Parents always worry about whether their children will do well in school, but their kids probably were born with much of what they will need to succeed.
A new study published in npj Science of Learning by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and King’s College London explains the substantial influence genes have on academic success, from the start of elementary school to the last day of high school.
For many years, research has linked educational achievement to life trajectories, such as occupational status, health, or happiness. But if performing well in school predicts better life outcomes, what predicts how well someone will do throughout school?
“Around two-thirds of individual differences in school achievement are explained by differences in children’s DNA,” says Margherita Malanchini, a psychology postdoctoral fellow at the Population Research Center at UT Austin. “But less is known about how these factors contribute to an individual’s academic success overtime.”
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