Relationship between Birth Month and Mathematics Performance in Norway

Abstract

Due to the fixed school start in Norway in August of the calendar year of students’ sixth birthday, the age span in one class is up to twelve months. This can impact academic performance both in the early years and later. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between birth month and mathematics performance by paying attention to the content and cognitive domains addressed in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. In Norway, the TIMSS 2015 included four cohorts, enabling a comparison between grades. We find significant correlations between birth month and mathematics performance overall as well as in all content and cognitive domains for grades 4, 5 and 8. Furthermore, the gap in mathematics results between the youngest and the oldest in a cohort is less in grade 9 than in grade 4. We suggest that these findings have implications for mathematics teachers’ practice.