Redshirting: Should Your Child Delay Kindergarten/School Entry?

“Redshirting” or choosing to delay school entry for a year seems to be an increasingly popular trend for giving your child a competitive advantage. The growing popularity of redshirting may have been started by Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling book Outliers, which waspublished in 2008. In this book, Gladwell claims that a child being relatively older than their peers provides an advantage. He points to data showing that nearly all players for the Canadian Hockey League have birthdays in the first four months of the year. Because the cutoff for most sports in Canada is January 1st, children born in the first four months of the year are older than the other children on the team thus making them more likely to be identified as talented and ultimately more likely to play professional hockey. Gladwell argues that this principle extends to children who are older than their classmates having an academic advantage as well.

Since this book was published, it seems that children are waiting longer and longer to start kindergarten every year. At the same time, kindergarten seems to be becoming increasingly academic and rigorous. For parents of children born near the cutoff date, the pressure to delay kindergarten feels intense. So does research actually find that redshirting will provide an academic and/or social advantage for children? The answer may be more complicated than you think.

The Research on Redshirting

Research on redshirting suggests that it is associated with a small academic advantage (that is, higher academic test scores) and test scores seem to increase at a greater rate in 1st and 2nd grade (suggesting that redshirted children are showing enhanced learning in these grades).

However, this effect may begin to fade as early as the end of first grade. This research is also correlational meaning we do not know whether it is redshirting that causes these advantages or if redshirting is simply associated with advantages. The latter would not be surprising since parents that choose to redshirt their children are often very different from the parents who do not— most notably they are often higher income families.

Some research studies eliminate the problem of parent choice by looking at the impact of children’s age within the same grade (such as comparing students with summer birthdays to students in the same grade with fall birthdays). Research finds that students who are relatively older than other children in their grade score higher on math and science tests and, although these differences decrease over the years, they are still present to some extent in eighth grade. Other research finds that children who are relatively older show less hyperactivity and inattention and greater educational attainment (translation: getting farther in school). However, the impact on educational attainment is greatly reduced when schools do not engage in early tracking (translation: sending children to different schools based on academic abilities in elementary school). Research also shows that children who are older relative to their classmates are more likely to be in gifted education and less likely to be in special education. These positive impacts seem to extend to high school and beyond. Children who are older relative to their classmates are also less likely to drop out of high school, less likely to commit a felony, and less likely to experience a teenage pregnancy. Children that are older than their classmates are also more likely to attend a four-year college than younger students.

Yet, it is very important to note that this line of research only involves associations (meaning we do not know whether being older relative to your peers actually causes any of these positive or negative outcomes). Further research is needed in order to conclude that redshirting actually causes any of these positive outcomes.

Are There Any Situations That Parents May Want to Avoid Redshirting?

So research suggests that being older than your peers is consistently associated with at least a small advantage, but are there any situations in which parents might want to avoid redshirting? Research suggests that when your child has an identified disability, a suspected disability, or even if you are just concerned that they may need some extra help in school, you may want to avoid redshirting. In this case, delaying school entry may be associated with worse academic performance, because it would also involve delaying free essential services through the public school system (such as speech therapy and learning support). This short delay may have a big impact as research finds that services before age 5 are more effective in improving a child’s long-term outcome than services after age 5.

Research has compared the impact of redshirting on children with disabilities (such as autism, developmental delays, learning disabilities, or health impairments) versus children without disabilities. Researchers found that children with disabilities who were redshirted scored significantly lower in math in third grade when compared to children with disabilities who were not redshirted, while children without disabilities who were redshirted showed improved math and reading scores in third grade. Research also finds a negative impact of redshirting for children with more severe ADHD and no impact for children with learning disabilities.

Is Redshirting More Important for Boys Than Girls?

In any discussion of redshirting, it is commonly assumed that boys in particular benefit from redshirting. In line with this assumption, research reveals that boys are indeed more likely to be redshirted than girls. So is there any research to back up this trend?

Research does find that girls are more likely to be ready for kindergarten than boys and that this difference is mostly driven by differences in social-emotional development. Research also suggests that boys seem to show greater gains from redshirting and that boys may not cope as well as girls with having higher-achieving classmates.

Does This Research Also Apply to Repeating a Grade or “Holding Children Back”?

Interestingly, the research on the outcomes for children who repeat a grade or are “held back” is very different from delaying the start of school.

One million students are “held back” per year in the United States. This practice particularly impacts ethnic minorities, with retention rates of 2.7% for Black students and 1.9% for Hispanic students as compared to 1.7% for White students.

A large body of research has indicated that holding a child back in school (i.e., grade retention) is associated with poorer academic outcomes and little social-emotional benefit. While some studies have found some short-term social and academic benefits of grade retention, many of these effects fade after a few years.

Grade retention is also associated with an increased likelihood of dropping out of high school and a decreased likelihood of finishing college. Retained students are also more likely to be aggressive in adolescence. Interestingly, later grade retention (after 3rd grade) seems to have a more detrimental effect, perhaps because it has a greater impact on self-esteem as children get older.

As with the research on redshirting, these studies only found associations between grade retention and these negative impacts (meaning grade retention doesn’t necessarily cause them). Regardless, it is important to discuss this research with redshirting because some parents assume that they can go ahead and push their child ahead to kindergarten and can repeat kindergarten or a later grade if they are struggling. Yet, research suggests that the cons of this approach may outweigh any potential pros. In addition, redshirting reduces the risk for grade retention, suggesting that this may be another benefit for redshirting.

Based on this research, most clinicians and educators advise that parents avoid holding children back or repeating a grade unless there is no other option. If your child’s school is pushing for grade retention, present them with the research and see if you can discuss other possible options.

But Is Redshirting Fair?

The choice to redshirt or not is a privilege. For most families, delaying kindergarten means paying for full-time child care or delaying a stay-at-home parent from re-entering the workforce for an additional year. This is simply not an option for most families. Redshirting as a practice may also increase the ever-widening gap between students from high-income and low-income families, as only high-income families may be able to afford this option when wanting to give their child an advantage. Yet there is also research showing that having older classmates may actually improve the performance of younger classmates, suggesting that the practice of redshirting is at least not harmful to students who do not make this choice.

How Do You Know Whether Your Child Is Ready for Kindergarten?

The following may help you to decide whether your child is actually ready for kindergarten:

1. Consider not only their academic skills but also their social-emotional and self-regulation skills. Social skills when entering kindergarten have been found to be related to success as an adult, including the likelihood of graduating college and gaining employment. More advanced self-regulation skills allow children to “catch up” even if they start behind their peers academically. Self-regulation is also associated with improved academic performance .
2. Consult with your child’s preschool teacher or director if possible. Your child’s teacher should have a good idea of how their skills compare to their peers and whether they have the classroom engagement skills necessary for kindergarten.
3. Speak with your child’s pediatrician. Your child’s pediatrician can give you their expert opinion as to whether your child is developmentally and physically ready for kindergarten.
4. Visit both possible classroom settings. Gain a better understanding of the expectations that will be placed on your child in kindergarten versus the expectations in preschool. Try to determine which setting best fits your child’s current ability level.

Overall Translation

Delaying kindergarten for a year may be associated with a small advantage to children. It is unclear the extent to which this advantage is temporary or has a lasting impact. However, if you suspect your child has special needs or a disability, you may want to avoid redshirting and start school as soon as possible to get them the services that they need. Parents may want to avoid holding their children back or repeating a grade since the negative impacts may outweigh the positive in this case. Parents may also want to consider that redshirting could increase the ever-widening gap between low-income and high-income children.

Most importantly, parents should consider their own individual child in this decision. Does your child seem to gravitate more to younger or older children? Does your child tend to compare themselves to their peers and get upset when they fall behind? Does your child seem to benefit from older role models around or do they seem to benefit from serving in a “leader” role for younger children?

Parents may also want to consider the school environment. Is the school more academic or play-based? Do they require children to sit for longer periods of time or are there movement breaks? Is redshirting typical for children around the cutoff date in this school system? Does the school compare children to others and/or use a tracking system for gifted education? Sometimes this choice also does not even involve any of the academic advantages discussed above. Whatever choice parents make they should feel confident in doing what feels right for their individual child and family.