The practical utility of genetic screening in school settings

Rank concordance of polygenic indices

Polygenic indices (PGIs) are increasingly used to identify individuals at risk of developing disease and are advocated as screening tools for personalized medicine and education. Here we empirically assess rank concordance between PGIs created with different construction methods and discovery samples, focusing on cardiovascular disease and educational attainment. We find Spearman rank correlations between 0.17 and 0.93 for cardiovascular disease, and 0.40 and 0.83 for educational attainment, indicating highly unstable rankings across different PGIs for the same trait. Potential consequences for personalized medicine and gene-environment (G × E) interplay are illustrated using data from the UK Biobank. Simulations show how rank discordance mainly derives from a limited discovery sample size and reveal a tight link between the explained variance of a PGI and its ranking precision. We conclude that PGI-based ranking is highly dependent on PGI choice, such that current PGIs do not have the desired precision to be used routinely for personalized intervention.

Interpreting and reinterpreting heritability estimates in educational behavior genetics

Interpreting heritability estimates through the lens of cultural evolution presents two broad and interlinking problems for educational behavior genetics. First, the problem of interpreting high heritability of educational phenotypes as indicators of the genetic basis of traits, when these findings also reflect cultural homogeneity. Second, the problem of extrapolating from genetic research findings in education to policy and practice recommendations.

Nature vs. Nurture in Precision Education: Insights of Parents and the Public

BACKGROUND

The philosophical debate about the roles of nature versus nurture in human flourishing is not new. But the rise of precision education-a growing field of research that encourages the use of genetic data to inform educational trajectory and interventions to better meet student needs-has renewed historical and ethical concerns. A major worry is that "genetic hype" may skew public perceptions toward a deterministic perception of the child's educational trajectory, regardless of the child's capacities, and underestimation of environmental factors affecting educational outcomes. We tested this hypothesis with parents and adults from the general public in the US.

METHODS

A newly developed computerized implicit association test (IAT) to assess automatic associations between genetics or environments and student behaviors that are associated with educational achievement was administered to samples of parents of children below 21 years old (n = 450) and adults from the general public (n = 419). The samples were representative of the adult US population and adjusted to oversample Black/African American participants. An overall D score for participants' IATs (range: [-2, 2]) was calculated on the basis of the speed of participants' responses.

RESULTS

The mean IAT score for both samples indicated stronger association between the quality of being a good student and environment rather than genetics (parents: mean=-0.146, t = -6.56, p < 0.001; general public: mean = -0.249, t = -9.45, p < 0.0001). Younger participants from the general public showed a stronger association between genetics and educational success than middle-aged participants (β = -0.301, p = 0.006).

CONCLUSION

The views of parents and the general public on behavioral genetics and education are complex but call for investment in creating educational environments that are supportive of student success. Future research is needed to understand differences across age groups and to explore views of other stakeholders involved in determining children's educational trajectories about the roles of nature versus nurture in precision education.