No effect of classroom sharing on educational achievement in twins: a prospective, longitudinal cohort study

Polderman, Tinca J. C.; Bartels, Meike; Verhulst, Frank C.; Huizink, Anja C.; Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. van; Boomsma, Dorret I.

doi:10.1136/jech.2009.091629

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…We furthermore, showed that twins in the same classroom do not bully more often. This is in line with our earlier findings that twins in the same classroom do not differ from twins in separate classrooms for other phenotypes as well, such as academic achievement, problem behavior (Polderman et al, 2010; van Leeuwen et al, 2005), and academic motivation (Kovas et al, 2015). Taken together, the placement of twins in the same classroom might be beneficial regarding victimization and is not harmful for other important behavioral outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Bullying and Victimization: The Effect of Close Companionship

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Peer bullying and victimization are a widespread phenomenon among school-age children and can have detrimental effects on the development of children. To examine whether having a close companion during childhood increases or decreases risk of victimization and bullying, this study compared twins to singleton children. A large group of twins (n = 9,909) were included who were compared to their related non-twin siblings (n = 1,534) aged 7-12 from the Netherlands Twin Register, thus creating optimal matching between twins and non-twins. Bullying and victimization were each based on a four-item scale filled out by their teachers. Prevalence rates for either bullying or victimization did not differ between twins and singletons. In total, in the past couple of months, 36% of children bullied peers moderately to severely, and 35% suffered moderately to severely from victimization. Boys were more likely to bully and were more prone to becoming a victim than girls. The most notable finding is that female twin pairs placed together in the same classroom did not bully more often, but were victimized less often, thus pointing to a protective effect of having a close companion in the classroom.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Bullying and Victimization: The Effect of Close Companionship

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The test is usually administered on three consecutive days in January or February when the children are in the final grade of primary school and approximately 12 years old. This assessment is not a formal IQ test but highly correlates with IQ performance (correlation of 0.63 between CITO and IQ assessed at age 12) [ 1 ] and plays an important advisory role in the choice of secondary school education [ 27 ]. In the Netherlands, everyone receives comparable primary education from 4 to 12 years of age.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of chronic fatigue syndrome on cognitive functioning in adolescents

Nijhof

Bleijenberg

et al. 2015

Eur J Pediatr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by persistent fatigue and severe disability. Most adolescent patients report attention and concentration problems, with subsequent poor performance at school. This study investigated the impact of CFS on intellectual capacity by (1) assessing discrepancies between current intelligence quotient (IQ) and school level and (2) exploring differences in current IQ and pre-CFS school performance, compared with healthy individuals. Current data was cross-sectionally gathered and compared with retrospective pre-CFS school performance data. Fifty-nine CFS adolescents and 40 controls were evaluated on performance on age-appropriate intelligence tests and school level. Current IQ scores of CFS adolescents were lower than expected on the basis of their school level. Furthermore, there was a difference in intelligence performance across time when current IQ scores were compared with pre-CFS cognitive achievement. Healthy controls did not show any discrepancies.Conclusion: According to their pre-CFS intelligence assessments, CFS patients started with appropriate secondary school levels at the age of 12. Our data suggest that CFS may be accompanied by a decline in general cognitive functioning. Given the critical age for intellectual development, we recommend a timely diagnosis followed by appropriate treatment of CFS in adolescents. What is Known: • Adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition with major impact on social and intellectual development.• Most patients report concentration problems, with subsequent poor performance at school. Little is known about the influence of CFS on intellectual performances. What is New: • IQ scores of CFS adolescents are lower than the IQ scores of healthy peers with an equivalent school level.• There is a decrease in intelligence performance across time when current IQ scores are compared with pre-CFS cognitive achievement. Healthy controls do not show any discrepancies between their current IQ, school level and previous cognitive functioning. This suggest that adolescent CFS may be accompanied by a decline in general cognitive functioning.

show abstract

“…One study of Australian and US twins found no significant differences in literacy across kindergarten and 1 st grade after pre-existing differences in disruptive behaviour and preliteracy ability were taken into account (Coventry et al, 2009). Similarly, another study investigating the effect of separation on twins' achievement using the Netherlands Twin Registry (NTR) found no difference between separated and non-separated twin pairs at age 12 (Polderman et al, 2010). Twins taught together or separately did not differ on an independent national academic achievement test taken at the end of elementary school (CITO) (controlling for zygosity, familial SES, externalising problems at age 3, and urbanisation).…”

Section: Average Classroom Separation Effect On Twins Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twin classroom dilemma: To study together or separately?

White¹,

Garon‐Carrier²,

Tosto³

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is little research to date on the academic implications of teaching twins in the same or different classroom. Consequently, it is not clear whether twin classroom separation is associated with positive or negative educational outcomes. As a result, parents and teachers have insufficient evidence to make a well-informed decision when twins start school. This study addresses two research questions: Are there average positive or negative effects of classroom separation? Are twins taught in different classes more different from each other than twins taught in the same class? Twin pairs from two large representative samples from Quebec (Canada) and the United Kingdom were evaluated across a large age range (7 to 16 years) on academic achievement, several cognitive abilities and motivational measures. Our results show almost no sizable positive or negative average effect of classroom separation on twins' achievement, cognitive ability and motivation. Twin pairs at age 12 (Quebec, Canada) and at age 16 (United Kingdom) were slightly more similar on achievement if placed in the same classroom, with slightly greater similarity among monozygotic twins than dizygotic twins. However, the few effects found were weak, and it remains unclear whether they result from classroom separation or other factors. These results suggest that in terms of educational outcomes, policymakers should not impose rigid guidelines to separate twin pairs during their education. The choice of whether to educate twin pairs together or separately should be up to parents, twins and teachers, in response to twins' individual needs. (PsycINFO Database Record

show abstract

No effect of classroom sharing on educational achievement in twins: a prospective, longitudinal cohort study

Cited by 12 publications

References 22 publications

Bullying and Victimization: The Effect of Close Companionship

Bullying and Victimization: The Effect of Close Companionship

The impact of chronic fatigue syndrome on cognitive functioning in adolescents

Twin classroom dilemma: To study together or separately?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About