Birth month is a significant predictor of retention at all grades, but its connection with achievement is substantial only in the lower primary grades¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 1995 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Birth month significantly predicts retention at every grade, yet its connection with achievement is substantial only in the lower primary grades, after which the achievement-versus-birth-month plot is flat. → Stuart Luppescu 1995

Evidence¶

Stuart Luppescu 1995¶

Stuart Luppescu, Anthony S. Bryk, Paul Deabster, John Q. Easton, and Yeow Meng Thum. (1995). School Reform, Retention Policy, and Student Achievement Gains. University of Chicago draft report. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/school-reform-retention-policy-and-student-achievement-gains

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Authors' discussion of the grade-specific retention regressions and an accompanying achievement-versus-birth-month examination. They find it surprising that even in seventh grade a difference of a few months of age makes a difference in propensity for retention. No effect size is printed.

"One surprising finding is that birth-month is a significant predictor at all grades. In examining the effects of birth month on achievement, we found a substantial connection, but only for the lower primary grades. After that, the plot of achievement versus birth month is flat."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Predictors of retention vary across grades: reading achievement is strongest in lower grades while math increases in importance later, and young-for-grade is the only predictor associated with greater retention probability — related
• The propensity-for-retention measure discriminates retained from not-retained students, with first-grade log-odds of retention more than three times greater for actually retained students