For those of you interested in this topic, here is an opportunity for you.

A network news magazine program is working on a story about redshirting. The show has most angles of the story covered, but would like to discuss this issue with someone who has a four or five year old child who is attending school with a large number of children who are up to 2 years older as a result of redshirting. If you have a child in such a situation and would like to be interviewed on this topic, please contact me and I will forward your contact information to the program.

You can contact me by using the "Report" button on this message or by using the "contact" link in the upper right corner of the home page.

Anonymous wrote: Are many anti-redshirters just looking to ensure someone else's child will be the worst-in-class?

54 pages and now we have an answer.

Anonymous wrote:Not the June birthday boy post but yes most Aug 5 year olds can not outperform most Sept 6 year olds. However in later years the difference disappears. My complaint is now that is stretched to 18 months at schools. When schools test they take this into account but it is forgotten about during the rest of the admissions process and in the classroom. So these kids are often not admitted or are asked to repeat because in general they can not keep up with the top of the class academically and behavior wise. The fact that these advantages disappear by third grade means that perhaps the schools and parents should wait until 3rd grade make the decision to hold back or not or do a transitional year.

From my experience (4 kids including July Sept and Oct birthdays), this claim is hype and has no basis in fact. Yes, schools don't forbid it, but I've never found it to be the case unless something more serious was going on with the child.

Not the June birthday boy post but yes most Aug 5 year olds can not outperform most Sept 6 year olds. However in later years the difference disappears. My complaint is now that is stretched to 18 months at schools. When schools test they take this into account but it is forgotten about during the rest of the admissions process and in the classroom. So these kids are often not admitted or are asked to repeat because in general they can not keep up with the top of the class academically and behavior wise. The fact that these advantages disappear by third grade means that perhaps the schools and parents should wait until 3rd grade make the decision to hold back or not or do a transitional year.

One of the harms is teachers no longer know what is appropriate k and pk behavior among boys as their classes skew older and older. Some studies show a statistically significant increase in schools categorizing boys as ADD/ADHD that appears due solely to "in grade" aged boys being judged against "olders".

Anonymous wrote:But in the meantime until grade 3 her kid is being compared to kids 1.5 years older. Writing, reading, athletic, behavior skills are not the same. My 5 year old can outperform most 3.5 year olds just a fact. Just like most 6.5 year olds can outperform most 5 year olds. The problem is the floor is constantly being raised and younger students can not meet the new standards. If tailored expectations to a kids age then no problem.

I can't tell whether either of these are the PP with the June-birthday DS, giving real specific reasons why her son actually has been harmed ... or instead just general descriptions of possible harms that might possibly occur. Clarification please?

It seems that these descriptions of harms basically point to the idea that the youngest children in any classroom will always be at a disadvantage. If that's true (and I'm not totally sure I accept that premise), then isn't all the objection to redshirting just a NIMBY-like fear of not wanting your own child to be the most disadvantaged? Are many anti-redshirters just looking to ensure someone else's child will be the worst-in-class?

Anonymous wrote:What K teacher doesn't know the age of her students? It's on the day the kid brings in the cupcakes.

What about summer bday kids, no cupcakes.

Anonymous wrote:Obviously both parents and schools have found that redshirting works, or it's popularity would have waned by now. If your kid has a June birthday and you don't want to redshirt him and you don't want him "harmed" by all of those older kids, then don't put him in a school that redshirts. You do in fact have a choice and since information on which schools encourage redshirting is easily ascertainable, if you still choose to put your kid in one of those schools then you have no business complaining. If you don't like those rules, don't play that game BUT don't insult parents who want that game and understand the need to play by the rules. Just go public and quit bellyaching.

Wrong. How is it "easily ascertainable"?? The schools claim to have September cut-offs. (Except maybe Potomac, which I think has an august one.) If you specifically ask, they give vague answers about developmental needs, yada yada. NO SCHOOL says yes, we leave it up to the parents, or yes, we don't question parents who choose to red-shirt for no reason other than wanting Johnny to be the best soccer player. I know, because I asked. I didn't get any straight answers.
There are no bdays published. You have to ask around, rely on insufficient data and gossip and guesses, and hope for the best.
And this is an important aspect of issue -- if the schools would be honest about it upfront, we could make an educated assessment of what school is best. But they are not.

Schools with so-called "junior kindergartens," however, seem to be promoting the red-shirting just by virtue of having a JK at all. So that is one way you might be able to tell. But again, it's a guess.

My daughter's class has a handful of redshirted kids. I will say, however, that there is still a 12 month age gap. It's just July-July instead of September-September. But at least it is still a 12 month spread, rather than 18 months.

Oh dear, that should be "its" on the first line

Obviously both parents and schools have found that redshirting works, or it's popularity would have waned by now. If your kid has a June birthday and you don't want to redshirt him and you don't want him "harmed" by all of those older kids, then don't put him in a school that redshirts. You do in fact have a choice and since information on which schools encourage redshirting is easily ascertainable, if you still choose to put your kid in one of those schools then you have no business complaining. If you don't like those rules, don't play that game BUT don't insult parents who want that game and understand the need to play by the rules. Just go public and quit bellyaching.

What K teacher doesn't know the age of her students? It's on the day the kid brings in the cupcakes.

But in the meantime until grade 3 her kid is being compared to kids 1.5 years older. Writing, reading, athletic, behavior skills are not the same. My 5 year old can outperform most 3.5 year olds just a fact. Just like most 6.5 year olds can outperform most 5 year olds. The problem is the floor is constantly being raised and younger students can not meet the new standards. If tailored expectations to a kids age then no problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is June birthday and is understandably one of the youngest in his class. What aggravates me is the students in his class that were born in April, May, June and July the YEAR BEFORE my son. I guess I do not fault the parents of the older kids for doing what they think is best for their kid but I fault the administrators who allow these insecure redshirt parents to harm other children like mine

How has your summer birthday son been harmed by being one of the youngest in his class? More specifically, how has your son been harmed by those April-July birthday children who were held back to be in his class?

Those parents did what they thought was best for their kids. You should do the same. Besides, all the anti-redshirters say there's no real advantage to redshirting and that any advantage is gone by 3rd grade.

Anonymous wrote:One of the harms is teachers no longer know what is appropriate k and pk behavior among boys as their classes skew older and older. Some studies show a statistically significant increase in schools categorizing boys as ADD/ADHD that appears due solely to "in grade" aged boys being judged against "olders".

Citations to these studies, please?

One of the harms is teachers no longer know what is appropriate k and pk behavior among boys as their classes skew older and older. Some studies show a statistically significant increase in schools categorizing boys as ADD/ADHD that appears due solely to "in grade" aged boys being judged against "olders".