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Good genes can give a young child a head start when it comes to learning to read, but it's not enough to overcome the effects of a poorly rated school.
Those are the findings of Florida State University researchers who looked at whether schools or genetics play a greater role in influencing a child's ability to read. The research is outlined in a new study published in the journal Developmental Science.
The study indicates that while attending a top or "A" school will help a child's natural intellectual abilities flourish, that same child might falter if he or she attended a school with a lower ranking.
"The letter grade a school receives has such power—from the funding the school will receive to the autonomy it is allowed to the home prices around the school and real estate purchases," said Assistant Professor of Psychology Sara Hart. "We wanted to see if school grades actually mattered to children's reading achievement."
Hart, who is also a part of the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR), and FSU doctoral student Rasheda Haughbrook, the lead author on the new study, wanted to see how students do in different learning environments and whether that critical school ranking reflected a child's reading performance.
They found that genetic factors had a greater influence on pre-reading skills for students who attended "A" schools than on those children who attended lesser ranked schools. In lower ranked schools, environmental factors appeared to be more varied, leading to inconsistency in pre-reading skills among students.
States' ranking systems can vary to some degrees, but many school scores are reflected with an "A" through "F" score.
Read more here (PhysOrg)
Those are the findings of Florida State University researchers who looked at whether schools or genetics play a greater role in influencing a child's ability to read. The research is outlined in a new study published in the journal Developmental Science.
The study indicates that while attending a top or "A" school will help a child's natural intellectual abilities flourish, that same child might falter if he or she attended a school with a lower ranking.
"The letter grade a school receives has such power—from the funding the school will receive to the autonomy it is allowed to the home prices around the school and real estate purchases," said Assistant Professor of Psychology Sara Hart. "We wanted to see if school grades actually mattered to children's reading achievement."
Hart, who is also a part of the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR), and FSU doctoral student Rasheda Haughbrook, the lead author on the new study, wanted to see how students do in different learning environments and whether that critical school ranking reflected a child's reading performance.
They found that genetic factors had a greater influence on pre-reading skills for students who attended "A" schools than on those children who attended lesser ranked schools. In lower ranked schools, environmental factors appeared to be more varied, leading to inconsistency in pre-reading skills among students.
States' ranking systems can vary to some degrees, but many school scores are reflected with an "A" through "F" score.
Read more here (PhysOrg)
