Anonymous
06/19/2026 15:55
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
*smart and *comfortable* with long hours of homework.
Anonymous
06/19/2026 15:54
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
My kid has social communication language disorders and has a wet noodle for a body, but is smart uncomfortable with long hours of homework. Straight As.
You get As for effort and PE and art. But you don't get As for effort in Math and English.
There are no grades for being able to have a spoken conversation in English, or for making friends, offer being any kind of leader of people for knowing how to brush your own teeth.
You get As for effort and PE and art. But you don't get As for effort in Math and English.
There are no grades for being able to have a spoken conversation in English, or for making friends, offer being any kind of leader of people for knowing how to brush your own teeth.
Anonymous
06/19/2026 15:38
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
My gifted high schooler works very quickly and efficiently, because her brain is just built that way. It takes minimum effort on her part to get all As in advanced classes, as well as explore various activities and hobbies outside of school.
My twice exceptional teen (learning disabled but above-average IQ) works SO LONG and so laboriously to get lower grades than she does. He tires quickly, has sleep issues and cannot multitask.
They were parented the same way.
My husband has a high IQ with autism and ADHD. I have an above average IQ with very mild autism and ADHD. Gene re-assortment made it so that our son has an above average IQ with autism and ADHD, and our daughter has a high IQ with barely there autism and no diagnosable ADHD.
She thus ends up being the most functional in our nuclear family.
Since we've all been examined, the distribution of skills and neurodivergence makes sense.
My twice exceptional teen (learning disabled but above-average IQ) works SO LONG and so laboriously to get lower grades than she does. He tires quickly, has sleep issues and cannot multitask.
They were parented the same way.
My husband has a high IQ with autism and ADHD. I have an above average IQ with very mild autism and ADHD. Gene re-assortment made it so that our son has an above average IQ with autism and ADHD, and our daughter has a high IQ with barely there autism and no diagnosable ADHD.
She thus ends up being the most functional in our nuclear family.
Since we've all been examined, the distribution of skills and neurodivergence makes sense.
Anonymous
06/19/2026 14:11
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m from the school of Hard Knocks. There’s a reason that Jews and Asians punch way above their weight academically. They’re not smarter. They work harder and are more disciplined (I’m Jewish). I’m reading way too many excuses and rationalizations in the comments above. I don’t doubt that some kids face real challenges and I don’t mean to demean them. However, I hold multiple Ivy degrees. I met a few really smart people in school. But, by and large, my classmates were like everyone else but put in more effort to achieve. I’ve found the same thing in my career.
Did your parents emphasize education, push you to work hard, and provide support that enabled you to do so (prioritizing homework and academic achievement even when it was burdensome for the family)? If so, that's your leg up. It's also not limited to Asian and Jewish kids, though culturally those communities have strong traditions of supporting academics. But you can find families of every race and religion who do this and, lo and behold, their kids tend to do well academically and professionally.
It's frustrating because you think "well why don't all parents do this?" The answer is generational -- if your parents didn't do this, then you won't know how to do it for your kids. It's also hard to do this, and requires some degree of selflessness and sacrifice. People generally learn how to do that from their own parents. Breaking that pattern is incredibly hard.
If you had a family that prioritized your education and made sure you learned how to excel in academic and professional environments, be grateful and try to understand how incredibly hard it would be for someone to achieve your success without any of that support.
This culture of excellence is also huge of Nigerian American families (and among West Indians). Nigerians have among the highest levels of educational attainment among immigrant groups.
To be fair, the reason for this is also that immigrants from Asia and Africa were already the highest achievers in their countries to be able to come to America, and their graduate degrees made it easy to be chosen to stay. They duplicate that blueprint with their children here in the US.
But racial stereotypes are one of the reasons why so many people don't even notice how much Nigerians excel here.
+1
Those who know, know. Nigerian, Ghanaian culture is unsurpassed when it comes to excellence in education. It may be equaled but not topped.
I'm a teacher and would never say it publicly but there are certain groups of students who consistently excel academically. Nigerian and Ghanaian kids are definitely in that cohort, especially 1st and 2nd generation.
Anonymous
06/18/2026 13:55
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m from the school of Hard Knocks. There’s a reason that Jews and Asians punch way above their weight academically. They’re not smarter. They work harder and are more disciplined (I’m Jewish). I’m reading way too many excuses and rationalizations in the comments above. I don’t doubt that some kids face real challenges and I don’t mean to demean them. However, I hold multiple Ivy degrees. I met a few really smart people in school. But, by and large, my classmates were like everyone else but put in more effort to achieve. I’ve found the same thing in my career.
Did your parents emphasize education, push you to work hard, and provide support that enabled you to do so (prioritizing homework and academic achievement even when it was burdensome for the family)? If so, that's your leg up. It's also not limited to Asian and Jewish kids, though culturally those communities have strong traditions of supporting academics. But you can find families of every race and religion who do this and, lo and behold, their kids tend to do well academically and professionally.
It's frustrating because you think "well why don't all parents do this?" The answer is generational -- if your parents didn't do this, then you won't know how to do it for your kids. It's also hard to do this, and requires some degree of selflessness and sacrifice. People generally learn how to do that from their own parents. Breaking that pattern is incredibly hard.
If you had a family that prioritized your education and made sure you learned how to excel in academic and professional environments, be grateful and try to understand how incredibly hard it would be for someone to achieve your success without any of that support.
This culture of excellence is also huge of Nigerian American families (and among West Indians). Nigerians have among the highest levels of educational attainment among immigrant groups.
To be fair, the reason for this is also that immigrants from Asia and Africa were already the highest achievers in their countries to be able to come to America, and their graduate degrees made it easy to be chosen to stay. They duplicate that blueprint with their children here in the US.
But racial stereotypes are one of the reasons why so many people don't even notice how much Nigerians excel here.
+1
Those who know, know. Nigerian, Ghanaian culture is unsurpassed when it comes to excellence in education. It may be equaled but not topped.
My middle school daughter has a friend from Nigeria and another from Uganda. I have no idea how they do academically but that’s interesting.
Anonymous
06/18/2026 13:45
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m from the school of Hard Knocks. There’s a reason that Jews and Asians punch way above their weight academically. They’re not smarter. They work harder and are more disciplined (I’m Jewish). I’m reading way too many excuses and rationalizations in the comments above. I don’t doubt that some kids face real challenges and I don’t mean to demean them. However, I hold multiple Ivy degrees. I met a few really smart people in school. But, by and large, my classmates were like everyone else but put in more effort to achieve. I’ve found the same thing in my career.
Did your parents emphasize education, push you to work hard, and provide support that enabled you to do so (prioritizing homework and academic achievement even when it was burdensome for the family)? If so, that's your leg up. It's also not limited to Asian and Jewish kids, though culturally those communities have strong traditions of supporting academics. But you can find families of every race and religion who do this and, lo and behold, their kids tend to do well academically and professionally.
It's frustrating because you think "well why don't all parents do this?" The answer is generational -- if your parents didn't do this, then you won't know how to do it for your kids. It's also hard to do this, and requires some degree of selflessness and sacrifice. People generally learn how to do that from their own parents. Breaking that pattern is incredibly hard.
If you had a family that prioritized your education and made sure you learned how to excel in academic and professional environments, be grateful and try to understand how incredibly hard it would be for someone to achieve your success without any of that support.
This culture of excellence is also huge of Nigerian American families (and among West Indians). Nigerians have among the highest levels of educational attainment among immigrant groups.
To be fair, the reason for this is also that immigrants from Asia and Africa were already the highest achievers in their countries to be able to come to America, and their graduate degrees made it easy to be chosen to stay. They duplicate that blueprint with their children here in the US.
But racial stereotypes are one of the reasons why so many people don't even notice how much Nigerians excel here.
+1
Those who know, know. Nigerian, Ghanaian culture is unsurpassed when it comes to excellence in education. It may be equaled but not topped.
Anonymous
06/18/2026 04:29
Subject: Re:What did the top 10% of students do differently?
In today’s education system, the top 10% need to understand what to do that isn’t taught. Both the current curriculum and declining quality of teaching makes simply working hard no longer the path to success.
Kids need to learn how to learn independently and what to do when a teacher is bad..which is frequent.
1. Math fluency - developing speed and accuracy for basic math computation in elementary school is extremely helpful. Outside math instruction or practice is also important in middle and high school. Tackling more complex and difficult problem sets than the school provides assures mastery and promotes actual deeper understanding.
2. Read full books. Kids that read full books ranging from literature to non fiction and think about what they read have a huge advantage. Schools no longer require much full reading outside a few books in English.
3. Executive functioning and independence ,students need to be more organized and overcome disorganized teachers. If you get stuck with a bad teacher, the top 10% kid will simply learn the material on khan academy or other sources.
Kids need to learn how to learn independently and what to do when a teacher is bad..which is frequent.
1. Math fluency - developing speed and accuracy for basic math computation in elementary school is extremely helpful. Outside math instruction or practice is also important in middle and high school. Tackling more complex and difficult problem sets than the school provides assures mastery and promotes actual deeper understanding.
2. Read full books. Kids that read full books ranging from literature to non fiction and think about what they read have a huge advantage. Schools no longer require much full reading outside a few books in English.
3. Executive functioning and independence ,students need to be more organized and overcome disorganized teachers. If you get stuck with a bad teacher, the top 10% kid will simply learn the material on khan academy or other sources.
Anonymous
06/18/2026 03:45
Subject: What did the top 10% of students do differently?
Anonymous wrote:10% of kids have greater intellectual aptitude than the other 90%.
There’s definitely more than one reason why 10% do better than others. One is their strengths are in academics and they thrive on working at it to keep improving. Some with equal academic strengths aren’t interested or invested in working hard and aren’t in the top 10%.
It’s not just academics. There are musicians who are naturals and there is a top 10%. Only a small minority of athletes will go all the way to the top. Some are in the very top of the arts, whether it’s painting or ballet or creating sculptures. We need to remember not everyone should or even wants to work in an office or lab.