...to plug the learning gap between poor and rich children

Recent research shows children’s life chances may depend less...

...on showering them with knowledge and words...

Kite, key, koala

...and more on opportunities to interact with adults

That specific type of communication is what is going to...

...really benefit the child long-term

But is this enough?

Could a controversial focus on genetics...

...be what’s needed to break the class ceiling?

We are at a tipping point in terms of...

...how genetics is going to shape our lives

Let’s put your shoes on OK?

It might look like Shadarra and her son Kevin...

...are getting ready for a trip to the playground

But this is no ordinary day

Oh my goodness let’s play, what do you want to play first?

Every word they say is being recorded...

...on a tiny device known as a “talk pedometer”

But instead of tracking steps, it counts words

The microphone is in the front and you don’t want to obstruct it

You don’t want anything to block the sound

The device picks up how many adult words he’s hearing...

...how much electronic noise is in the background...

...and how many turns he’s taking in talking to me...

...when I communicate with him

It’s hoped this tech could transform how children learn language...

...and help kids from lower-income families to get ahead

It makes me more mindful

So now I’m always considering when I’m getting him ready

I’m like, am I talking to him enough?

So let’s go play with our toys

One influential study found that in the first three years of a child’s life...

...those from wealthy families will have heard around 30m more...

...words than those from poorer backgrounds

And this word gap can set them back for years to come

Kids in poverty hear fewer adult words...

...and it’s not because their parents are bad parents

It’s because mom or dad is working two jobs

The pedometers are part of a scheme...

...to try to change things by using data

Every week Shadarra gets a breakdown of exactly how much...

...she’s spoken to her son while he was wearing the device

What I love about this side is because it’s really measurable

We’ve had several teachers in our district go through the programme...

...and when I’ve talked to them after they get their first or second report...

...almost all of their comments are, I thought I was talking with my kid...

...way more than this report actually shows

One study found this use of technology and data analysis...

...led to a 32% increase in the number of words a child hears per hour

Everybody, listen to me, what?

But it’s not just about increasing the number of words children hear

The scheme’s organisers are looking out...

...for the number of so-called conversational turns

I tried to tell you last night papa

The area that we really encourage and try to promote...

...the most growth in is that back-and-forth conversation...

...between an adult and a child

There’s tonnes of research that shows that...

...that specific type of communication

...is what is going to really benefit the child long-term

Neuroscience has shown the benefits of conversational turns

As they appear to get round...

...some of the disadvantages of growing up poor

It is well established that if a child grows up in poverty...

...this affects their growing brain

Low socioeconomic status or other types of disadvantage...

...or adversity affect the developing brain

Parts of the brain that respond to...

...threatening environments, tend to accelerate...

...so that children can be more resilient

Then there are other parts of the brain, showing slower growth...

...when exposed to adversity

Here we go in one, two, three

But when children are engaged...

...in high numbers of conversational turns...

...these differences in brain development...

...caused by their background don’t seem to matter

And regions of the brain associated with language development expand

Conversational turns is something directly...

...in the child’s everyday environment that seems to have an effect over...

...and above socioeconomic status

Yet despite these insights from neuroscience and new tech...

...the gap in achievement between rich and poor kids...

...hasn’t changed for decades

By the time they are ten, in fourth grade...

...lower-income students will have a reading score...

...around 28 points below their richer classmates’

And this gap hasn’t really changed in the past 20 years

We’re surprisingly ineffective at that, at closing the differences...

...that we see between low-income and high-income children

In some cases, those gaps have actually gotten worse...

...in the US in the last 25 years

So what else could help level the playing field?

Professor Kathryn Paige Harden is a psychologist and geneticist...

...who argues a new approach is needed

She believes understanding children’s genetics could be key

From a genetic perspective, we can see that...

...people who happen to inherit certain genetic variants...

...are more likely to graduate from college

I think we’re really used to thinking about the role...

...that a child’s family background plays in...

...equality and inequality over the course of their life

And what we’re seeing with the research now...

...is that genetics plays just a bigger role in shaping these types...

...of inequalities in life outcomes

Professor Harden argues genetics could be used...

...to identify the children least likely to do well at school

And that this offers the potential for better...

...and more effective interventions to help them

You can have children spit into a tube...

...and for less than 75 American dollars...

...you can get a read out of their DNA...

...which can be used to see, OK we know for some reason...

...these kids with these genetic variants are less likely...

...in 30 years to have graduated from college, or have gotten a PhD

Is this so exciting?

She says that some existing interventions, which don’t take account...

...of genetics, could be improved

Is that intervention working disproportionately for people...

...who are most likely to succeed in school or least likely?

Or is it working about the same for everyone?

So far those questions are really unknown...

...because interventioners haven’t really incorporated...

...genetic tools into their research designs

There’s nothing the state of North Carolina can do...

...to justify what they did to me

The idea of using genetic information...

...to shape social policy provokes strong reactions

It has a very dark and uncomfortable past

In the 20th century genetic traits...

...were used to promote the idea of racial superiority...

...sometimes in disturbing propaganda

I think many people worry because they say...

...that’s a way of dismissing a large chunk of the population

They talk about genetic determinism being right-wing

But Professor Harden believes it doesn’t have to be like this

We see these real fears that genetic information...

...will be used to naturalise hierarchy

At the same time, we see an increasing embrace...

...of thinking about our biology, in relation to sexual orientation...

...in relation to weight, how does my genotype affect...

...my difficulty in keeping off weight?

So what I’d like to see is for that trend to continue...

...but around things related to academic achievement...

...or educational attainment

Using genetic information like this is still a long way off

Its advocates will have to show that it can be done...

...in a safe and ethical way

And that it will improve social mobility...

...rather than increasing existing inequalities

Parents and children see that the DNA revolution is here

They want to know how it’s affecting them

I expect it to be a really scientifically interesting...

...and productive area of research moving forward

Hi, I’m Adrian Wooldridge, political editor here at The Economist

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