Introduction:
The practice of delaying a child’s enrollment in kindergarten until age 6 instead of the standard enrollment age of 5 is known as pre-primary academic redshirting. Originally the practice of holding back a child for a year from entering kindergarten in order to provide them an athletic advantage due to advanced physical maturity, the practice of redshirting has developed an emphasis on academic maturity, as redshirting allows students to enter kindergarten having an advantage over their younger and less mature peers in terms of academic preparedness. Redshirting for academic purposes has been on the rise in American schools, as nearly 17% of children in 2008 were admitted to kindergarten at age 6, whereas only 9% of children were admitted to kindergarten at age 6 back in 1993. The sudden increase in redshirting creates significant age and ability gaps in kindergarten classes, providing redshirted children with a better chance of academic success than their younger peers due to more maturity. However, redshirting is not
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For example, Gladwell examines trends in the rosters of the elite Canadian Hockey League, finding that the majority of players were born in January, February, or March. Comparing these dates to the cutoff date for each age division, January 1, Gladwell proves that birthdates impact success, as the majority of hockey players who were older in each age division became successful because of maturing earlier than their younger peers in their age division. In terms of redshirting, Gladwell’s theory implies that a student who enters kindergarten one year older than the rest of their classmates will have a better chance of success due to earlier
Each and every person has their own thoughts and opinions throughout life, no matter how alike or different two individuals can be. In this generation, anyone can speak freely and debate as they please. Two very important individuals Carol Dweck whom is a professor of psychology at Stanford University, and Malcolm Gladwell whom is a Canadian journalist and speaker created two inciting pieces. “Mind-Sets and Equitable Education” by Dweck, and “The Matthew Effect” by Gladwell, are very similar as well as different pieces of writing. Dweck and Gladwell’s arguments appear different’ in reality due to education and sports, mindsets, and achieving success.
Shapiro, E.S. (2011). Saving the future: Response to intervention may be on solution that prevents a child’s ailing academic health. Theory to Practice: An Inquisitive Review of Contemporary Education & Health, 3, 14-19.
Chapter 1 has familiarity in my life. In the 8th Grade my father moved us to the Midwest from Southern California; culture shock! Dad decided that I should play football at the Junior High, after all my cousin played on the team, and so did my father when he was in school. Most of the other players were a minimum of one year older than me. It is common practice for parents to hold their boys back a year to start school; this gives the boys a size advantage in sports. By the time adolescence rolls around, one year makes a big difference in a young man’s size. Also, I was born in November; not a prime year for sports league cut-offs. When it came playing football, I was severely outsized by my teammates. Due to my experience, I tend to agree with having sports league try-outs split into semesters or trimesters to allow the same opportunities available to more players.
Sindelar, R. (2004). Recess: Is it needed in the 21st Century? Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting, Vol. 18, Issue 1, 1-6.
Statics from the US Census Bureau reveal that just under half of all 3-4 year old children attended preschool in 2013. This is the also the same year that most school districts across the country adapted to a full day of kindergarten, rather than a half day. This means that children now will be expected to handle a 6 hour day of learning and, consequently; for those children who do not attend preschool this could be a real challenge. Preschool not only helps a child with social and emotional skills, it also provides a strong foundation for academic learning. It gives them an opportunity to become familiar with routine in a structured learning environment and can help make the transition to a full day of kindergarten even easier. Yet, there are still some parents who feel -- for many reasons, preschool is unnecessary and choose not to send them.
Malcolm Gladwell makes many debatable claims in his book “The Outliers”. One of these controversial topics is brought up in chapter three when he talks about a person’s IQ and how that relates to one’s success. Gladwell says, “The relationship between success and IQ works only up to a point. Once someone has reached an IQ of somewhere around 120, having additional IQ points doesn’t seem to translate into any measurable real-world advantage.”After reading “Outliers” I believe that this is the greatest controversial topic. I agree with Malcolm Gladwell because there are a high amount of people who are not incredibly smart that are very successful, success can be viewed differently by different people, and from my own experiences on the U-High
Once in a while, it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. Gladwell believes that cultural legacies are powerful forces. Cultural legacies are the customs of a family or a group of people, that is inherited through the generations. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, Cultural legacies is something that’s been passed down for generations to generations. It depends on what type of legacies was passed that will affect a person. If a good legacy was passed down, someone can keep that legacy going by trying hard at keeping the legacies going. If a bad legacy was passed down; I believe that cultural legacies can be altered or changed, by good working habits, determination, and a positive mindset to succeed. Culture can affect either positively or negatively, but we have the power to turn our cultural
Occasionally, it is important to be born during certain times of the year in order to become better at a task that is being performed. In other words, people may have advantages depending on the time of the year they are born. They practice more for a sport or get further help for school. Gladwell says that “A boy who turns ten on January 2, then, could be playing alongside someone who does not turn ten until the end of the year…a twelve month gap in age represents enormous differences in physical maturity”(24). What he means is that a young boy born in January may have a greater physical advantage than a boy born in December when it comes to playing hockey. This example can be applied to any other sport. When the child starts conditioning at 6, his friend will be 5 and still to young to condition giving the older kid the advantage to play better. Every country arranges the cut off dates differently according to the sport and the season it is played in. Gladwell says, “The cutoff date for almost all non-school baseball leagues in the United States is July 31, with the result that more major league players are born in August than any other month”(26). If players are...
In Chapter 8 and 9 of Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell exams some of the ways that Asian and American students learn math, arguing that some of the principles in the US education system should be reconsidered. I generally agree with Gladwell’s point of view. I believe in two ways, students ' principal spirit and the length of students’ studying, the US education system leaves much to be desired, though an overhaul is in progress.
Many children begin school at the ages of 5 or 6, the age when a child enters kindergarten. However, children?s learning capabilities are at there peak at earlier ages than that. Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley says, ?Children learn more in their early years than they ever will again. With the dissolution of the extended family, the best way to support early learning is with publicly funded pre-K? (Starr, 2002). Their brains are more primed to learn and will absorb more information earlier in life. Therefore the earlier children begin their education, the better. It is through these programs that the children learn proper etiquettes when dealing with teachers and fellow students. ?Children who attend well-planned, high quality programs?tend to learn more and are better prepared to successfully master the complex demands of formal schooling,? says one government commissioned review of research on early childhood education (Ruben, 2000/2001).
Children’s development, including their brain development, and the differences, both physically and emotionally that, children go through when transitioning into kindergarten. Reviews of different forms have evidence concluding that these programs have short, medium, and long-term benefits that suggest the effects are often greater for more disadvantaged children. “Some of the evidence from model research has produced exciting results in terms of improving educational attainment and earnings and reducing welfare dependency and crime.” (Currie, 2001). “To the point where cost-benefit analysis of these programs suggests they would eventually pay for themselves in terms of cost-savings to the government if it produced even a quarter of the long-term gains of model programs.” (Currie, 2001). This is one of the reasons the government has been pouring an abundance of money into these programs, in fact, Obama just recently announced a one billion dollar investment in early childhood education. “Obama said that less than one-third of 4-year-olds enrolled in preschool and blamed the high cost of these programs for essentially shutting off access to poorer infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. “ (Obama announces $1 billion investment, 2015, p. 1). “He said studies repeatedly show that children who are educated early in life are more likely to
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, (2011) the author presents his readers with a series of exceptional individuals and cultures, discussing the abilities that facilitate their rise to power or notoriety. Taking the audience on an exploration of “hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to…make sense of the world in ways that others cannot” (19), Gladwell provides a flow chart for the understanding of seemingly exceptional entities. Defense Secretary James Mattis is a present-day example of an outlier and, true to Gladwell’s theories, his rise to power is heavily influenced by familial and organizational cultures.
He explains that though extraordinary opportunities reveal themselves in many ways, they all have the same effect: they allow the individual to get ahead. According to Gladwell, sometimes these opportunities build up until they are no longer single accidents. He illustrates the concept of gifted programs to support his claim. Teachers select promising students for the programs in hopes of maximizing their potential, and unsurprisingly, these students learn more and advance above their classmates—an advantage that continues to accumulate year after year (Gladwell 29). However, a study by Bedard and Dhuey reveals that these students are often perceived as more intelligent than their peers simply because they are more mature (28). The students that aren’t as mature are consequently denied an important, critical opportunity in their education. Gladwell presents the Canadian Hockey League system as another example: after young players are separated into teams according to their skill level, the most talented players receive better training and more practice time (25). Although it appears that this process is fairly based on ability, Gladwell emphasizes that hockey coaches make the same mistake that teachers do in the classroom—they unknowingly choose the most physically mature players (24-25).
McWayne, C., Cheung, K., Green Wright, L. E., & Hahs-Vaughn, D. L. (2012). Patterns of school readiness among head start children: Meaningful within-group variability during the transition to kindergarten. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 862-878. doi: 1939-2176
At first glance, there is some evidence that the redshirted children perform better initially (Zill, Loomis, & West, 1997, p. 40). However, unlike in sports, the effect doesn’t last. Erikson Institute President Emeritus Samuel Meisels states, “as children get older…whatever advantage is conferred by starting school a year older decreases dramatically” (Safer, 2012). One study by Oshima and Domaleski (2006) compares students with summer birthdays against children with prior fall birthdays to determine the effect of age on