[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-586388-105":59,"doc-detail-586388-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":122,"head_meta":124,"extra_data":126,"updated_unix":128},105,"en","should-kindergartners-be-redshirted-costs-likely-outweigh-academic-benefits","Should kindergartners be redshirted? - Costs likely outweigh academic benefits","","Analysis of redshirting decisions for children starting kindergarten examines national NWEA MAP Growth K–2 assessment data and a cohort followed through third grade. Findings show redshirting occurs in about 5% of students in most years, with a pandemic surge to 6.4% in 2021–22. Boys and white students are more likely to redshirt, and the early academic advantage fades quickly by third grade. Overall, the study weighs costs against short-lived benefits and concludes guidance for families considering delaying entry.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/should-kindergartners-be-redshirted-costs-likely-outweigh-academic-benefits/586388/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/should-kindergartners-be-redshirted-costs-likely-outweigh-academic-benefits/586388.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Quinn Holloway","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"How often do families choose to redshirt kindergarteners, and when did rates peak?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"About 5% of kindergarteners are redshirted in most years, and the rate peaked in fall 2021 at 6.4% during the 2021–22 school year.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"Which student groups were most likely to be redshirted?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"Boys and white students were most likely to be redshirted. Redshirting was also more common in low-poverty and rural schools, with different COVID-related changes across groups.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"Do the academic benefits of redshirting last beyond the start of school?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"No. The academic advantages fade quickly; by third grade, redshirters score about the same as peers who entered on time.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},586388,1792057773,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":138,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":128,"read_time":46},2336474466712,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","BRIEF  \nShould kindergartners be redshirted? Costs likely outweigh academic benefits  \nMegan Kuhfeld and Sofia Postell  \nMarch 2026  \nKEY FINDINGS  \n• Over the last decade, 5% of kindergarteners were redshirted on average. The rate peaked in fall 2021 at 6. 4% .  \n• White students and boys were most likely to be redshirted. Redshirting was also more common in low-poverty and rural schools.  \n• The academic advantages of redshirting fade quickly. By third grade, redshirters were scoring equivalent to their peers who entered school on time.  \nIntroduction  \nEvery year, parents whose children turn five just before their state’s kindergarten age cut off must decide whether to enroll their children in kindergarten on time or delay their child’s entry into kindergarten fora year (a practice known as “redshirting”) . While discussions of redshirting in popular media have grown in the last two decades (particularly following Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers that promoted redshirting), our best available data show redshirting rates have been fairly stable and tend to range from 5% to 7% between the 1990s and 2010s. Rates of redshirting have historically been highest among boys, white  students, and those with highly educated parents. There is some evidence that the practice increased during COVID-19 (as parents tried to avoid the disruptions of the 2020–21 school year) but little national data to confirm this perception.  \nAdditionally, there has been growing debate about the benefits of redshirting. Many parents eager to give their child any advantage see redshirting as a “gift of time”(e. g. , an extra year to get their child academically and socially prepared for kindergarten) . However, there are real downsides to delaying the start of kindergarten, including parents being on the hook for an additional year of paid childcare. Research on the academic benefits of redshirting are mixed, with studies showing a clear advantage of being older at school entry but that the advantage fades out over time.  \nDefinitions  \nOn-time entrants: We classify children as on-time entrants if their fifth birthday falls in the 12 months before their state’s cutoff and enroll in kindergarten in year y. They are between the age of 5.00 and 5.99 years at the cutoff in the year of enrollment.  \nRedshirters: We classify children as redshirters if their fifth birthday falls before their state’s cutoff date for kindergarten enrollment in year y-1, but they do not enroll in kindergarten until year y (a year after they are eligible) . These students are 6 years old or older at the cutoff date in the year of their enrollment (and do not have an enrollment record in year y-1) .  \nK Repeaters: Students with kindergarten enrollment records in both year y-1 and year y.  \nNWEA Should kindergartners be redshirted? Costs likely outweigh academic benefits | 2  \nIn this article, we describe redshirting trends from fall 2017 to 2025 using national data from over  \nthree million kindergarteners from NWEA®’s MAP® Growth™ K–2 assessments1. We also follow a recent kindergarten cohort (the kindergarten class of 2021–22) through third grade to examine whether the initial test score advantage for redshirters at school entry is maintained over early elementary grades. We conclude with recommendations for parents making the decision about whether to redshirt their children.  \nFive percent of students redshirt in an average year, but the rate peaked in fall 2021  \nBefore weighing the benefits of redshirting, we examined how many families choose to redshirt and whether those rates shifted during the pandemic. In the years prior to the pandemic, approximately 5% of students in each kindergarten class were redshirted (see Figure 1) . These observed rates are slightly lower than the 6. 2% rate of redshirting reported by the most recent data from a nationally representative survey of kindergarteners (the kindergarten class of 2010–11) . Additionally, 1–2% of kindergarten students r","cbCaiuUYruXlrYMA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuUYruXlrYMA","pdf",3054464,"English","# Key Findings\n## Redshirting trends and COVID-19 impact\n## Group differences in redshirting likelihood\n## Definitions and classifications\n# Academic effects over early elementary grades","[{\"question\":\"How often do families choose to redshirt kindergarteners, and when did rates peak?\",\"answer\":\"About 5% of kindergarteners are redshirted in most years, and the rate peaked in fall 2021 at 6.4% during the 2021–22 school year.\"},{\"question\":\"Which student groups were most likely to be redshirted?\",\"answer\":\"Boys and white students were most likely to be redshirted. Redshirting was also more common in low-poverty and rural schools, with different COVID-related changes across groups.\"},{\"question\":\"Do the academic benefits of redshirting last beyond the start of school?\",\"answer\":\"No. The academic advantages fade quickly; by third grade, redshirters score about the same as peers who entered on time.\"}]","Should kindergartners be redshirted? - Costs likely outweigh academic benefits | PDF"]