study at 26 Canadian elementary schools, first graders who were young for their year made considerably more progress in reading and math than kindergartners who were old for their year (but just two months younger).[18] In another large study, the youngest fifth-graders scored a little lower than their classmates, but five points higher in verbal I.Q., on average, than fourth-graders of the same age.[19] These studies are consistent with the idea that the source of increased opportunity in this case is school itself, with effects that are more favorable to students who are surrounded by children who are older than themselves.[citation needed]

One 1997 study found that adolescents whose school entry had been delayed exhibited more behavioral problems than their classmates.[20] Moreover, in light of evidence of a higher use of special education services by redshirted youths, it has been speculated that many individuals who were redshirted as kindergarteners may have had special needs that were misdiagnosed as immaturity and that should have been treated by some form of direct intervention other than delayed entry.[6][7]”[/quote]

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