(1991). The third theme, presented in Table 3, views underachievement as a failure to develop or utilize latent potential without reference to other external criteria. Cultural relativism also becomes a factor when identifying underachievement in diverse groups. Similar research on the flow of causality between student achievement and self-efficacy, self-regulation, student attitudes, peer attitudes, and other factors believed to influence underachievement will help researchers develop more effective intervention strategies to combat underachievement in gifted students. Thorndikes four reasons that explain why the correlation between measured intelligence and measured achievement is less than perfect provide insight into current issues regarding Underachievement. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 14, 221-233. Gifted individuals have learning differences, including divergent thinking, quirky humor, and a penchant for Four types of - Blogger A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning. The remainder of this article assumes that underachievement exists and merits attention and research; however, the authors recognize that even this most fundamental concept evokes value judgments and debates. New York: John Wiley and Sons. - organization, Gifted Education in the U.S. - State Policy & Legislation, Tips for Students: Inspiring Young Scientists through Independent Research, Davidson Fellows - Leveraging Science & Engineering Innovation to Better the Environment. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 329-339. Vol. Labeling this phenomenon dropping out with dignity, she concluded that some students may underachieve as a direct result of an inappropriate and unmotivating curriculum. (1991). Minority students are often underrepresented in programs for the gifted and talented (Ford, 1996; Tomlinson, Callahan, & Leili, 1997). Although these profiles may provide educators with convenient categories for various underachievers whom they encounter, they also illustrate the difficulty in trying to create a coherent profile of a typical underachiever. The causes and correlates of gifted underachievement have received considerable attention in recent research literature (Dowdall & Colangelo, 1982; Van Boxtel & Monks, 1992; Whitmore, 1986). Clasen, D. R, & Clasen, R. E. (1995). The documented effectiveness of most interventions designed to reverse underachievement in gifted students has been inconsistent and inconclusive (Emerick, 1988). Weiner (1992) outlined four different interventions for four distinct groups of low achieving students: (1) strengthening deficient reward systems, (2) alleviating cognitive and emotional handicaps, (3) filling educational gaps, and (4) modifying passive-aggressive propensities. Such approaches would differentiate among different types of underachievement, incorporating both proactive and preventative counseling and innovative instructional interventions. Planning and implementing programs for the gifted. In addition, participants were most likely to develop achievement-oriented behaviors when they were stimulated in class and given the opportunity to pursue topics of interest to them. Overcoming underachievement. Rimm, Cornale, Manos, and Behrend (1989) suggested using longitudinal test data in order to screen for possible underachievement. Current identification practices that underidentify gifted African American students hinder the identification of gifted underachievers of African American descent. However, underachievers who receive formal, clinical counseling do not necessarily represent the entire population of underachievers. In reality, the standardization of classroom grades may be neither feasible nor meaningful. ( p. 5) This attitude-achievement paradox makes understanding and reversing their underachievement difficult to those unfamiliar with the phenomenon (Mickelson, 1990). ed.). Some of the definitions included in Table 1through Table 4 (e.g., Mather & Udall, 1985; Redding, 1990) are specific operational definitions. Self-regulation and motivation: A life-span perspective on underachievement. Since the identification of gifted underachievers depends on defining both underachievement and giftedness, discussing criteria for identification is no less complicated. Baum, S. M., Renzulli, J. S., & Hebert, T. P. (1995b). New York: John Wiley and Sons. Clark, B. ), Underachievement (pp. An orphan for many years, Culturally diverse students face unique barriers to their achievement for several reasons. Toward explaining differences in educational achievement among Mexican American language minority students. Both programs provided anecdotal and some qualitative evidence of at least partial success. 39-40). Distinguishing exactly what constitutes a discrepancy between ability and achievement also poses challenges. 514-528). Oxford: Pergamon. In their recent study of gifted urban underachievers, the family dysfunction that characterized the lives of the gifted underachievers contrasted with the happier home lives of the gifted achievers (Reis et al., 1995). 45-74). Baum, S. M., Owen, S. V., & Dixon, J. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. Underachievement of highly able students and the peer society. New York: Teachers College Press. Who is the gifted underachiever? Publisher: National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) However, the current conceptualization and the literature on the underachieving gifted and on special populations (such as gifted/LD, gifted/ADD or ADHD, gifted students with physical disabilities or behavioral or emotional problems) appear to treat the two groupings as separate and unrelated (Lupart & Pyryt, 1996, pp. For example, a student who is clinically depressed or has other emotional or drug-related problems may experience a sudden decline in school grades. We do not know how many talented students underachieve, but we know that this issue is foremost in the minds of practitioners (Renzulli, Reid, & Gubbins, 1992). The Learning Styles Inventory: A measure of student preference for instructional techniques. (1990). Webunderachievement appear to be one of the major reasons for disagreement, and different researchers may use different measures to determine who is an underachiever. In other words, using an overly narrow definition may increase Type II error, leading to a failure to identify a truly underachieving gifted student. Giftedness, conflict, and underachievement. WebStudent Achievement & Underachievement: A Conversation with Del Siegle from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented Professional Learning Online Units NRC/GT's Researched Strategies to Increase Student Motivation and Academic Achievement (5 comprehensive professional learning units based on the Achievement Orientation Model) Professor Department of Educational Psychology D. Betsy McCoach Researcher, Baum, S. M., Renzulli, J. S., & Hebert, T. P. (1995a). (1988). (1997, June). The Enrichment Triad Model: A guide for developing defensible programs for the gifted and talented. Like gifted students in general., they exhibit great variability and diversity in their behaviors, interests, and abilities. Or, can we see the forest for the trees? How can educators help bright students who are underachieving in school? Hinshaw, S. P. (1992a). The gifted underachiever who had reversed patterns of academic underachievement in this study exhibited characteristics also associated with the highly creative and gifted individual: independence of thought and judgment, willingness to take risks, perseverance, above-average intellectual ability, creative ability, and an intense In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds. The extent and effects of peer pressure among high school students: A retrospective analysis. When teachers expect students to complete work involving content and concepts mastered several years earlier, high-ability students become difficult to motivate. Identifying distinguishing characteristics of gifted and talented learning disabled students. If we hold low expectations for students who then achieve at low levels, they are not underachievers. Certain treatments aimed at combating underachievement combine counseling and school-centered interventions. Underachievers are a diverse population, and lists or descriptions of their traits that may be hypothesized and/or researchedcommon personality traits abound. Distinguishing between a chronic underachiever and a gifted student who has processing deficits, learning disabilities, or attention deficits is crucial because the interventions that are appropriate for these subgroups may be radically different. The authors believe that creativity may be connected to this underachievement. They suggest that highly creative students have a hard time conforming to a more rigid traditional environment. Further research and inquiry into this area should address the need for clearly defined, well-researched, and effective interventions for gifted underachievers. Finally, the differences among the three authors typical categories of underachievers further illustrate the fact that none of the lists are definitive or immutable. It is impossible to establish a causal relationship from case study reports of family conflict and underachievement. Gifted children who do not succeed in school are often successful in outside activities such as sports, social occasions, and after-school jobs. Often, students may not be classified as underachievers unless they have exhibited low performance for at least a year. However, even if the correlation between ability tests and grades is as high as .70, this still only explains 49% of the variance between the two measures, leaving slightly more than half of the variance in grades unexplained by ability. 87-101). (1991). Baum, S. M., Olenchak, F. R., & Owen, S. V. (1998). Do gifted underachievers have more in common with gifted students who do achieve or low-achieving students who are not gifted? Rimm and Lowe studied the family environments of 22 underachieving gifted students. 44, No. Denver, CO: Love. Equality of educational opportunity also affects underachievement. High-achieving students acknowledged the importance of being grouped together in honors and advanced classes for academically talented students. The problem in this case lies in our initial predictions, not in the students levels of achievement. In addition, a discussion of the cultural connotations of the construct of underachievement deserves further attention. Dowdall, C. B., & Colangelo, N. (1982). (NCES 97-055). Perceived factors influencing the academic underachievement of talented students of Puerto Rican descent. Amazingly, the number of highly intellectual students who had not achieved well in school is as high as 50% (Schultz, 2005). Learning preferences and skill patterns among underachieving gifted adolescents. Research on the family characteristics of underachieving gifted students suggests that certain types of home environments may be related to the development of students underachievement patterns (Baker, Bridger, & Evans, 1998; Brown, Mounts, Lamborn, & Steinberg, 1993; Rimm & Lowe, 1988; Zilli, 1971). Janos, P. M., & Robinson, N. (1985). The research literature mentions only a small number of interventions. (1989). (1982). Several lines of research remain inadequately explored. In J. H. Borland (Series Ed.) Underachieving students may not want to identify with their parents (Clark, 1983; Weiner, 1992). Guidebook for implementing the trifocal underachievement program for schools. Environmental influences and events have a major impact on students achievement. Use of behavior modification strategies: A review of the research. WebThis is a professional development presentation to help teachers recognize and teach gifted underachievers. In 95% of the families, one parent emerged as the disciplinarian, while the other parent acted as a protector. Counseling interventions may include individual, group, or family counseling (Jeon, 1990). Why bright kids get poor grades and what you can do about it. 119-137). Likewise, negative peer attitudes can often account for underachievement (Clasen & Clasen, 1995; Weiner, 1992). Future research could explore the generality of the underachievement phenomenon and investigate whether interventions that are successful with gifted students might also apply to the wider spectrum of underachieving students. However, students who have reversed their underachievement behaviors have noted that having a teacher who supported and believed in them helped them overcome their underachievement. ), The gifted and talented: Developmental perspectives (pp. Moreover, a students family, school, or community environment or peer influences may also influence his or her level of achievement. In addition, Diaz (1998) found that the absence of early appropriate academic experiences impeded Puerto Rican students opportunities to develop their abilities when they reached high school. Underachievement for somedropping out with dignity for others. ), Underachievement (pp. However, these findings support the notion that there is a correlation between a students achievement and the achievement of his or her closest peer group.

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