Parents advised not to hold children back - Education - delayed school entry detrimental

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 2002

Redshirting, or delaying children's entry into kindergarten or first grade for a year, doesn't help their future school performance and can actually be detrimental to their motivation, self-esteem, and attitudes about school, cautions professor of psychology Adam Winsler, George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. "Many parents think it will help their child to wait an extra year before starting school, but this is simply not true. Research does not support delayed entry."

He suggests that, rather than focusing on whether or not a child is ready for classes, schools need to do a better job of being ready for a diverse set of learners. He notes a growing concern that, against the backdrop of high-stakes testing and school/teacher accountability, some teachers and administrators may be pressuring parents to delay the school entry of certain types of "unready" children in order to have an older and more-competent group of youngsters taking their standardized tests.