<p>A new theory in sociology states that because in the American education systems the cutoff in in late August/September, those funneled into gifted programs at an early age are more likely to be the older ones in the class, born between September and December, than the youngest, those born between May and August. Those children are thus more likely to be more academically successful throughout life.</p>
<p>To test this, lets check the distribution of CC birth-months. Since CCers are obviously a little more high-achieving them most students, and more likely to have been in those gifted programs.</p>
<p>Just change the number to the total when you post. For example, if the second poster was also born in May, they'd replace "1" with "2" and repost the chart, and so on.</p>
<p>In my district, if you're near the cutoff, your parents can choose which year to let you in. Therefore, a few of the kids with late birthdays are the youngest ones, and those are the ones who do well, because their parents choosing to send them to school at a younger age likely represents the students' maturity and/or the parents' serious attitude toward education, but the rest of the kids with later birthdays are the ones whose parents decided to hold them back a year because they weren't demonstrating maturity at the time or because the parents weren't as academically-oriented... not that any of these factors is important enough to have a perceivable influence anyways. </p>
<p>Is this really "a new theory in sociology"? A publicized one? Sources plz?</p>
<p>I'm not sure about academics, but this is true in sports such as hockey. The kids who are older are bigger and have had a bit more time to develop their skills (which at that age can make a big difference) get more coaching/ice time. Something like 70% of NHL players are born between january and april.</p>