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What the research says

Studies of redshirting have found pros and cons. Some research has found that any boost in achievement fades away as children get older. Redshirting could increase high school dropout rates because older students would reach the legal age for quitting school earlier. It could also disadvantage men by delaying their entry into the job market.

The older students consistently scored higher on tests in third grade and, to a lesser extent, eighth grade. They were more likely to attend college and less likely to go to jail as juveniles. The findings were true for children of all backgrounds, but especially for boys and for children from low-income family. These traits, which girls tend to develop earlier, have been shown to be crucial to academic success.

Children develop this kind of self-control through pretend play, and older children probably spent more time doing that in high-quality, play-based Danish preschools.

A study of 400K children in every state found that those with birthdays just before the kindergarten cutoff were significantly likelier to be diagnosed with ADHD than those with birthdays just after the cutoff.

What else could help, if not redshirting?

A better alternative to redshirting all boys, some researchers said, would be to make it optional for any student so that parents could choose whether it was right for their child, with advice from teachers and the option to attend an extra year of public pre-K.

An easier change, some said, would be to make the cutoff date for kindergarten earlier, so all children would turn 5 at least a few months before they start. Teachers could group classes by birth month, with the older kindergartners together in one class and the younger ones in another.

Also, schools could restore more of the play-based learning — like dress-up, art and nature exploration — that was much more common in kindergarten before 2000.