"We are very pleased with the tutor you referred us to. She has been very good at gaining trust and cooperation from our son, who most of the time feels he needs no help and all of the time would rather be doing something else. Most significant to us is that his organizational skills have improved dramatically, and his grades show it."

      -- A Parent

Case Studies

Case Study — Mike

Gifted athlete unable to match athletic success in the classroom

CASE STUDY # 3 —MIKE -- Rote Memory Issues "If he put half the energy into his schoolwork that he spends on the playing field..."

Situation Eleventh grader Mike is a gifted high school athlete—extremely successful on the playing field. Although he can recite statistics for any team or player and recall every play in the last football game, he's failing biology. Mike maintains that he can't remember the information when he has to take tests.

Mike's parents are concerned that he doesn't appear to be learning off of the field, even though he receives intensive coaching in both sports and in academics.

Key Factors

  • Mike has a good memory for sport stats, but not in his school studies.
  • His parents are concerned that his athletic success is drawing too much attention away from his education.

How could someone with such a good memory seem unable to learn the information needed for his biology course?  Is he simply not trying?  Is he not motivated? Or, are there other issues?

Resolution After testing, it became apparent that Mike is one of those people who has an excellent memory for information in context, but has serious difficulty remembering isolated information (rote memory). Students with these issues struggle to learn such things as math facts, rules of punctuation, technical terms and vocabulary. SS&A explained these findings to Mike and his parents and recommended a specific action plan. SS&A helped Mike and his parents by:

  • Diagnosing Mike's rote memory issue.
  • Arranging for a tutor who could help him learn strategies to improve his memory.
  • Participating in a meeting at school and arranging for Mike to receive the course syllabus in advance; teaching him to "preview" upcoming information to help put it in context.

The tutor and Mike have continued working together, and Mike has learned skills and strategies to help him in other academic areas as well.

© 2008 Spodak, Stefano & Associates.