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Journal Article
How and why does age at kindergarten entry matter?
Those who have spent time in a kindergarten classroom know that there are remarkable differences in children's skills. Research has shown that these skill differences are strongly tied to age, with students who enter kindergarten later in life doing better than younger entrants. Moreover, an "entry-age achievement gap" has been found to persist until as late as the eighth or ninth grade. ; In this Economic Letter, I describe possible interpretations of the entry-age achievement gap, along with their implications, and discuss new empirical research attempting to establish their relative ...
Working Paper
Schooling and the AFQT: evidence from school entry laws
Is the Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) a measure of achievement or ability? The answer to this question is critical for drawing inferences from studies in which it is employed. In this paper, we test for a relationship between schooling and AFQT performance in the NLSY 79 by comparing test-takers with birthdays near state cutoff dates for school entry. We instrument for schooling at the test date with academic cohort?the year in which an individual should have entered first grade?in a model that allows age at the test date to have a direct effect on AFQT performance. This identification ...
Journal Article
Can young Americans compete in a global economy?
Young Americans have to compete for jobs not only with other Americans but also with qualified job-seekers worldwide. Are they ready for the challenge? This Letter sheds new light on the question by analyzing data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS).