title: No effect of classroom sharing on educational achievement in twins: a prospective, longitudinal cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A returning dilemma for families with multiple births is whether twins should share the same, or a parallel classroom, or in other words, whether they should be separated at school or not. This study investigated the effects of sharing a classroom during primary school on cognitive achievement in twins.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 839 monozygotic and 1164 dizygotic twin pairs who were registered at birth at The Netherlands Twin Register. A prospective, longitudinal study design was used with educational achievement at age 12 years, measured with a standardised test (CITO test), as outcome measure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most twin pairs (72%) shared a classroom during their schooling, 19% were in separate, but parallel, classes, and 9% "partly" shared a classroom. Twins who were in parallel classrooms had higher CITO scores (mean 539.51; SD 8.12), compared to twins who shared a classroom (537.99; SD 8.52). When controlling for socioeconomic status, and externalising problems before starting primary school (age 3), there was no significant difference in educational achievement between separated and non-separated twin pairs (p = 0.138). In addition, there was no interaction with sex or zygosity of the twins (p = 0.798).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no difference in educational achievement between twins who share a classroom and twins who do not share a classroom during their primary school time. The choice of separation should be made by teachers, parents and their twin children, based on individual characteristics of a twin pair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. jc.polderman@psy.vu.nl
authors.forename: T J C
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Polderman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Huizink
authors.forename: C E M
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: van Beijsterveldt
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Boomsma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic