Okula başlama yaşının ve okula hazır olmanın sözel kabiliyet edinimindeki etkisi

Older entrants are reported, in the literature, to attain more beneficial outcomes in school than the younger entrants. In this study, I analyze the effect of school starting age on the child's learning outcomes through the first two years of primary school in Turkey. I exploit my finding of linear natural maturation process to disentangle the school starting age effect from the age at testing and time in school effect. I use the sharp date of birth cutoff for school entrance as a source of exogenous variation in school starting age, to identify the older and younger entrants. I also incorporate a distinctive measure of mother's perceptions of children's readiness for school to account for potential heterogeneity in the effect of school starting age. I find that being older at school entrance have positive and significantly large effect on the verbal acquisition. Whereas, children who start school relatively young and rated to be not ready for formal education make the least progress. Results suggest that the move to an earlier date of birth cutoff rule for school admissions may be associated with lower learning outcomes, confirming parental concerns and decision of delayed entrance.