Research
Working papers
When Young Boys Can't Wait: Academic Redshirting and Relative Age Effects on ADHD Referral, Diagnosis, and Treatment (Solo-authored) Manuscript
Abstract: I study how changes in parental discretion over school starting age (academic redshirting) affect gaps in ADHD referral, diagnosis, and treatment between young- and old-for-grade children. I exploit a tightening of redshirting rules in Denmark combined with quasi-experimental variation in school starting age from the school entry cutoff. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, I find that gaps in ADHD referral, diagnosis, and treatment increased from negligible up to 1 percentage point (18% of the mean) for boys after the policy change. For girls, who were less likely to be redshirted and therefore less exposed to the tightening, substantial but imprecise gaps were present before the policy change and did not change after. This suggests that academic redshirting mitigates disparities in ADHD outcomes and points to possible overdiagnosis of young-for-grade children, underdiagnosis of old-for-grade children, or both when redshirting is less available.Does Redshirting Boys Close the Gender Achievement Gap? (with Helena Skyt Nielsen) Manuscript
Abstract: When reaching high-stakes exams at the end of lower secondary school, boys are on average one and a half months older than girls, because they are more often redshirted or repeat a grade. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in age at test induced by the interaction of birth months and gender, we demonstrate an age-at-test advantage that persists throughout primary and lower secondary school and is remarkably consistent across academic subjects, tests and examination components. This maturity gap contributes to improved academic achievement for the redshirted boys whose school entry timing is affected by proximity to the cutoff, and is associated with a narrower gap in upper secondary enrollment for this group, thereby preventing boys from falling too far behind girls. Our analysis illustrates the role of flexibility at the transitions in the education system in mitigating gender variation in developmental and educational preparedness.
Work in progress
School Entry Age and Skill Formation in Schools (with Andrea Salvati)