Los Altos Kindergarten Trounces East Claremont

I'm a little late in posting this article from the NYT that talks about states moving up their school cutoff dates. With standardized testing starting in the 3rd Grade these days, a lot of states are trying to help their scores by ensuring their children have "the gift of time."

Indeed, increasing the average age of the children in a kindergarten class is a cheap and easy way to get a small bump in test scores, because older children perform better, and states’ desires for relative advantage is written into their policy briefs. The California Performance Review, commissioned by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, suggested moving California’s birthday cutoff three months earlier, to Sept. from Dec. 2, noting that “38 states, including Florida and Texas, have kindergarten entry dates prior to California’s.”

What caught me about the article was the use of the term 'redshirting' to describe children born close to cut-off dates that are held back a year so they'll perform better against relatively younger peers.

Redshirting is not a new phenomenon... ...Recently, redshirting has become a particular concern, because in certain affluent communities the numbers of kindergartners coming to school a year later are three or four times the national average. “Do you know what the number is in my district?” Representative Folwell, from a middle-class part of Winston-Salem, N.C., asked me. “Twenty-six percent.” In one kindergarten I visited in Los Altos, Calif. — average home price, $1 million — about one-quarter of the kids had been electively held back as well.

Another side note - According to the article, in 49 of 50 states, the average annual cost of day care for a four-year-old in an urban area is more than the average annual public college tuition. The Times then suggests the choice is between spending an unbelievable amount of money for preschool or plopping the kid down for another year of TV "in the basement with Grandma."

You know what I think? Instead of TV, a year of Wii & weightlifting with Grandma will better prepare your child for those older, bigger, faster and much more exciting games of dodgeball on the playground.