Effects of Age at School Entry (ASE) on the Development of Non-Cognitive Skills: Evidence from Psychometric Data

In this paper, we examine how school enrollment at a relatively younger or older age in relation to age-based cut-off dates for school entry affects the development of non-cognitive skills. Specifically, we identify effects of age at school entry (ASE) on the development of child temperament. Our analysis is based on psychometric measures from the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk (MARS), a longitudinal cohort study of children in the Rhine- Neckar region in central Germany. In children with a higher ASE due to a birthday late in the year, we find more favorable outcomes with respect to several temperamental dimensions: These children are more persistent and less often hyperactive. The findings are robust if we control for the respective temperamental dimension before entering school. We also show that the ASE effect on persistence is stable over time also after leaving elementary school by comparing the children at age eight and age eleven, after the children have entered Germany’s segregated secondary-school tracks. At age eleven, we additionally find significant ASE effects on adaptability to change. Overall, the results point to a high degree of malleability in the considered non-cognitive skills after school entrance. In contrast to non-cognitive skills, we could not find significant impacts of ASE on cognitive skills (IQ). Based on our results, parents may wonder whether it is beneficial to retain children from entering school at a relatively young age. Retaining children for a year would make them the oldest within the class once they enter school. This could be an advantage that fosters their further development. In order to answer the question on retention, we have also examined the performance of children who are actually retained. At least in this group of students, we do not find that retention is beneficial. However, it has to be kept in mind that these children constitute a selected sample, since parents will more often retain children with some kind of developmental problems. We assume that the results provide some evidence that simply making children enter at an older age does not confer benefits. Other policy measures are needed in order to specifically assist children who are disadvantaged because of their relatively young age.

Mühlenweg, Andrea, Dorothea Blomeyer and Manfred Laucht (2011), Effects of Age at School Entry (ASE) on the Development of Non-Cognitive Skills: Evidence from Psychometric Data, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 11-017, Mannheim.