On 2010-06-09, Spehro Pefhany wrote:

English, as taught in school, IMHO is not an easy subject to get a
_very_ high mark in. The kid has to put forth a lot of effort to
figure out what the teacher wants to hear and to echo it, and even
then... I'm assuming it's dealing with interpreting novels and that
sort of thing. Actual use of language is improved by talking with
articulate adults and reading most anything at a reasonably high
level, but I doubt that's his limitation (I wouldn't call it a problem
with 92%). Girls of that age seem to do a lot better than boys. Math
and science have a lot less of that BS.


I am pretty sure that the scores we are discussing involve
standardized, multiple choice tests, so teacher's preferences are not
as importaant as, say, grading homework.

Being able to present people with what they want to hear (even if
you personally disagree) is a useful skill, provided you know when
to turn it off. I would suggest if any tutoring it should involve
examsmanship-- carefully making sure that the student notes down all
the hints that the teacher gives, and covers every point. Have a
look at his tests, he may be losing marks for things that can be
very easily improved (neatness or something like that).

I will try to learn this a little more, maybe I can get a copy of his
test.