FLICKR, ALBERTO GGenetics accounts for some 58 percent of the variation in test scores of more than 11,000 high school students taking the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education), a qualifying exam common in the U.K., according to a study published in PLOS ONE. In contrast, students’ school environment and home life accounted for only 36 percent of the variation.
“Some children find it easier to learn than others do, and I think it’s appetite as much as aptitude,” Robert Plomin, an expert in behavioral genetics who led the study at King’s College London told The Guardian. “There is a motivation, maybe because you like to do what you are good at.”
Plomin and his colleagues came to their conclusions by comparing the test scores of identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, to non-identical twins, who share only half their genetic material. The researchers suggest that because schools aim to give an equal education to all children, genetic differences impacting educational success are apparent. Of course, identifying specific genes that might play a role will be difficult, Plomin admitted.
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