“Six and seven-year olds entering school” study findings

Published on Friday, 13 September 2013 11:43

Both six and seven-year-old children finish the first grade of the primary school with the same skills level, children whose competences at the beginning of the school were the lowest, benefit the most – the IBE study findings show. The results of the study were presented at press conference in Warsaw.

Prof. Anna I. Brzezińska answered journalists’ questions

The “Six and seven-year olds entering school” study conducted by IBE experts is unique for a number of reasons:

• for the first time the skills and progress of 6- and 7-year-old children who either enrolled in primary schools or started pre-primary education were evaluated;
• for the first time effects of teaching at school and in pre-primary classes were compared;
• for the first time tablets were used in this kind of study.

The most important findings of the study:

• Regardless of whether the children were enrolled in pre-primary class (“zerówka”) or primary school, the progress was clearly visible - children develop regardless of the educational path they take.
• At the end of school year six-year-old children attending the first grade of primary school reached the same skill level in mathematics as seven-year-old children which means that with regard to mathematical skills 6-year-old children who attended the first grade of primary school benefited the most.
• Among the examined children, the weakest group, i.e. the one that got the worst results in the autumn study, improved in the three types of examined skills the most.
• The most significant development of reading skills was observed in the group of 6-year-old children attending the first grade of primary school.
• With regard to writing and reading skills, 6-year old children attending school based pre-primary classes and those attending kindergarten pre-primary classes reached a similar level. The same was true for six and seven-year-old children attending the first grade of primary school.
• The competences of the first grade children proved to be always higher than the competences of children attending pre-primary classes, and lower than competences of seven-year-olds in the second grade (enrolled in primary school at the age of six). In short, it is not the age of a child that is crucial, but what a child learns.
• Seven-year-olds attending the second grade, i.e. children who enrolled in the first grade as six-year-old children, have higher level of competences than seven-year-old children in the first grade.

The “Six and seven-year olds entering school” study was carried out in two stages - the first one lasted from 29 October to 10 December 2012 (the children taking part in the study had attended school or pre-primary class for 2-3 months and, consequently, their skills may have changed compared to the beginning of the school year on 1 September), the second stage lasted from 18 May to 19 June 2013. Mathematical, writing and reading skills were thus tested twice. It is worth noting that reading and mathematical skills are related to child’s reasoning abilities while writing skills are also strongly related to fine motor skills which are intensively trained in the first grades of primary school – the training significantly influences the progress in this competence.

Parents of the examined children completed surveys at each stage.

The study included:

• 6-year-olds attending pre-primary classes, in school or in kindergarten,
• 6-year-olds children in primary school,
• 7-year-olds in primary school,
• 7-year-olds in the second grade of primary school (i.e. enrolled in school at the age of 6).
• The study was representative for the population of 6- and 7-year-olds taking the above educational paths.