How To Make A Better Student

Each autumn, we send our sons and daughters back to school, urging them to study hard, do well. But we worry: Are we pushing them too much? Or not enough? Have we nurtured their talents? Or failed to recognize them? Are we doing all we can to help our kids succeed? In this special report, TIME explores what it takes to succeed in school. We look at some reigning theories about intelligence and gender differences and offer some basic lessons on how to help children make the most of their minds.