Do student differences in reading enjoyment relate to achievement when using the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model across primary and secondary school?

Recent longitudinal research using the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), which disentangles the within and between variances, has afforded greater insights than previously possible. Moreover, the impact of reading enjoyment and reading for fun on subsequent school achievement, and vice versa, has only recently been scrutinized through this lens. This study's longitudinal data (grades 3, 5, 7, and 9) comprised 2,716 Australian students aged 8 to 16 years, with school reading achievement measured by the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).

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.

The codevelopment of reading and attention from middle childhood to early adolescence: A multivariate latent growth curve study.

Attention skills are strong cross-sectional predictors of reading comprehension from childhood through to adolescence. However, less is known about the developmental relations between these two domains across this period. This study examined the codevelopment of reading and attention in a community sample of 614 Australian school students (50% female).

Exploring the Associations Between Delayed School Entry and Achievement in Primary and Secondary School.

This research investigated whether delayed school entry was associated with higher achievement in national tests of reading and numeracy in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 (n = 2,823). Delayed entry was related to advantages in reading (0.14 SD) and numeracy (0.

The Academic Development Study of Australian Twins (ADSAT): Research Aims and Design.

The Academic Development Study of Australian Twins was established in 2012 with the purpose of investigating the relative influence of genes and environments in literacy and numeracy capabilities across two primary and two secondary school grades in Australia. It is the first longitudinal twin project of its kind in Australia and comprises a sample of 2762 twin pairs, 40 triplet sets and 1485 nontwin siblings. Measures include standardized literacy and numeracy test data collected at Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 as part of the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy.

Comment on Asbury and Wai (2019), "Viewing education policy through a genetic lens," .

Asbury and Wai (Journal of School Choice, 2019) perform a valuable service by summarizing much available behavior--genetic research on academic achievement. However they consider that no specific policies stem from the research body at this time. Here we do propose a policy based on some of our research using twins, namely that available funding for students struggling with learning to read be targeted to them individually rather than allocated to schools per se.