Genetic factors account for most of the longitudinal stability of educational achievement (70% in the common pathway model; 63–79% of bivariate phenotypic correlations)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In bivariate twin analyses, genetic factors explain 63–79% of the phenotypic correlations between ages. → Rimfeld 2018 q3 i? The common pathway model attributes 70% of the stability (heritability of the latent factor) to genetic factors and 24% to shared environment. → Rimfeld 2018 (2) q3 i? Simplex model genetic transmission paths from age to age are high (0.86, 0.84, 0.86), indicating largely stable genetic influence. → Rimfeld 2018 (3)

Evidence¶

Rimfeld 2018¶

Rimfeld, K., Malanchini, M., Krapohl, E., Hannigan, L. J., Dale, P. S. & Plomin, R. (2018). The stability of educational achievement across school years is largely explained by genetic factors. npj Science of Learning 3:16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0030-0

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Bivariate twin analyses of each pair of assessment ages in TEDS; the printed range of genetic contribution to phenotypic correlations is "63 to 79%" (Fig. 2a). These are proportions of covariance, not standardised effect sizes.

"In bivariate twin analyses comparing each pair of ages, genetic factors accounted for a substantial proportion of the covariance between ages, explaining from 63 to 79% of the phenotypic correlations (Fig. 2a)."

Rimfeld 2018 (2)¶

Rimfeld, K., Malanchini, M., Krapohl, E., Hannigan, L. J., Dale, P. S. & Plomin, R. (2018). The stability of educational achievement across school years is largely explained by genetic factors. npj Science of Learning 3:16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0030-0

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Genetic common pathway model across all four ages of assessment; the article prints "Seventy percent" genetic and "24%" shared environmental contributions to the latent achievement factor's stability. These are variance components, not effect sizes.

"Seventy percent of the overall stability of core educational achievement across compulsory education (he ritability of the latent factor) was explained by genetic factors; 24% of the stability of educational achievement was explained by shared environ- mental factors"

Rimfeld 2018 (3)¶

Rimfeld, K., Malanchini, M., Krapohl, E., Hannigan, L. J., Dale, P. S. & Plomin, R. (2018). The stability of educational achievement across school years is largely explained by genetic factors. npj Science of Learning 3:16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-018-0030-0

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Longitudinal simplex model of overall achievement across the four ages; the printed genetic transmission paths are 0.86, 0.84, and 0.86, with C stable but smaller and E age-specific. Path estimates are not standardised effect sizes.

"the stability of core academic achievement was largely explained by additive genetic (A) factors — the genetic paths from age to age are 0.86, 0.84, and 0.86"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Educational achievement is highly stable from age 7 to 16, with age-to-age phenotypic correlations ranging from 0.66 to 0.85 — related
• Genetic stability of educational achievement persists after controlling for general cognitive ability (g), with genetic factors explaining about 60% of stability — related
• GPAΔ is strikingly highly heritable (85%), exceeding the heritability of achievement itself (67%) — related
• Age-to-age change in achievement is largely explained by non-shared environmental factors, while genetic and shared environmental influences are stable — related
• Educational achievement is highly heritable, and the common environmental variance is attributable to SES effects — related