Abstract

Who wants to go to school? Lessons from reforming (back and forth) the school entry age in Poland

Highlights

  • No matter how good and protective schools are in dealing with small children, starting education is always a challenge for the youngest students

  • They should be more willing to send their children to school even before the compulsory term

  • At the same time, better endowed parents may be more conscious of how their child’s age determines his or her achievements and functioning in the peer group. This knowledge, and the desire to provide their child with better chances in school competition, may lead parents to delay the enrolment of their children in school

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Summary

Educational Research Institute*

The goal of this paper – set in the context of the reform to lower the school starting age in Poland – is to investigate the determinants of parental decisions to enrol their six-year-old children in the 1st grade versus leaving them in preschool or preparatory class. It was found that starting school before the compulsory term occurs primarily in response to objective symptoms of a child’s readiness for school, but there is some evidence for a deliberate investment in education by parents with a higher socio-economic status. Early enrolment may be driven by a cost-reducing strategy. The discussion highlights the possible reasons for the political failure of school age reform, which was recently cancelled after having been gradually introduced for six years

School entry age and the experience of its reform across countries
Data and empirical strategy
How selective was early enrolment in school?
Variable Dependent variables
What are the determinants of parental decision for starting school early?
Basic Secondary vocational vocational
Log pseudolikelihood
Conclusions
Literature
Full Text
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