FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS THAT START THE SCHOOL IN DIFFERENT AGES

This study is a continuation of the work that Oktay, Do？an, and ？zcan conducted in 2015 and is a longitudinal study for its monitoring purposes. The aim of this research is to monitor the academic achievements of the fourth-grade students who have started primary school in different age groups and participated in the research that Oktay et al. (2015) have done. 141 students were reached from the 254 students who participated in the first study conducted by Oktay et al. (2015). These students have started the fourth grade at three public primary schools in Kad？k？y, Maltepe, and ümraniye in the Anatolian side of Istanbul. Students were grouped according to the ages they started in the first grade. The groups were named as Small group (66–71 months), Middle group (72–77 months), and Big group (78–83 months). Mathematics (numbers, operations, patterns, geometry and problem solving), reading speed, and reading comprehension were evaluated in order to determine the academic achievement of these students who reached the fourth-grade level. Semi-structured interview questions were created to get the teachers’ views. According to the results of findings there is no significant difference between groups in terms of numbers, operations, patterns and geometry. On the other hand there is a significant difference in problem solving and reading comprehension between Small and the other groups in the favor of the Big group and Middle group. Findings show that students continue to have difficulty in solving mathematical problems and reading comprehension when they are in the first grade