It’s called “redshirting” or “the gift of time,” but the practice of holding a child in kindergarten year-round offers few long-term benefits, and the academic gains for older students often extend to third grade, according to a new report.
The percentage of parents withholding their 5-year-old child has remained unchanged since the 1990s — between 4.5% and 7%, according to the Northwest Evaluation Assn., an evaluation and research organization. The stark number comes amid a flurry of ongoing discussions on social media among parents who are opting for the option.
Two-thirds of the children held back had summer birthdays between June and August — close to the kindergarten enrollment cutoff dates in many states — and were younger in their grade.
Students who turn 5 on September 1 of the school year are eligible to enter kindergarten in California. Children who turn 4 on that day are eligible for temporary kindergarten.
The practice is intended to give the child an extra year to develop socially-emotionally and enter the school system more prepared.
But its performance may be different, and there are disadvantages that should be considered later, according to a report released on Monday night.
Although preschoolers may enter school with an academic advantage that stems in part from maturity, by the time they reach third grade they are on grade level with their classmates when comparing test data, the report said.
Students who enter kindergarten late may be at greater risk of dropping out, according to research cited in the report. Being on the older end of the grade level means that children will soon be 18 years old in high school, which legally gives them more options when they are older to leave school. It also takes one year off workers, making them sacrifice the benefits of an extra year of work experience.
The decision to delay kindergarten can financially affect parents, who in many cases have to pay for childcare or take time off from work to care for the child.
When families decide to delay kindergarten
Boys are more likely to enter kindergarten later than girls. This practice is more common in wealthy families, according to the report. By 2025, 6.8% of children from high-income families delayed their start, compared to 3.2% of low-income families, according to the report.
Wealthier families may be able to afford extra years of child care, have flexible schedules or take the initiative to go back to work, while low-income families may not be able to afford it and may need school services like free meals, said Megan Kuhfeld, director of growth modeling and data analysis at the Northwest Evaluation Assn.
That was the case for Madison Cortez of Fremont, who wished she had considered holding her daughter, now in fifth grade, who started school during the violence. Cortez was working at the time, so holding her baby, due in August, would have been difficult even if she had relished the option.
At the time, she also didn’t think her daughter would be ready for preschool, but she found that between online learning and her position as one of the youngest students in her grade, she quickly fell behind.
“We had to play catch a lot of the time from there,” Cortez said.
Why kindergarten red-shirting can still be useful
Still, individual circumstances must be considered when evaluating the benefits of delaying preschool, said Kuhfeld, who wrote the report. Children with developmental delays or delayed behavioral readiness may still benefit.
Holding back a child can be a good way to allow children more time to develop self-control and self-control skills that are important in the classroom, said Stanford professor Thomas Dee, who has studied red-shirting.
“The advice I give parents is, on some level, to trust what they know about their own child,” Dee said.
But it’s important to consider how much progress can be made in the time between kindergarten registration and the first day of school, Kuhfeld said.
“Most parents have to make this decision, right now – in the winter and spring – when they are six months from the start of kindergarten,” said Kuhfeld, adding that there is a period of continued growth and maturation.
How TK affects the decision of parents
California’s rollout of temporary kindergarten, or TK, which encouraged families to enter the public school system when their child was 4 years old, made decisions difficult.
Each state must determine whether a child under the age of kindergarten — 5 years old — is eligible to enroll in TK, which is intended for 4-year-olds, according to the California Department of Education. If a 5-year-old child is enrolled in TK, parents must sign a “Kindergarten Continuance” agreeing to continue with kindergarten.
School districts can enroll a child in up to one year of TK, two years of kindergarten or a combination of two years of TK and kindergarten.
“I fully expect the expansion of TK in California to force parents to face that decision early — it’s free and in their community,” Dee said, acknowledging how expensive childcare can be.
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education program, which focuses on the learning and development of California children from birth to 5 years old. For more information about this program and its charitable sponsors, visit latimes.com/earlyed.
