Re: study of red****rting (late entrance to kndergarten)

In article
<3e1b12e6-6688-473e-9726-48be3582cabe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Beliavsky  <beliavsky@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On Jul 22, 6:07=A0pm, Chookie <ehreben...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> In article
>> <8b5cfd78-60fc-4886-a4f8-b55aebc0f...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,

>> =A0Beliavsky <beliav...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

			.................

>Kids vary in intelligence, and some will reach a "mental age" of 6
>only at age 7, which corresponds to a ratio IQ of 86. If the first
>grade curriculum in a certain school presumes a mental age of 6, some
>6-year-olds should not be in first grade, because they are not smart
>enough yet. Perhaps they should repeat kindergarten. I'm not saying
>this is the only reason some 6-year-olds are not ready for 1st grade,
>but it is the reason for some. Of course, it's not PC to acknowledge
>differences in intelligence when setting educational policy.

>> My experience has been of parents whose expectations for their
five-year-=
>old
>> boys (and it is boys in particular) are much too high. =A0Of course
they =
>don't
>> sit still at home for more than a few minutes (why should they?). =A0Of
c=
>ourse
>> they aren't reading and writing. =A0

>My eldest son was reading before 4, and several others in this group
>have mentioned that they or their children were reading at that age or
>earlier. Should the curriculum be set according to the median
>capacity? That of the the 25th percentile? If a child is not ready to
>learn to read, or write, or do arithmetic, I think he is not ready to
>attend school.

Why should children of different abilities and backgrounds
be in the same classroom?  Why should a child who knows how
to read well be in the same classroom with one who needs to
learn how to read?  

The differences in intelligence are vast; in subject matter
intelligence, even greater.  When I say that a bright person
should be taking only honors college courses at the "high
school" age, I am NOT exaggerating, and for gifted it is
even greater.

>> So what? =A0Our public schools, at least, are
>> prepared for normal kids. =A0In fact, they are prepared for children
who =
>can't
>> speak any English, or who have learning disabilities. =A0Middle-class
par=
>ents
>> seem to have some very strange ideas about what children do in
Kindergart=
>en!

I am not saying one should not be prepared for all of these.

I am saying that they should not be placed together for 
educational purposes.
-- 
This address is for information only.  I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
         Phone: (765)494-6054   FAX: (765)494-0558