Personalized learning plans based on a child’s genes, neighborhood, and behavior
Project 2: Using Precision Education Factors to Individualize Education (T2)
This project creates personalized learning profiles for 1st and 2nd graders by combining genetic, neighborhood, and behavioral information to better support reading and language development.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Florida State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tallahassee, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11164533 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child joins, the team will collect a saliva sample for genetic data, map neighborhood factors using geographic data, and give short reading and behavior tests. They plan to enroll about 500 first- and second-grade children from schools with a wide range of reading and language performance. Researchers will combine each child’s genetics, home and neighborhood environment, and cognitive/behavioral measures to build models that predict reading outcomes and which supports might help. The goal is to use those models to recommend more tailored classroom or home supports for children learning to read.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are 1st or 2nd graders (roughly ages 6–8) enrolled in participating schools whose parents consent to genetic sampling and behavioral testing.
Not a fit: Children outside early elementary grades, those whose parents do not consent to genetic or behavioral data collection, or children who already read at expected levels may not directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help teachers and parents choose learning supports that better match each child’s needs and reduce reading struggles.
How similar studies have performed: This combined genetics-plus-environment approach is relatively new—some early research links genes and environment to reading outcomes, but using them together to personalize education is largely untested.
Where this research is happening
Tallahassee, United States
- Florida State University — Tallahassee, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Little, Callie — Florida State University
- Study coordinator: Little, Callie
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.