The purposes of this study were to determine if there were significant differences among entrant groups on measures of: (1) academic achievement in grades one, two, and three, (2) differences in academic achievement from the first to the second grade and also from the second grade to thethird grade, (3) personal adjustment at the third grade level, and (4) social adjustment at the third grade level. The null hypotheses were: Major Null Hypothesis I. There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of academic achievement. Sub-hypothesis I-A. There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of academic achievement in grade one. Sub-hypothesis I-B. There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of academic achievement in grade two. Sub-hypothesis I-C. There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of academic achievement in grade three. Sub-hypothesis I-D. There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of academic achievement from first to second grade. Sub-hypothesis I-E There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of academic achievement from second to third grade. Major Null Hypothesis II There will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of personal adjustment at the third grade level. Major Null Hypothesis IIIThere will be no significant difference among entrant groups on measures of social adjustment at the third grade level. The population for this study consisted of 387 third grade students who had attended school in the corporation from kindergarten through the third grade. The students were grouped according to their chronological entrance age. Group I consisted of all students between the ages of 4 years 8 months and 4 years 11 months. Group II consisted of all students between the ages of 5 years 0 months and 5 years 2 months. Group III was made up of all students between the ages of 5 years 3 months and 5 years 5 months and Group IV all students 5 years 6 months and older. The tests used for this study were a part of the system-wide testing program, except the California Test of Personality. The other tests were the Stanford Achievement Tests and the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Tests.The analysis of covariance was used to statistically analyze the five sub-hypotheses of major null hypothesis I. Level of confidence for rejection was .05 based on F ratio. If the sub-hypothesis was rejected, Duncan's Multiple Range Test was used to determine whether the difference between any two ranked means was significant. Analysis of variance was used to statistically analyze major null hypotheses II and III. Level of confidence for rejection was .05 based on F ratio. If these hypotheses were rejected, Duncan's Multiple Range Test was used to determine whether the difference between any two ranked means was significant.The conclusions of this study were that older school entrants were significantly superior to younger school entrants in academic achievement at grades one, two, and three. It should be noted that a comparison of the academic achievement of the younger entrants, as they progressed from first to second grade and from second to 4 third grade indicated that it was not significantly different from the older entrants. The younger entrants were significantly superior to the older entrants in personal and social development at the third grade level.This study points to the conclusion that chronological age is not so important in the academic, personal, and social development of the child as some educators believed. The younger entrants may do well in school. This data indicated that they can be successful, not only academically, but also personally and socially. The fact that children of the same chronological age differ in academic, personal, and social development, indicates that each child must be considered as an individual.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/175007 |
| Date | January 1970 |
| Creators | Beattie, Clive Churchwood |
| Contributors | Ballou, Philip E. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vi, 79 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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