However, it seems to be drawing skewed conclusions from the research it cites.
From the article:
"When a group of economists followed Norwegian children born between 1962 and 1988, until the youngest turned eighteen, in 2006, they found that, at age eighteen, children who started school a year later had I.Q. scores that were significantly lower than their younger counterparts. Their earnings also suffered: through age thirty, men who started school later earned less."
From the abstract of the paper it references [1]:
"We find evidence for a small positive effect of starting school younger on IQ scores measured at age 18. In contrast, we find evidence of much larger positive effects of age at test, and these results are very robust. [...] There appears to be a short-run positive effect on earnings of beginning school at a younger age; however, this effect has essentially disappeared by age 30."
Not quite as sensationalist as the summary in the article! Students starting school younger had slightly higher test scores at age 18. However, the age when taking the test had a greater effect, so students starting older would still presumably have an advantage in tests taken at graduation (given that they would still be older). Students starting younger earned more, but only slightly and only until age 30.
I expect the real conclusion to be drawn is that it's silly to obsess over what age to start your kid in school. Start them when they seem ready, and spend more time focusing on supporting them at home (in their education and otherwise) than worrying about the findings of these studies.
Ah, I remember that study and have mentioned it elsewhere in the comments here but couldn't remember where it was from.
In Norwegian newspapers one the authors of the study basically wrote about it with the opposite slant of what the New Yorker did, pointing out what the abstract says: that the long term results are the same either way.
However, it seems to be drawing skewed conclusions from the research it cites.
From the article:
"When a group of economists followed Norwegian children born between 1962 and 1988, until the youngest turned eighteen, in 2006, they found that, at age eighteen, children who started school a year later had I.Q. scores that were significantly lower than their younger counterparts. Their earnings also suffered: through age thirty, men who started school later earned less."
From the abstract of the paper it references [1]:
"We find evidence for a small positive effect of starting school younger on IQ scores measured at age 18. In contrast, we find evidence of much larger positive effects of age at test, and these results are very robust. [...] There appears to be a short-run positive effect on earnings of beginning school at a younger age; however, this effect has essentially disappeared by age 30."
Not quite as sensationalist as the summary in the article! Students starting school younger had slightly higher test scores at age 18. However, the age when taking the test had a greater effect, so students starting older would still presumably have an advantage in tests taken at graduation (given that they would still be older). Students starting younger earned more, but only slightly and only until age 30.
I expect the real conclusion to be drawn is that it's silly to obsess over what age to start your kid in school. Start them when they seem ready, and spend more time focusing on supporting them at home (in their education and otherwise) than worrying about the findings of these studies.
[1]: http://www.nber.org/papers/w13969