Taller pupils do better in school

[HPFA]

This:

www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/taller-pupils-do-better-school-study-finds

Tiger parents immediately start investing in built-up shoes.

No my brain is telling me that if the parents are both over six foot it's highly likely they are going to have tall offspring regardless what month they are born and if your parents are both under five foot being born in September isn't going to help you reach dizzying heights without a ladder

So what about the kids who all have parents who are exactly 6 ft tall. Do you think the kids who are 11 months older than the others might just be taller, faster, more socialy and emotionally advanced?

I've met my share of extremely socially and emotionally immature children who are happen to be the oldest in the class but I was commenting on the idea that being the oldest automatically makes you the tallest which is of course nonsense.

The study says it controlled for age, so that may mean it took into account the difference between September and August born dc and the fact that September dc are advantaged in other ways - it's not clear.

I suppose you would need to do a breakdown by month of birth, for example, and see if taller September borns do better than shorter September borns (controlling for all the other factors as well).

Interesting that this only applies in larger schools. Yet another factor to feed into school choice!

Obviously they account for age!!

I would imagine like being the oldest in a group, being the tallest in a group has advantages and self fulfilling prophecy opportunities.

Adults and other children often have higher expectations of children who look older than they are.

DH and I are both 'tall'. DC1 (aged 8) April b'day is tallest in her year. DC2 (aged 4) May b'day is shortest in his year. Hypothesis is that parents are the same ;-) and diet and light are the same ;-).
Conclusion: DC2 is pacing himself and will, in time, outgrow those with short arsed parents ;-).
An aside: there a child in DC2's class who is gynormously tall and nearly as tall as his brother who is 4 years older than him!!

As far as I could tell the study found a correlation, not a causation. So for instance one could say it shows in larger schools taller pupils are doing better in education and speculate as to why they are receiving more attention. Equally you could say more educated pupils are becoming taller and speculate as to how they are using their intelligence to get better meals in the crowded lunch queues.
Alternatively there could be some other cause which is affecting both height and educational outcomes separately.

It's been shown that taller people tend to be more successful and earn more money than shorter people. Tall people have tall children who benefit from their parents' wealth and confidence.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Anecdotal evidence, of which there's lots on this thread, tells us nothing. Just because your summer-born child is tall, doesn't mean that it can't be true that in general summer-born children are shorter than their class-mates who are almost a year older.

I'm 6 foot and left with no qualifications worth speaking of. DC1 is the shortest in his cohort and left with top grades. DC2 is average height and is in top sets. I think it's bollocks.