Redshirting in education and the Joe DiMaggio Awards Gala

According to a U.S. Department of Education report back in 2000 about 9 percent of first and second-graders started kindergarten one year late, and eight years later the experts are saying that this trend is continuing. There is usually an age gap within one class that is 16 months or more, posing challenges for teachers concerned that the older children may become bored.

Delaying a child’s entry to start kindergarten, or to repeat kindergarten, began with the ratcheting up of standards for third graders and above to improve the students’ performance on standardized tests. With greater emphasis on test performance, educators have noted a gradual escalation in academic demands has made its way down the grades – all the way to kindergarten. So that is why some parents opt to give their children a leg up by keeping them out of kindergarten a year beyond when they reach the entry age. It is called "redshirting" and many people and educators are wondering if it is a good idea.

Some people think that it is the students that are being held out that are the ones who need school the most. Another 2002 study by the National Institute for Early Education found that, on average, older children do not academically outperform their younger peers.

I see this often in my work for Xaverian High School, which offers amazing program for students with learning disabilities. The school has a tradition of serving young men from disadvantaged backgrounds, including students whose families are in financial need. In fact, if it were not for the generosity of alumni, parents and friends, many of these students would not be able to afford a quality, college-prep education.

We do a fund raiser every year, and I am on the Joe DiMaggio Committee that raises money at this premiere event known as the Joe DiMaggio Award Gala. He went to the school and supported it always ...

We also rasie funds through straight donations. If you are interested, you can make a gift in honor of the Joe DiMaggio Scholarship Fund, please print out this coupon and return it to: http://www.joedimaggioaward.com/donate/index_donate.htm

The Joe DiMaggio Scholarship Fund Xaverian High School
7100 Shore Road
Brooklyn, NY 11209

To find out more about the Joe DiMaggio Award Gala, please contact Dr. Salvatore Ferrera at 718-836-7100 ext. 112.
Make checks payable to: Xaverian HS / Joe DiMaggioScholarship Fund