据4月23日的《科学》杂志报道说，良好的教导可使孩子们天然的阅读能力表现出来。相反，在那些教师素质很差的教室中，学童们所表现出的是一种较为均一的低水平，即使他们的与基因有关的能力差异可能非常大。阅读能力在多大的程度上是遗传学抑或环境所造成的结果一直是有着许多争议的话题。
Jeanette Taylor及其同僚如今对学童的阅读技能进行了分析，该技能反应在佛罗里达州小学中的同卵双生儿及异卵双生儿的Oral Reading Fluency的测试中。通过比较这些孪生儿的分数（这些孪生儿的基因或是有50%的相同性，或是具有100%的等同性），研究人员可对其阅读测试分数的差异中有多少是由遗传因素造成的，有多少是由环境因素（即这些双胞胎所共同接触的环境，或是每对双胞胎所接触的不同的环境）造成的进行估计。
研究人员应用这些双胞胎的同学在一年中的成绩的改善来作为对教师素质的一种测定。他们的研究结果显示，因为遗传学所造成的测试分数上的差异在那些有好老师的班级上的学童之间，其差异要比那些教师素质差的班级中的学童之间的差异要更大。
因此，基因与环境似乎是以这样一种方式进行相互作用的，即其既可限制又可允许孩子们达到他们天然的阅读能力。
Teacher Quality Moderates the Genetic Effects on Early Reading
Children’s reading achievement is influenced by genetics as well as by family and school environments. The importance of teacher quality as a specific school environmental influence on reading achievement is unknown. We studied first- and second-grade students in Florida from schools representing diverse environments. Comparison of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, differentiating genetic similarities of 100% and 50%, provided an estimate of genetic variance in reading achievement. Teacher quality was measured by how much reading gain the non-twin classmates achieved. The magnitude of genetic variance associated with twins’ oral reading fluency increased as the quality of their teacher increased. In circumstances where the teachers are all excellent, the variability in student reading achievement may appear to be largely due to genetics. However, poor teaching impedes the ability of children to reach their potential.
