@adamc - I understand you want to do everything you can do encourage your daughters education and I'm sure that will serve her well. I'm my experience, however,

@adamc - I understand you want to do everything you can do encourage your daughters education and I'm sure that will serve her well. I'm my experience, however, I had more to do with my own motivation in school than my parents. I tried harder when scores mattered. Throughout elementary school, I spent most of my school time day-dreaming and most of my time outside of class blowing off homework. I could deal with being scolded by parents and teachers. My parents cared how I did in school, but I didn't. When grades started to matter in middle and high school, my competitive side came out. I decided I was going to get better grades than most because that would lead to a future with more options. I also cared more because my peers cared more and I was socially self-conscious. When I started trying harder, I started learning more and became genuinely interested in subject matter. My grades lead to me getting into a good college where students were far more motivated on average than my high school. That ended up being where I met my best friends and eventual startup co-founder. Did my best learning experiences come from studying for tests? No, they came less structured classes and from my own programming projects during and after college. However, I do feel that grades and standardized tests lit a fire under my booty to try harder and eventually led to me meeting more motivated people.