IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i17p8966-d622061.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Alar Urruticoechea

    (Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Andrés Oliveri

    (Dirección General de Planeamiento, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11200, Uruguay
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Elena Vernazza

    (Instituto de Estadística, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11200, Uruguay
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Marta Giménez-Dasí

    (Sección Departamental de Investigación y Psicología en Educación, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Rosario Martínez-Arias

    (Departamento de Psicobiología y Metodología en Ciencias del Comportamiento, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Javier Martín-Babarro

    (Sección Departamental de Investigación y Psicología en Educación, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

There is a large number of variables, studied in the literature, that affect the integral development of students in the educational stage, but few research analyze the effects that relative age can have on development. The aim of this study is to review and summarize the results obtained, on this subject, in recent research. The methodology used has followed the PRISMA declaration. The final sample is composed by 21 articles, which use data from 24 countries and 32 assessments. The main conclusions indicate that relatively younger children in same class groups: (a) obtain significantly lower mean scores in cognitive and motor tests, (b) have a higher repetition rate, and (c) have a less capacity of socialization. Finally, it should be noted that considering the results obtained by the research on relative age effect on child development, some authors propose to adapt educational practices to minimize these effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Alar Urruticoechea & Andrés Oliveri & Elena Vernazza & Marta Giménez-Dasí & Rosario Martínez-Arias & Javier Martín-Babarro, 2021. "The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:17:p:8966-:d:622061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/8966/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/8966/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elizabeth Dhuey & David Figlio & Krzysztof Karbownik & Jeffrey Roth, 2019. "School Starting Age and Cognitive Development," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 538-578, June.
    2. Fumarco, Luca & Baert, Stijn, 2019. "Relative age effect on European adolescents’ social network," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 318-337.
    3. Claire Crawford & Lorraine Dearden & Costas Meghir, 2010. "When you are born matters: the impact of date of birth on educational outcomes in England," IFS Working Papers W10/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Ron Diris, 2017. "Don't Hold Back? The Effect of Grade Retention on Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(3), pages 312-341, Summer.
    5. Hemelt, Steven W. & Rosen, Rachel B., 2016. "School Entry, Compulsory Schooling, and Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Michigan," IZA Discussion Papers 9889, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Ingeborg Foldøy Solli, 2017. "Left behind by birth month," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 323-346, July.
    7. Nam, Kigon, 2014. "Until when does the effect of age on academic achievement persist? Evidence from Korean data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 106-122.
    8. Peña, Pablo A., 2017. "Creating winners and losers: Date of birth, relative age in school, and outcomes in childhood and adulthood," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 152-176.
    9. Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2011. "Actual age at school entry, educational outcomes, and earnings," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 64-80, June.
    10. J. Pehkonen & J. Viinikainen & P. B�ckerman & L. Pulkki-R�back & L. Keltikangas-J�rvinen & O. Raitakari, 2015. "Relative age at school entry, school performance and long-term labour market outcomes," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(16), pages 1345-1348, November.
    11. Maria Laura Sánchez Puerta & Alexandria Valerio & Marcela Gutiérrez Bernal, 2016. "Taking Stock of Programs to Develop Socioemotional Skills," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 24737, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Chuanyi & Wang, Xuening & Meng, Chen, 2023. "Does the early bird catch the worm? Evidence and interpretation on the long-term impact of school entry age in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Peña, Pablo A., 2020. "Relative age and investment in human capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Görlitz, Katja & Penny, Merlin & Tamm, Marcus, 2022. "The long-term effect of age at school entry on cognitive competencies in adulthood," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 91-104.
    4. YAMAGUCHI Shintaro & ITO Hirotake & NAKAMURO Makiko, 2020. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," Discussion papers 20079, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Yoosik Shin, 2023. "School starting age policy and students' risky health behaviors," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2446-2459, November.
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6vfmfoopnt95qblsf6jj9f6ics is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Pauline Givord, 2021. "How age at school entry affects future educational and socioemotional outcomes: Evidence from PISA," Working Papers hal-03386582, HAL.
    8. Filmer, Deon & Rogers, Halsey & Angrist, Noam & Sabarwal, Shwetlena, 2020. "Learning-adjusted years of schooling (LAYS): Defining a new macro measure of education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Peña, Pablo A., 2017. "Creating winners and losers: Date of birth, relative age in school, and outcomes in childhood and adulthood," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 152-176.
    10. Shintaro Yamaguchi & Hirotake Ito & Makiko Nakamuro, 2020. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2015, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    11. repec:hal:journl:hal-03386582 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Peña, Pablo A. & Duckworth, Angela L., 2018. "The effects of relative and absolute age in the measurement of grit from 9th to 12th grade," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 183-190.
    13. Julio Cáceres-Delpiano & Eugenio Giolito, 2022. "School Starting Age and the impact on School Admission," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 840, Universidad del CEMA.
    14. Fumarco, L. & Baert, S. & Sarracino, F., 2020. "Younger, dissatisfied, and unhealthy – Relative age in adolescence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    15. Görlitz, Katja & Penny, Merlin & Tamm, Marcus, 2019. "The long-term effect of age at school entry on competencies in adulthood," Ruhr Economic Papers 792, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    16. Yamaguchi, Shintaro & Ito, Hirotake & Nakamuro, Makiko, 2023. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," IZA Discussion Papers 15895, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Shintaro Yamaguchi & Hirotake Ito & Makiko Nakamuro, 2020. "Month-of-Birth Effects on Skills and Skill Formation," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1153, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    18. Pauline GIVORD, 2020. "How age at entry at school affects future educational and socio-emotional outcomes: evidence from PISA," Working Papers 2020-27, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    19. Claire Crawford & Lorraine Dearden & Ellen Greaves, 2013. "Identifying the drivers of month of birth differences in educational attainment," DoQSS Working Papers 13-07, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    20. Luís Martins & Manuel Coutinho Pereira, 2017. "Disentangling the channels from birthdate to educational attainment," Working Papers w201706, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    21. Berniell, Inés & Estrada, Ricardo, 2020. "Poor little children: The socioeconomic gap in parental responses to school disadvantage," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    22. Patrizia Ordine & Giuseppe Rose, 2019. "Early entry, age-at-test, and schooling attainment: evidence from Italian primary schools," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(3), pages 761-784, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:17:p:8966-:d:622061. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.