Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Prediction of scholastic success; School age (Entrance age); Sex differences in education;
Abstract
This study examined the effect of beginning chronological age on school achievement as well as differences between boys and girls, and the interaction of age and gender on achievement. It also examined the relationship between beginning school age and retention and teacher and parent reactions to beginning school age. The subjects for this study were 117 white middle class students enrolled in the kindergarten class of the West Delaware School System, a small school district in Iowa, during the 1978-79 school year. This group of children was divided into three· age groups according to the Iowa cut-off dates for school entrance. The oldest group consisted of 51 students with birthdates between September 16th and January 15th, the middle group included 34 students with birthdates between January 16th and May 15th, and the youngest group included 32 students with birthdates between May 16th and September 15th. Achievement information, was obtained from the cumulative records. The Metropolitan Readiness Tests provided information on kindergarten achievement and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills was used to obtain information on reading, math and composite grade equivalents in the second and fourth grades. In addition, retentions were also obtained from the cumulative records. Questionnaires were sent to each parent and fourth grade teacher to obtain information on their reactions to the age at which the children began school and their school progress. Data were analyzed to determine if age or gender influenced achievement in school. Also the data were analyzed to determine if there was an interaction between age and gender that influenced achievement in school. Results indicated that age did not affect achievement in kindergarten, second or fourth grade. There also was no interaction between gender and age that influenced achievement at any grade level. Differences between boys and girls had the greatest influence on achievement in the second grade, where both reading and the composite scores were significant. Gender was also significant at .e_
Year of Submission
1983
Degree Name
Specialist in Education
Department
Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations
First Advisor
Barry J. Wilson
Second Advisor
Mary Nan Aldridge
Third Advisor
Marlene I. Strathe
Date Original
1983
Object Description
1 PDF file (82 leaves)
Copyright
©1983 Carol Holcomb Dietz
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Dietz, Carol Holcomb, "The effect of beginning school age on academic achievement" (1983). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1434.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1434
Comments
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