In another large study, the youngest fifth-graders scored a little lower than their classmates, but five points higher in verbal I.Q., on average, than fourth-graders of the same age. In other words, school makes children smarter.
The benefits of being younger are even greater for those who skip a grade, an option available to many high-achieving children. Compared with nonskippers of similar talent and motivation, these youngsters pursue advanced degrees and enter professional school more often.
I loved that article until I got to the part about school making (younger) children smarter. Talk about correlation without causation! That assertion is grade-AA bogosity. There was no mention of the possibility that redshirted kids get that way because mom and dad see (quite rightly in many cases) that their child isn't ready for kindergarten yet. What bothered me this article is that this particular reason for redshirting comes up all the time. It goes something this:
Kindergarten, with its new emphasis on academics, is not the "children's garden" it was a generation ago. It's becoming the new first grade, and many parents opt to hold their kids out for another year so that they can be ready for the demands of the new kindergarten. Here's an example. Here's another one. And the implication that the grade skip is responsible for pursuing advanced degrees is equally silly. The authors don't seem to see the connection between skipping because you're very smart and getting a PhD because you're very smart.
