The Effect of School Starting Age, Parent Education, and Gender on High School Academic Achievement and Extracurricular Participation

Abstract

The problem. Is there a long-term effect of starting age on academic achievement, participation in athletics, student government and organizations, and fine arts, and the continuation of post-secondary education? Procedure. The graduates of a small rural high school over a five-year period made up the study sample. The students were first divided by the age at which they entered kindergarten into an older and younger group. The older group turned six before March of their kindergarten year. Records were examined and assistance was received through survey information concerning the number of activities each student participated in, standardized test scores, grade point average, and parental education levels. Findings. No significant effect was found in student participation, academic achievement, or post-secondary education, due to school starting age. Conclusion. The age at which a student begins school is not, in itself, a significant factor at the high school level on any aspect of the student's success or participation. Recommendations. There was a slight indication that age, gender, and parent education, when considered together, may have an effect on ACT performance. This could be interesting to investigate further with a larger sample group.