ERIC Number: EJ1462298
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1082-3301
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1707
Available Date: 2024-03-26
School Entry-Age Effect on Student's Affective-Motivational Attitudes in German Elementary Schools
Saikat Ghosh1; Lydia Kleine1
Early Childhood Education Journal, v53 n4 p1041-1052 2025
The effect of school entry age on children's later performance is a long-debated topic without any convergence. Besides, existing studies have mostly limited themselves to examining the impact of entry age on children's cognitive achievements. In Germany, where different entry-age regulations exist across federal states and academic tracking takes place very early, it is crucial to investigate whether these differential school entry ages affect children's outcomes. This study, based on the longitudinal data available from the National Educational Panel Study, investigates the possible entry-age effect on children's willingness to make an effort and their school enjoyment in the German elementary school context. The study found a positive entry-age effect only for willingness to make an effort but not for school enjoyment, and the existing entry-age effect decreases over time. Therefore, empirical evidence confirms that, in Germany, the entry-age effect persists in the short run and some child outcomes seem more sensitive to entry age than others. These are important findings in the German context where students' academic tracking starts from lower secondary schooling and entry-age effects may significantly influence it.
Descriptors: School Entrance Age, Student Motivation, Student Attitudes, Elementary School Students, Foreign Countries, Student Behavior, Psychological Patterns
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), Bamberg, Germany