Grade retention and school entry age in Spain: a structural problem

Grade retention has been the focus of the education debate in Spain for decades. On average, more than 30% of students have repeated at least one grade before they finish (or dropout from) their compulsory studies. The present research provides new evidence on this issue by investigating the influence of Spain’s school entry age upon students’ grade retention. Using data from 15-year-old students who participated in the PISA 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015 assessments, we implement a regression discontinuity analysis. Our key finding is that students who were born late in the year (younger students) are more likely to repeat a grade. Yet, once they reach secondary education, the disadvantage they suffer due to their younger school starting age seems to disappear. Hence, the key reason why younger students have lower PISA scores than older students in Spain is due to their increased likelihood of repeating a grade, rather than being due to their relative age per se. To avoid these artificial disadvantages of younger students and unfair retention, we suggest that policymakers inform families about this school entry issue and also make the school entry law more flexible. This would facilitate parents of younger children to choose whether to delay their children’s school enrolment or not.

The distribution of tuberculin reaction among children at school entry in Madaba, Jordan

The present study reports the results of a tuberculin test survey of a representative sample of BCG unvaccinated children at school entry age in the Madaba district in Jordan in 1991-92. Preschool household contacts of positive schoolchildren and a 5% random sample of negative schoolchildren were also screened by the same test. Three out of the 746 children screened by the initial school survey were found to be positive giving a prevalence rate of 0.4%. The overall prevalence rate of infection among preschool contacts was found to be 10.1% [28.6% among the contacts of the positive schoolchildren compared to 8.1% among contacts of the negative children]

Does the Age at Which a Consumer Gets Their First Credit Matter? Credit Bureau Entry Age and First Credit Type Effects on Credit Score

The consumer credit market plays a prominent role in the financial life of U.S. households. Consumers' credit histories and, in particular their credit scores, are key factors that determine their access to credit and the price at which they borrow.

ANALISIS DAMPAK MEKANISME PENERIMAAN SISWA BARU BERDASARKAN UMUR DI INDONESIA KHUSUSNYA DI JAKARTA

New Student Admission is a series of annual compulsory activities held by all schools in Indonesia in order to accept new students in the new academic year. The process of New Student Admission is based on school and government policies. In 2019, the Ministry of Education and Culture issued a regulation regarding the admission of new students as stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture Number 44 of 2019. In this regulation, the age of students is used as one of the parameters that are put into consideration after the distance between residence. In its implementation, many schools in Jakarta use age as the main parameter instead of the distance of student residence so that it violates the provisions of Permendikbud 44 of 2019. The use of age as a main parameter can affect student achievement in school. To see this further, a literature study was conducted which discussed the effect of entry age and achievement in several countries and various levels of education. Based on the literature that has been done, it is unfortunate that the effect of student entry age on achievement at school has different results between each level of education. At the early education level (Kindergarten - Elementary School), the age at which students enter has an influence on their achievement at school, but this does not apply at the secondary level (Junior High School - Senior High School) where the age of students has no effect on achievement at school.

The effect of lowering school entry age on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis

The school entry age was changed from 72 to 66 months in 2012 with a new education system adjustment in Turkey. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of lowering school entry age on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and symptom severity. The records of children at first and second grade diagnosed with ADHD according to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria in the Child Psychiatry outpatient clinic between January and July 2010 (when the old system was in use) and between January-July 2013 (when the new system was in use) were retrospectively screened to create the old-system and new system groups. Among the two groups, T-DSM-IV-S fulfilled by parents and teachers were used to assess symptom severity. The frequency of ADHD and ADHD predominantly inattentive subtype diagnosis we found to be significantly higher among the girls in the new system compared to old system (25.8%, 8.9%, p=0.027 - 56.3%, 0%, p=0.012). Additionally, mother’s subscale scores of T-DSM-IV-S were lower among the children in the new system compared to the ones in the old system. By lowering school entry age due to the new education system, frequency of ADHD diagnosis increased while symptom severity rates decreased among the first-grade girls. Thus, it may be suggested that despite decreased symptom severity, the girls who started school with the new system were diagnosed with ADHD more frequently due to a marked disruption in academic, social, and behavioral functionality associated with insufficient neurodevelopmental maturity.