The Three Month Difference?

I recently read a report about the struggle going on in the education system in Connecticut. The state is one of the last remaining ones that allow children to enter kindergarten at the age of four instead of the age of five. They are now considering changing it so that the student would need to turn age five by October 1st in order to start kindergarten that year, instead of by January 1st.

According to some teachers, the younger students have a tougher time due to being slightly less developed. The day is long and hard on them, and they tend to have a harder time performing some of the actions that require more motor skills.

Part of the debate and ongoing battle is due to the statistics that show that poorer families tend to enroll their children in kindergarten as early as possible, while the more wealthy families tend to enroll their children later, sometimes as late as six to six and a half. This creates a big age difference in the classes, making the day tougher on student and teacher alike.

Thirty-eight states in America have the October 1st cut-off in place, with a few states like New York, New Jersey and six others, leave the date decision to their local districts. Aside from those that leave it to the districts, Connecticut is the only one that still has their date on the books as Oct. 1st. The change to a Jan. 1st date would take affect state wide in January 2015.

Some statistics show that in the poorer districts, 29 percent of students are enrolled at age four, where in the wealthy districts it is only about 18 percent. Connecticut’s previous education commissioner Mark McQuillan says, "It’s a glaring weakness that we should have fixed long ago... Many of the wealthy parents enroll their children at 6 or 6 1/2, and other families — particularly poor families — enroll their children as early as 4 1/2 because they need the school support. It’s a huge developmental span."

Research has shown that children entering at a later age do perform better in class and on standardized tests, though the opposition claims that is more related to family and preschool experience, and that there is no noticeable different in later middle school years.

One kindergarten teacher herself held her son back until he was five years-old. She said, “The January birthdays are so much more mature and able to handle the curriculum...The October, November and December birthdays, they’re just learning about what school is.” Some teachers have reported that the younger students are more likely to miss class, and generally have more issues with focusing and performing simple tasks; they require more "handholding" throughout the day.
 

What are your thoughts on the topic?

 

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Education Jobsite blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.