No country for young kids? The effects of school starting age throughout childhood and beyond

Goncalo Lima, Luis Nunes, Ana Reis and Maria do Carmo Seabra

Nova SBE Working Paper Series from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics

Abstract: Being the youngest in a cohort entails many penalties. Using administrative data of every public-school student in Portugal, we show that although performance gains from being 1-year older fade quickly from primary education to high school, age-related penalties persist through a combination of grade retention, educational tracking and testing policies. Those that start school younger are more likely to repeat grades and ultimately drop out from school. Older entrants are more likely to enroll in scientific curricula in high school, are more successful at accessing public higher education and enroll in more selective undergraduate courses.

Keywords: School starting age; education; student achievement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I21 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp639

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