Academic redshirting: implications on equity

This study examined academic redshirting in kindergartenthe practice of postponing formal entrance into school for age-eligible children to allow extra time for socio-emotional, intellectual, or physical growth and its influence on referral for and placement into gifted education services. The current study investigated inequity as a function of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status and analyzed the extent to which students who were redshirted were at an unfair advantage over their younger peers. The findings suggest redshirts differed considerably from non-redshirts in terms of their composition and educational services received. Specifically, redshirts were considerably more likely to be male and more likely to receive special education services than were their non-redshirt peers. They were slightly more likely to be economically disadvantaged, an English Language Learner, or White or Hispanic. Redshirts were referred for gifted evaluation at lower rates than other students, although their placement rates were not particularly distinguishable from non-redshirts. There does not appear to be significant differences in the method used to place students in gifted between redshirts and non-redshirts. Implications and broader findings were discussed.