Academic redshirting is the act of keeping a child out of school for an additional year before kindergarten. This practice has become prevalent in America as kindergarten standards become more rigorous. There are few examples in the literature of research that explores the differences between children who have been academically redshirted and those who were not. Based on studies about relative age effects in the classroom, the research shows that older children have higher academic achievement than younger children in the same grade. Redshirting provides a particular child with advantages in school by deeming that child one of the oldest in their class. Since most redshirted children have birthdates just before the local cut-off date, these children would be among the youngest in their class had they not been redshirted and would likely experience the negative effects of relative age. Retention does not work to give children the same benefit as redshirting because there are negative emotional impacts on a child that affect school achievement. (Contains 1 table.)