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It has been found out from a detailed research under taken by the Institute of Education , London that better the learning or better the learning experience, the students perform correspondingly better in examinations. Therefore the teachers must focus on learning, rather than on scoring marks in the examinations. Once the learning experience is better, the student will score high marks. What is important is that we teach students on the learning methodologies so that they learn to comprehend the subject taught better; the sure outcome will be that the student becomes more enthusiastic about his studies.

A focus on learning can enhance performance, whereas a focus on performance puts a pressure on the students/children and they get depressed if they do not get the results they wanted.

Chris Watkins, Reader in Education in this summer's edition of Research Matters opines Children who develop a "performance orientation" rather than a "learning orientation" tends to show greater helplessness, use less strategic thinking and be more focused on grade feedback. They are more likely to persevere with strategies that are not working.

Watkins examined more than 100 classroom-based research studies for his paper, Learning, Performance and Improvement, published by the IOE's London Centre for Leadership in Learning and the International Network for School Improvement. 

When children think about what helps them learn, they do better in school, a range of international studies shows. "But learning-centred school improvement is less prevalent than might be envisaged from this evidence, because it remains in tension with the dominant discourse about classroom learning and with current policy interventions in England," Watkins writes.

It has been viewed  that "learning" as the same as "being taught" Even though  "whole class interactive teaching" is  advocated, the research shows an increase in the amount of talking at pupils, rather than talking with pupils by asking open questions.

Children's attitudes and behavior improve – along with their results -- when teachers and schools are more concerned about helping them learn than pushing them to gain particular exam scores, Watkins found. This is reflected in the performance of students of successful schools and also mirrors the evidence on achievement in other fields such as sports and business as well.

Never-the-less, evidence suggests that the "goal climate" in classrooms becomes increasingly performance-oriented as children get older, and that this continues to disadvantage the groups of children who have always struggled to achieve in school.

Watkins says schools have two challenges:

• To recognize that passing tests is not the goal of education, but a by-product of effective learning. 

• To recognize that even when we want pupils to do their best in tests, pressure and performance orientation will not achieve it.

He concludes "If there's one new thing we need in our school system right now, it's a well-developed focus on learning. And if the coalition government is serious about its wish to close the gap between high performers and low performers then a focus on learning will make a significant contribution. Learning is for life, not for league tables."

Teachers as professionals have much greater responsibility than any other professional from any other Industry/social segments. Simply because teachers do not just impart knowledge, but ensuring the students get what is taught right, comprehend or understand what is taught in the intended perspective. It’s about making the horse to drink the water too, not just taking it to a pond. The differentiation of a great educational institution is very apparent from the way the scholar behave in society post his education.

Parents have absolute responsibility. They have keep themselves abreast of how is the Child getting learnt. In the sense parents must see if the child understanding better and knowledge level is improving. Parents should know the potential of the child and the interest of the child. If the child is not interested in a subject, however intelligence he is, he will not score high marks because his/her involvement level/confident level is low which will result in esteem level getting lower.

If the child is not scoring marks, then the parent must consult the counselor in the school about getting study methodology right for the child. Parents have to show enormous patience because getting marks and child’s intelligence has no co-relation.