Who are the children who enter kindergarten with skills that exceed or lag behind those of the average child? Who are the children with significant problems with respect to their health or behavior? The findings in America's Kindergartners demonstrate significant differences in children's early academic skills across pupils of various ages, between girls and boys, as well as between children from high-risk versus more ordinary family circumstances. Age, sex, and family risk factors are also related to some of the observed variation in children's health status and behavior at school entry.
Age-related differences in school readiness
Variation in children's ages is associated with differences in their knowledge, skills, and behavior. The ECLS-K found that nearly two-thirds of kindergartners were between 5 years and 5 years, 8 months as of September 1st of the reference year (1998) (figure 3). Nine percent were not yet 5 years old as of the same date. Nearly one-quarter were almost 6 years old (5 years, 8 months to 5 years, 11 months), and 4 percent were already 6.
The variation in age at entry is primarily due to three causes. First, school systems differ in their policies regarding how old children must be and by what date in order to qualify for kindergarten entry. Second, children are born throughout the year, so some just make and others just miss the cutoff date. Third, some parents choose to delay their children's entry into kindergarten. The ECLS-K findings support the contention (Zill, Loomis, and West 1997) that older students often have advantages with respect to the knowledge and self-regulation skills they bring to the classroom.
Older kindergartners are closer to being able to read
A larger majority of the older than the younger children have attained the first level of reading proficiency (recognizing letters of the alphabet), and larger minorities of the older children have passed the higher proficiency levels. The ECLS-K data show the following:
- Seventy-three percent of kindergartners who are about to turn 6 at the start of the school year are able to identify letters by name (i.e., they pass reading proficiency level one), whereas 56 percent of children who have not yet turned 5 are able to do this. The proportion of those who pass reading level one in the 5 to 5 and two-thirds age group falls in between the younger and older pupils.
- Twice as many of the older than the younger children are at reading proficiency level three: they are able to associate letters with sounds at the beginnings and ends of words. Twenty-two percent of pupils about to turn 6 can do this, compared with 11 percent of those about to turn 5. Again, those 5 to 5 and two-thirds fall in between the younger and older children.
- The small number who are at an advanced reading level is four times larger among the older than the younger children. Four percent of pupils about to turn 6 can read easy words by sight, compared with 1 percent who can do this among pupils about to turn 5 or who became 5 within the past 4 months (May-August births).
Older kindergartners are closer to being able to do arithmetic
A similar positive relationship between knowledge and age was found with respect to proficiency in early mathematics skills. Here the average older pupil is at a higher proficiency level than the typical pupil in the youngest age group. Specifically:
- Two-thirds of those about to turn 6 are at mathematics proficiency level two. They are able to read numerals, count beyond 10, recognize patterns of figures, and compare the relative lengths of objects. By contrast, 42 percent of those who have not yet turned 5 can do these things. About half (51 percent) of pupils who have turned 5 within the past 4 months are able to demonstrate level two mathematics skills.
- Two to three times as many of the older than the younger children are at the third mathematics proficiency level: they are able to read two-digit numerals and recognize the ordinal position of an object. Twenty-nine percent of pupils who are about to turn 6 have these skills. By contrast, 14 percent of pupils who have just turned 5, and 10 percent of those who are not yet 5, can demonstrate level three mathematics skills.
- The proportion at an advanced mathematics level is 4 to 5 times larger among the older kindergartners. Seven percent of pupils who enter at almost age 6 can do addition and subtraction problems, compared with 2 percent of pupils who enter at age 5.
Older kindergartners know more about nature, science, and human society
As with reading and mathematics, the ECLS-K results indicated a positive relationship between age at school entry and performance on the general knowledge assessment. For example:
- Roughly one-third of pupils who are almost age 6 achieve general knowledge scores in the top quartile of the score distribution. By contrast, 17 percent of pupils who have just turned 5, and 12 percent of those who are not yet 5, score in the top quartile (figure 4).
- Forty-two percent of the youngest group have scores in the bottom quartile of the score distribution, compared with 16 percent of the children just turning 6.
Although the ECLS-K results showed significant positive relationships between children's age and their reading and mathematics skills and general knowledge, age differences do not account for all of the variation in pupils' knowledge and skills at school entry. Even among kindergartners of the same age, there are considerable differences from pupil to pupil in what each one knows and can do.
Older children have more advanced motor skills
Older children have better coordination than do younger children. This is true with respect to both fine motor skills, such as using a pencil to copy a geometric figure, and gross motor skills, such as walking backward on a line or hopping on one foot. The psychomotor assessment showed, for example, that:
- Children who are nearly 6 at the start of the kindergarten year are twice as likely as those who have not yet turned 5 to score in the top third of the distribution on fine motor skills. Forty-four percent of the former group scored in the top third, compared with 22 percent of the latter group. The older students were half as likely as the youngest students to score in the bottom third of the distribution (20 versus 45 percent).
- Likewise, children about to become 6 were two-thirds more likely than those about to turn 5 to score in the top portion of the distribution in the assessment of gross motor skills (46 versus 28 percent). The older group was 60 percent as likely to score in the bottom third in gross motor skills (21 percent versus 37 percent).
Some developmental problems are more common among the oldest kindergartners
The population of first-time kindergartners includes a group of children who are much older than their peers. These children are already 6 at the start of kindergarten and could have begun kindergarten the year before (January-August 1992 births). Children in this older group have higher frequencies of some developmental difficulties. For example, these 6-year-olds are (1) twice as likely as any other age group to have problems with their coordination (8 versus 3-4 percent), and (2) more likely than any other group to have difficulties with speech articulation (18 versus 10-11 percent). This may be one reason why the parents of this group of older children choose to delay their children's entrance to kindergarten by a year.
Older children are more socially adept and less prone to problem behaviors
According to teachers and, to a lesser extent, parents, older children engage in cooperative behavior more frequently than younger children, and are less prone to angry, argumentative, or combative behavior. For example, the results show that:
- Compared with children not yet 5, larger majorities of those about to turn 6 are described by teachers as often accepting peers' ideas for group activities (75 versus 69 percent) and forming and maintaining friendships (80 versus 74 percent). A majority of the older children, as opposed to a minority of the younger ones, comfort or help other children often (54 versus 46 percent).
- Compared with children not yet 5, smaller minorities of those about to turn 6 are described by teachers as getting angry easily (10 versus 14 percent) and as fighting with others often or very often (9 versus 12 percent).
Parents' ratings of children's positive social behavior show that students who are almost 6 are more likely to easily join others in play than are the youngest kindergartners (87 versus 82 percent). However, according to parents, there is little difference between older and younger kindergartners with respect to making and keeping friends or comforting or helping others. Parents' reports also indicate that fewer older children get angry easily but that no significant age differences exist with respect to the frequency of arguing and fighting with others.
Older children are more persistent
According to teachers and, to a lesser extent, parents, older children exhibit a more positive approach to classroom learning tasks. In teachers' ratings, for example, compared with children not yet 5, larger majorities of those about to become 6 are described as showing eagerness to learn new things (80 versus 66 percent); paying attention well (73 versus 57 percent); and persisting in completing tasks (78 versus 63 percent). Parents' ratings of children's approaches to learning also show age differences with respect to the frequency of working at something until finished but no significant differences with respect to eagerness to learn new things.
With knowledge and skills as well as social maturity, age differences do not explain all or even most of the variation in children at school entry. Nor can the differences account for the bulk of the variation in problem behavior or approaches to learning. Even among kindergartners of the same age, there are considerable differences from pupil to pupil in social skills and behavior.
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