scholarly journals Genetic Associations with Mathematics Tracking and Persistence in Secondary School

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Paige Harden ◽  
Benjamin W. Domingue ◽  
Daniel W. Belsky ◽  
Jason D. Boardman ◽  
Robert Crosnoe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Genetic Associations ◽  
Disadvantaged Schools ◽  
High School Math ◽  
Stem Pipeline ◽  
Polygenic Scores ◽  
Molecular Tracer

Maximizing the flow of students through the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pipeline is important to promoting human capital development and reducing economic inequality1. A critical juncture in the STEM pipeline is the highly-cumulative sequence of secondary school math courses2–5. Students from disadvantaged schools are less likely to complete advanced math courses, but debate continues about why6,7. Here, we address this question using studentpolygenic scores, which are DNA-based indicators of propensity to succeed in education8. We integrated genetic and official school transcript data from over 3,000 European-ancestry students from U.S. high schools. We used polygenic scores as a molecular tracer to understand how the flow of students through the high school math pipeline differs in socioeconomically advantaged versus disadvantaged schools. Students with higher education polygenic scores were tracked to more advanced math already at the beginning of high school and persisted in math for more years. Molecular tracer analyses revealed that the dynamics of the math pipeline differed by school advantage. Compared to disadvantaged schools, advantaged schools tracked more students with high polygenic scores into advanced math classes at the start of high school, and they buffered students with low polygenic scores from dropping out of math. Across all schools, even students with exceptional polygenic scores (top 2%) were unlikely to take the most advanced math classes, suggesting substantial room for improvement in the development of potential STEM talent. These results link new molecular genetic discoveries to a common target of educational-policy reforms.

Polygenic Scores Predict the Development of Alcohol and Nicotine Use Problems from Adolescence through Young Adulthood

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph D. Deak ◽  
D. Angus Clark ◽  
Mengzhen Liu ◽  
C. Emily Durbin ◽  
William G. Iacono ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Externalizing Behavior ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Predictive Utility ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
Discovery Sample ◽  
Polygenic Scores

Objective: Molecular genetic studies of alcohol and nicotine have identified many genome-wide loci. We examined the predictive utility of drinking and smoking polygenic scores (PGS) for alcohol and nicotine use from late childhood to early adulthood, substance-specific versus broader-liability PGS effects, and if PGS performance varied between consumption versus pathological use. Methods: Latent growth curve models with structured residuals were used to assess the predictive utility of drinks per week and regular smoking PGS for measures of alcohol and nicotine consumption and problematic use from age 14 to 34. PGSs were generated from the largest discovery sample for alcohol and nicotine use to date (i.e., GSCAN), and examined for associations with alcohol and nicotine use in the Minnesota Twin Family Study (N=3225).Results: The drinking PGS was a significant predictor of age 14 problematic alcohol use and increases in problematic use during young adulthood. The smoking PGS was a significant predictor for all nicotine use outcomes. After adjusting for the effects of both PGSs, the smoking PGS demonstrated incremental predictive utility for most alcohol use outcomes and remained a significant predictor of nicotine use trajectories. Conclusions: Higher PGS for drinking and smoking were associated with more problematic levels of substance use longitudinally. The smoking PGS seems to capture both nicotine-specific and non-specific genetic liability for substance use, and may index genetic risk for broader externalizing behavior. Validation of PGS within longitudinal designs may have important clinical implications should future studies support the clinical utility of PGS for substance use disorders.

Contrasting Broad- and Clinically- defined Polygenic Indicators of Depression and Depression-related Phenotypes in Adults and Children

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. McGeary ◽  
Chelsie Benca-Bachman ◽  
Victoria Risner ◽  
Christopher G Beevers ◽  
Brandon Gibb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Cognitive Reappraisal ◽  
Twin Studies ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Summary Statistics ◽  
Depression Severity ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Polygenic Scores ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
The Uk

Twin studies indicate that 30-40% of the disease liability for depression can be attributed to genetic differences. Here, we assess the explanatory ability of polygenic scores (PGS) based on broad- (PGSBD) and clinical- (PGSMDD) depression summary statistics from the UK Biobank using independent cohorts of adults (N=210; 100% European Ancestry) and children (N=728; 70% European Ancestry) who have been extensively phenotyped for depression and related neurocognitive phenotypes. PGS associations with depression severity and diagnosis were generally modest, and larger in adults than children. Polygenic prediction of depression-related phenotypes was mixed and varied by PGS. Higher PGSBD, in adults, was associated with a higher likelihood of having suicidal ideation, increased brooding and anhedonia, and lower levels of cognitive reappraisal; PGSMDD was positively associated with brooding and negatively related to cognitive reappraisal. Overall, PGS based on both broad and clinical depression phenotypes have modest utility in adult and child samples of depression.

Gender Non-traditional High School Study: Reasons for Choice and Evaluation of Experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 46-66
Author(s):  
Irena Smetáčková ◽  
Petr Pavlík
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Peer Groups ◽  
Male Students ◽  
School Program ◽  
School Study ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
Opposite Sex

Career choices of most pupils at the end of the primary school conform to gender norms. Only a few of them continue to study in a field traditionally considered appropriate for the opposite sex. The qualitative study presented here maps the reasons for such choices based on a sample of 25 female and 31 male students who study gender-atypical secondary school program for one to three years. The data were collected using a questionnaire with open-ended items and analysed using the qualitative thematic analysis. The results revealed that the reasons for school choices of boys and girls differ to certain extent. Their situation also differs with respect to the support they receive from their close ones and the acceptance by their classmates. The parents of girls disapproved of their choices more often than the parents of boys. Girls were also ridiculed more frequently by their peer groups.

Concerns about the training of Future High School Math Teachers

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard O Hill
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Math Teachers ◽  
High School Math

UsingVisiCalcandDYNAmoto Make Models and Solve Problems in High School Math Classes

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Choate
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Math

scholarly journals Is there a Causal Effect of High School Math on Labor Market Outcomes?

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanna Schrøter Joensen ◽  
Helena Skyt Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
High School Math

scholarly journals Educational Attainment and Personality Are Genetically Intertwined

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1631-1639 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Mõttus ◽  
Anu Realo ◽  
Uku Vainik ◽  
Jüri Allik ◽  
Tõnu Esko
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Five Factor Model ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Maximum Amount ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
Polygenic Scores

Heritable variance in psychological traits may reflect genetic and biological processes that are not necessarily specific to these particular traits but pertain to a broader range of phenotypes. We tested the possibility that the personality domains of the five-factor model and their 30 facets, as rated by people themselves and their knowledgeable informants, reflect polygenic influences that have been previously associated with educational attainment. In a sample of more than 3,000 adult Estonians, education polygenic scores (EPSs), which are interpretable as estimates of molecular-genetic propensity for education, were correlated with various personality traits, particularly from the neuroticism and openness domains. The correlations of personality traits with phenotypic educational attainment closely mirrored their correlations with EPS. Moreover, EPS predicted an aggregate personality trait tailored to capture the maximum amount of variance in educational attainment almost as strongly as it predicted the attainment itself. We discuss possible interpretations and implications of these findings.

scholarly journals Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. eaau6200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon P. Dunster ◽  
Luciano de la Iglesia ◽  
Miriam Ben-Hamo ◽  
Claire Nave ◽  
Jason G. Fleischer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Research Study ◽  
School Students ◽  
Start Time ◽  
Adolescent Sleep ◽  
Single Intervention ◽  
School Start Times

Most teenagers are chronically sleep deprived. One strategy proposed to lengthen adolescent sleep is to delay secondary school start times. This would allow students to wake up later without shifting their bedtime, which is biologically determined by the circadian clock, resulting in a net increase in sleep. So far, there is no objective quantitative data showing that a single intervention such as delaying the school start time significantly increases daily sleep. The Seattle School District delayed the secondary school start time by nearly an hour. We carried out a pre-/post-research study and show that there was an increase in the daily median sleep duration of 34 min, associated with a 4.5% increase in the median grades of the students and an improvement in attendance.

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