The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Search Strategies
2.2. Inclusion Criteria
2.3. Data Collection
2.4. Coded Data
3. Results
3.1. Year and Country of Study
3.2. Sample Size and Study Target
3.3. Characteristics of the Educational Stage Studied
3.4. Instruments Used in the Studies
4. Main Results of the Studies
4.1. Relative Age Effects on Academic Performance
4.2. Relative Age Effects on Socio-Emotional and Behavioral Development
4.3. Relative Age Effects on Motor Development
4.4. Prevalence of Relative Age Effects
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
6.1. Implications for Educational Practice
- Change the grouping system at the time of entry to pre-school education. Make the allocation of classes more flexible, taking into account the differences in children’s development, depending on their relative age. Grouping by semester, facilitating mobility between the two groupings [48];
- Making tests more flexible, in two ways: first, by assessing children when they are exactly the same relative age, first the relatively older and then the relatively younger. Second, by standardizing test scores by relative age, comparing individual children with the scores of their peers [49];
- Promote late entry to relatively younger children [50];
- Implement educational strategies to avoid diminishing the self-esteem of students with low academic performance due to relative age [51].
6.2. Future Steps
- To study longitudinally the cognitive (performance), motor and socio-emotional development of schoolchildren from the beginning of their schooling until the disappearance of the RAE;
- To observe the level of influence of repetition and dropping out of school on the disappearance of the RAE;
- To analyze the differences of relative age in the scores obtained by age group, those born in the first semester on the one hand and those born in the second semester on the other;
- To examine the influence of teaching methodologies on RAE;
- Study the RAE from a qualitative perspective to know the experiences from the point of view of the different actors involved in the student development process.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
RAE | Relative age effects |
PISA | Programme for international student assessment |
WoS | Web of Science |
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Year | Author | Country | Sample | Age | Educational Stage | Instrument | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Thompson et al. | CAN | 1129 | 6;8, 9;11, and 12;14 | Primary | Culture Free Self Esteem Inventory (CFSEI) | - Relatively younger students have lower self-esteem compared to relatively older students. |
2006 | Lawlor et al. | GBR | 12,150 | 7, 9, and 11 | Primary | Moray House Picture Intelligence Test (MHTPic), Schonell and Adams Essential Intelligence Test and Moray House Test | - Relatively younger students score significantly worse than relatively older ones at age 7. In reading literacy, the relative age differences were attenuated at age 9. In mathematics, the relative age differences attenuated at age 11. |
2008 | Abel et al. | USA | 1375 | <22 | tertiary education | academic cognitive assessment | - Relatively older students apply more to medical school than relatively younger students. There is no difference in the percentage of acceptances between relatively older and relatively younger students. |
2009 | Martin | AUS | 36,684 | 12;18 | High school | Motivation and Engagement Scale–High School (MES-HS) | - Relatively older students are less motivated than relatively younger students. Relatively older students do not have a higher academic advantage than relatively younger students. Relatively older students have a higher repetition and dropout rate. Repetition effects increased these differences. |
2011 | Kawaguchi | JPN | 14,727 | 9;10 and 13;14 | Primary | The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) | - Relatively older students have higher academic scores than relatively younger students. The persistence of the effects indicates the importance of relative age in academic achievement. |
2012 | Roberts and Fairclough | GBR | 582 | 11;18 | High school | Academic physical assessment, Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) | - Relatively older students score higher than relatively younger students. These differences are small and may be due to decreasing relative age effects with increasing grade level. |
2014 | Aliprantis | USA | 22,000 | 5 | Preschool | Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) | - These differences are small and may be due to decreasing relative age effects with increasing grade level. |
2014 | Crawford et al. | GBR | 4668 | 7 | Primary | Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), WISC, The national achievement tests (KS1) | - Relatively older students score higher than relatively younger students in cognitive and non-cognitive skills. |
2014 | Nam | KOR | 6000 | 8, 14, 17, and 18 | Primary, High school, and Vocational | Korean Education and Employment Panel (KEEP) | - Relative age effects are present up to the end of primary school. In secondary school, there are differences in favor of relatively younger students in the ability to concentrate and the ability to avoid distractions. Thus relatively younger students compensate for the difference in prior academic performance. |
2015 | Huang | USA | 7441 | 5 | Preschool | Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) | - Relative age alone is not a sufficient factor to consider a student suitable or unsuitable for a high ability programme. Taking into account demographic variables such as gender, race and socio-economic status, relatively older students are more likely to be eligible. |
2015 | Navarro et al. | CHL | 15,234 | 13 | Primary | National System of Quality Assessment in Education Survey (SIMCE) | - Relatively older students have higher SIMCE scores. Socio-economic status and type of school have a greater impact on performance than relative age. |
2015 | Pehkonen et al. | FIN | 3596 | 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 | Preschool, Primary, High school | academic cognitive assessment | - Relatively younger students score lower than relatively older students at the end of sixth grade. By the end of ninth grade the differences, due to relative age effects, lose their significance. There are no significant differences in the length of time spent in formal education between students of different relative ages. |
2016 | Hemelt and Rosen | USA | 1,194,856 | 10, 14, 15, and 18 | Primary, High school, and tertiary education | Student-level administrative data | - Relatively younger students have a higher completion rate of secondary education than relatively older students. Relatively younger students have lower academic achievement scores than relatively older students. Relatively younger female students enrol three times more in college than relatively younger males. Relatively younger students enrol more in short courses (2 years) than relatively older students. |
Year | Author | Country | Sample | Age | Educational Stage | Instrument | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Thoren et al. | DEU | 80,946 | 7, 8, and 13 | Primary | academic cognitive assessment | - Relatively older students score higher in reading and mathematics in second grade. The differences are still present in third grade, but are less strong. The differences disappear and even reverse in eighth grade. Relative age effects do not vary between students with and without immigrant ancestors. |
2017 | Dhuey et al. | USA | 291,129 | 6;15 | Primary and High school | academic cognitive assessment | - Relatively older children score higher on academic tests than relatively younger children. Relatively younger children have a higher repetition rate than relatively older children. Families from lower socio-economic backgrounds enrol their children earlier than those from higher socio-economic backgrounds. |
2017 | Diris | AUS, BEL, CAN, DNK, EST, FIN, FRA, ITA, LUX, NLD, NZL, POL, PRT, EVK, ESP, and SWE. | 344,551 | 15 | High school | PISA | - Relatively younger students score lower than relatively older students at the start of primary school. These effects are reduced in later years because relatively younger students learn faster than relatively older students in the first years of primary school. Because of these results it is not appropriate to decide whether a student repeats or not on the basis of his or her relative age. The negative impact of repetition in primary education outweighs the benefits. Late entry to school may have positive effects for the lower percentiles of the achievement distribution (especially girls). |
2017 | Peña | MEX | 323,481 | 8;17 | Primary and High school | Prueba Nacional de Logros Académicos en Centros Escolares (ENLACE) | - Relatively older students have an advantage in the tests compared to relatively younger students. If the assessment were completed asynchronously by relative age, relatively younger students would score higher than relatively older students. In adults, those of relatively older age will have more savings capacity and better educational attainment. |
2017 | Prieto-Ayuso and Martínez-Gorroño | SPA | 174 | 12;16 | High school | academic physical assessment | - There are no statistically significant differences between the mean physical test scores of students born in the first and second semester of the year. |
2017 | Solli | NOR | NA | 13, 19, 25, and 30 | High school and tertiary education | academic cognitive assessment | - Relatively older students have higher scores than relatively younger students. At lower socio-economic levels the relative age effects are stronger than at higher levels. Relatively younger males are less likely to complete Secondary Education than relatively older males. Relatively younger males are less likely to enrol in university at age 25. Relatively younger people, especially boys, have significantly lower earnings at age 30 than relatively older people. |
2018 | Dicks and Lancee | FRA | 11,903 | 15;16 | High school | PISA | - Relatively younger students with migrant parents are 10% more likely to repeat a grade in primary school. The effect sizes between these two variables (relative age and parental background) is larger than that between relative age and gender. |
2019 | Fumarco and Baert | ALB, AUT, AZE, BEL, GBR, CYP, CZE, DEU, DNK, EST, FIN, FRA, GBR, GEO, GRC, GRL, HUN, ISL, ITA, LVA, LTU, LUX, MLT, MDA, MKD, NLD, NOR, POL, PRT, ROU, RUS, SRB, SVK, SVN, ESP, SWE, CHE, TUR, and UK | 423,575 | 10;16 | Primary and High school | Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) | - Relatively younger students communicate electronically more frequently than relatively older students. Relatively younger students have fewer friends and meet less frequently. |
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Urruticoechea, A.; Oliveri, A.; Vernazza, E.; Giménez-Dasí, M.; Martínez-Arias, R.; Martín-Babarro, J. The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 8966. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18178966
Urruticoechea A, Oliveri A, Vernazza E, Giménez-Dasí M, Martínez-Arias R, Martín-Babarro J. The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(17):8966. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18178966
Chicago/Turabian StyleUrruticoechea, Alar, Andrés Oliveri, Elena Vernazza, Marta Giménez-Dasí, Rosario Martínez-Arias, and Javier Martín-Babarro. 2021. "The Relative Age Effects in Educational Development: A Systematic Review" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 17: 8966. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18178966