Full Citation

Title: An Unintended Effect of School Entrance Age: Pushing Children Ahead through Private School

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2021

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Does a child’s birth date affect his or her probability of attending a private school? In the United States, most children must be five years old by September to start public kindergarten. An alternative option is to attend private schools, which are not obliged to comply with states’ cutoffs. To explore this, I look at the effect of children’s quarter of birth on their probability of attending private school by grade (pre-kindergarten through 12th grade). Using the American Community Survey, I find that children born in July–September and October–December are more likely to attend private kindergarten than children born between April and June. The effect does not persist at higher grades. These findings indicate that, when limited by the entrance age cutoff, parents use private schools to bypass the restriction, giving their children a head start on schooling, and later transfer them to public school as they progress through K–12.

Url: https://elisataveras.com/files/PrivateSchool_ETP_JMP.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Taveras, Elisa

Series Title:

Publication Number:

Institution:

Pages: 1-62

Publisher Location:

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education

Countries: