12th Annual IGSS Conference • October 28-29, 2021

Integrating Genetics and the Social Sciences 2021

The Practical Utility of Genetic Screening in School Settings

Jeffrey Shero, Department of Psychology, Florida State University

Can genetic screening be used to personalize education for students? Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) screen an individual's DNA for specific variations in their genome, and how said variations relate to specific traits. The variations can then be assigned a corresponding weight, and summed to produce polygenic scores (PGS) for given traits. Though first developed for disease risk, PGS are now used to predict educational achievement. Using a novel simulation method, this paper examines if PGS could advance screening in schools, a goal of personalized education. Results show limited potential benefit for using PGS to personalize education for individual students. However, further analysis shows PGS can be effectively used alongside progress monitoring measures to screen for learning disability risk. Altogether, PGS is not useful in personalizing education for every child but has potential utility when used simultaneously with additional screening tools to help determine which children may struggle academically.

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