Effect of age and gender on children’s reading performance: The possible neural underpinnings

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the effect of age and gender on second-grade children’s reading performance. Two hundred and eighty-seven children aged 7.1–8.2 years were divided into two age subgroups (the younger, 85–91 months and the older, 92–98 months) and were examined in reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension tasks. Results showed a significant effect of age in reading performance, with the older children having better scores than younger ones for reading fluency, reading comprehension, and the total reading performance. Gender was not found to play an important role in reading performance. The findings are discussed on the ground of functional brain development and the different rates of cerebral maturation.

Keywords:

• age
• gender
• reading
• brain

Public Interest Statement

Scholastic attainment varies with the month of birth, such that in any age cohort the older pupils tend to outperform the younger. Gender is another factor that is often reported to affect reading development. This paper sought to explore the effect of age and gender on second-grade children’s reading performance and discuss them in a neurobiological point of view. We found that older children have better reading scores than younger, but gender does not affect second-grade children’s reading performance. These findings highlight the necessity of comprehensive intervention during kindergarten and first grade to ensure that all students are on the right track for learning through the school years. Teachers should give special importance to reading instruction during the first school years. Their efforts should aim to counterbalance possible performance differences due to age factor as well as to prevent reading problems the subsequent scholastic years.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interest.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Filippos Vlachos

Filippos Vlachos is a professor of Psychobiology and the head in the Department of Special Education, at the University of Thessaly, Greece. His research interests concern the psychobiological and neuropsychological approaches of learning and developmental disabilities as well as the relationship between brain laterality and cognitive abilities.

Artemis Papadimitriou

Artemis Papadimitriou is school director. She conducts research on early education, as well as on cognitive development, including reading and vocabulary development and in children.