(1988). In another study comparing the families of underachievers to those of achievers, families with underachieving gifted students were not classified as dysfunctional any more frequently than families with achieving gifted students (Green, Fine, & Tollefson, 1988, p. 271). M. (1995). The effects of group counseling on gifted underachieving adolescents. Interventions that enhance self-efficacy or develop self-regulation may complement other intervention strategies and increase the effectiveness of other interventions. (1987). ed.). Reis, S. M., Burns, D. E., & Renzulli, J. S. (1992). Finally, the differences among the three authors typical categories of underachievers further illustrate the fact that none of the lists are definitive or immutable. However, because standardized achievement tests do not directly reflect the actual school experience, they may not be indicative of a students classroom performance. Whitmore (1989) identified three broad causes for underachievement in gifted children: Lack of motivation to apply themselves in school Environments that do Self-regulation and motivation: A life-span perspective on underachievement. A score of 124 would place the student in the 95th percentile, while a score of 134 would place the student in the 99th percentile. B. ), Educational resilience in inner city America, (pp. New York: Viking Penguin. RT @DavidsonGifted: Finding out your child is profoundly gifted or twice-exceptional can be overwhelming. Motivation and self-regulation among gifted learners. Manila, Philippines. Recent research by Desmet and Pereira (2021) in the journal Gifted Education International took a close look at academic underachievement. Academic underachievement among the gifted: Students perceptions of factors that reverse the pattern. (1991). Cultural relativism also becomes a factor when identifying underachievement in diverse groups. Conversely, there is a 10% chance that this students real IQ score is lower than 124 or higher than 134. McNab, T. (1997). When a gifted student is performing only at grade level in those content areas, there may be a justifiable cause for concern. At what age should an individual gain control over his or her own destiny and make decisions regarding his or her priorities and goals? ), Handbook of Gifted Education (2nd ed., pp. Usually, a smaller student/teacher ratio exists, teachers create less-conventional types of teaching and learning activities, teachers give students some choice and freedom in exercising control over their atmosphere, and students are encouraged to utilize different learning strategies. Successful students received support and encouragement from each other and from supportive adults, including teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and mentors. Most high-achieving females in this study chose not to date so they could concentrate their energies on their studies. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. ), The gifted and talented: Developmental perspectives (pp. Four types of - Blogger Neither study utilized a true longitudinal design, and neither researcher was able to fully track the progress of the students once they left the elementary school. Anderson, E. S., & Keith, T. Z. The researchers found no relationship between poverty and achievement, between parental divorce and achievement, or between family size and achievement. How many researchers have explored how success can be achieved in the mainstream in the United States without assimilation? Often, the lists of common personality traits contradict one another. The problem inherent in defining and identifying underachieving gifted students are given special attention. Baymur, F., & Patterson, C. H. (1965). Janos, P. M., & Robinson, N. (1985). WebGifted underachievers : a review of the past and present with implications for the future Abstract The academic underachievement of gifted students has perplexed educators, Clasen, D. R, & Clasen, R. E. (1995). New York: Teachers College Press. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented. Definitions of gifted underachievement are inconsistent and sometimes incompatible. Taylor, R. D. (1994). McCall, Evahn, and Kratzer (1992) observed that most of the comparison group research within the area of gifted underachievement equates gifted underachievers to their mental ability cohorts. Dowdall and Colangelo (1982) observed that gifted underachievers seem to share more characteristics with underachievers than they do with gifted achievers. They may criticize the school for emphasizing conformity rather than originality and creativity. Therefore, even though a gifted students performance may decline over time, he or she could still appear to be at the top of the norm group. Gifted Child Quarterly, 15, 279-292. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. No test is 100% reliable. Jeon, K. W., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1993). The concept of underachievement, though often discussed, is still vaguely defined in the professional literature. Gifted Child Quarterly, 39, 224-235. Defining achievement is even more problematic. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. In some states, students must achieve an IQ score at or above a certain cut-off in order to acquire the gifted label. In other words, if we predict that students will not succeed, and then they fail, they have not performed below our initial expectations. The multidimensionality of peer pressure in adolescence. 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. 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. In D. H. Schunk & B. J. Zimmerman (Eds. Her qualitative research study examined the patterns of underachievement and subsequent achievement of 10 young adults. - 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. (1992). The Learning Styles Inventory: A measure of student preference for instructional techniques. 416-435). Dynamics of the underachievement of gifted students. Moreover, a students family, school, or community environment or peer influences may also influence his or her level of achievement. The plethora of definitions and identification methods contribute to the difficulty in studying the characteristics of this population. Other research also suggests that students who are more involved in extracurricular activities (Colangelo et al., 1993; Reis et al., 1995) are less likely to be underachievers. Bright underachievers. Two common measures of achievement are standardized achievement test scores (e.g., the California Achievement Tests, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the Stanford Achievement Tests, Metropolitan Achievement Tests, the Terra Nova, etc.) Dowdall and Colangelo (1982) described three underlying themes in the definition of gifted underachievement: Permission to reprint this article was granted by Gifted Child Quarterly, a publication of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) http://www.nagc.org. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds. How can the underachievement of older students be reversed? Sylvia Rimm. A teacher may believe that reading Huckleberry Finn is more worthwhile than mastering a new video game, but a child may not. Webmajority of educators use in defining gifted underachievement. Toward a new paradigm for identifying talent potential (Research Monograph 94112). (1982). Being aware of these factors could change teacher and parent perceptions of the student as an underachiever. However, the criteria needed to identify giftedness vary from state to state and from district to district. Broad, inclusive definitions of gifted underachievement allow more flexibility in the identification of gifted underachievers. Determinants of underachievement as perceived by gifted, above average, and average Black students. However, if one accepts the general premise that underachievement involves a discrepancy between ability and achievement, a need exists to operationally define these key concepts. Permission Statement This genus of this definition, illustrated in Table 2, views underachievement as a regression equation involving human potential and performance (Frick et al., 1991). Or, can we see the forest for the trees? Ford, D. Y. The research literature mentions only a small number of interventions. Underachievement in Gifted Students Underachievement is an issue that can be especially impactful among gifted students, particularly those who are profoundly gifted. Profoundly gifted individuals score in the 99.9th percentile on IQ tests and have an exceptionally high level of intellectual prowess. For example, a For many minority and disadvantaged gifted children and adolescents, underachieving leads to deprivation of opportunities to receive educational services Roeper Review, 13, 181-184. However, neither study used a control or comparison group; therefore, the results of their studies may not be generalizable to the entire population of underachievers. Gifted Child Quarterly, 24, 51-55. The third theme, presented in Table 3, views underachievement as a failure to develop or utilize latent potential without reference to other external criteria. Family, school, and individual factors all seem to contribute to the emergence of underachievement behaviors (Baker, Bridger, & Evans, 1998). The use of standardized achievement test scores also results in a certain amount of heterogeneity in the criterion variable. Gowan, J. C. (1957). Often, opposition between parents increased as the challenger became more authoritarian and the rescuer became increasingly protective. Baum, S. M., Olenchak, F. R., & Owen, S. V. (1998). We will not post comments that are considered soliciting, mention illicit topics, or share highly personal information. For example, according to several authors (e.g., Belcastro, 1985; Bricklin & Bricklin, 1967; Bruns, 1992; Diaz, 1998; Dowdall & Colangelo, 1982; Fine & Pitts, 1980; Fink, 1965; Ford, 1996; Kanoy, Johnson, & Kanoy, 1980; Schunk, 1998; Supplee, 1990; Van Boxtel & Monks, 1992; Whitmore, 1980), positive self-concept appears to correlate with student achievement, raising an interesting but unanswered question: Does low self-concept cause underachievement or does underachievement result in a deterioration of self-concept, or does a third exogenous variable influence both self-concept and scholastic achievement? Growing up gifted (2nd ed.). Wolfle, J. Mansfield, CT: Creative Learning Press. Three of these paradigms are compared and contrasted in Table 6. Underachievement of highly able students and the peer society. Fehrenbach, C. R. (1993). For example, statistical regression to the mean further complicates the comparison of two aptitude or achievement measurements. 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. Whereas parental emphasis on achievement tends to inspire higher academic achievement (Brown et al., 1993), parents of underachievers may exhibit disinterested attitudes towards education (Jeon & Feldhusen, 1993). Underachievement: A common fallacy. ), Underachievement (pp. Several lines of research remain inadequately explored. Educational Psychologist, 33, 45-63. 2 Several issues pose potential problems for understanding the underachievement of African American students. These classroom strategies can provide attractive and interesting curricular replacement options and enrichment to advanced students. In fact, it appears each additional academic course that an at-risk student completes can be expected to result in an increase of one eighth of a standard deviation in academic achievement test scores (Anderson & Keith p. 264). Watertown, WI: Apple. Academic underachievement among the gifted: Students perceptions of factors that reverse the pattern. 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. The first theme, displayed in Table 1, portrays underachievement as a discrepancy between potential (or ability) and performance (or achievement). Both programs stressed the importance of addressing affective education, as well as the necessity of creating student-centered classroom environments. For example, an observed score of 130 on WISC-III is in the 98th percentile. Underachievers in school: Issues and intervention. Lupart, J. L., & Pyryt, M. C. (1996). 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. Differences in scores will arise as a result of sampling errors, student mood and health on the testing days, and other extraneous variances. (1992). Although using a precise operational definition of gifted underachievement clarifies the exact nature of the population being studied, it may also prevent the identification of certain types of potential gifted underachievers. Both programs provided anecdotal and some qualitative evidence of at least partial success. Let us define underachievement as a discrepancy between expected achievement and actual achievement. The most common component of the various definitions of underachievement in gifted students involves identifying a discrepancy between ability and achievement (Baum, Renzulli, & Hebert, 1995a; Butler-Por, 1987; Dowdall & Colangelo, 1982; Emerick, 1992; Redding, 1990; Rimm, 1997a; Supplee, 1990; Whitmore, 1980; Wolfle, 1991). (1991). 5 kept her name famous. This behavior illustrates a values conflict between adult and child (Whitmore, 1986). Emerick (1992) investigated the reasons that some students are able to reverse their academic underachievement without the assistance of formal interventions. Because the passive-aggressive behavior of such children is usually directed against their families, family counseling interventions may also help reverse passive-aggressive underachievement. Labeling this phenomenon dropping out with dignity, she concluded that some students may underachieve as a direct result of an inappropriate and unmotivating curriculum. Different types of underachievers may require different proportions of counseling, self-regulation training, and instructional or curricular modifications. Other definitions (Butler-Por, 1987; Ford, 1996; Rimm, 1997a) are broader and more inclusive. Rimm, S. (1997a). Fine and Pitts speculated that more family conflicts occur in underachievers homes, and recent research (Reis, Hebert, Diaz, Maxfield, & Ratley, 1995) has supported this view. Up from underachievement. Both longitudinal studies of achievers and underachievers and the development of structural equations models of achievement and underachievement may help clarify the direction of causality between these two variables. A comparative study of achieving and underachieving boys of high intellectual ability. Delisle, J. This article by Sally Reis and D. Betsy McCoach reviews years of studies on underachievement among the gifted. Brown, B. Peer issues may also contribute to the achievement and underachievement of adolescents. Family environments of underachieving gifted students. Definitions of gifted underachievement as a discrepancy between potential and performance are by far the most common. ; Christopher Columbus, an explorer, and discoverer of new lands.Primarily home-schooled. Pirozzo (1982) asserted that, generally, about half of the gifted children who score in the top 5% of intellectual ability on individualized IQ tests do not demonstrate comparable school achievement. The most well-known educational interventions for gifted students have established either part-time or full-time special classrooms for gifted underachievers (e.g., Butler-Por, 1987; Fehrenbach, 1993; Supplee, 1990; Whitmore, 1980). Mandel, H. P., & Marcus, S. I. Therefore, such studies will require the attention of researchers who can utilize sophisticated design techniques. Recently, Reis (1998) suggested that gifted students who are not challenged in school may actually demonstrate integrity and courage when they choose not to do required work that is below their intellectual level. Therefore, one might expect counseling approaches to effectively address the problem of underachievement. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T. J., Boykin, A. W., Brody, N., Ceci, S. J., Halpern, D. P., Loehlin, J. C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R. J., & Urbina, S. (1996). In contrast, students who underachieved had developed neither a strong belief in self nor the resilience to overcome negative experiences with their families, their schools, and their communities. WebOften the most disruptive student in the class are the gifted underachievers. Challenging expectations: Case studies of culturally diverse young children. Giftedness (also called talented and gifted or TAG) is primarily determined through testing, which is often conducted by school districts. 152-170 What happens when the student reenters the regular class and is once again faced will unstimulating schoolwork? Giftedness seems like a blessing but may be a burden. The range of characteristics ascribed to gifted underachievers by numerous authors are summarized in Table 5 and Table 5 (continued). Whether gifted students actually require interventions that are qualitatively different from nongifted underachievers has yet to be determined. In this conception of underachievement, underachievers may be viewed as individuals who fail to self-actualize. Guidebook for implementing the trifocal underachievement program for schools. (1982). These interventions should probably involve counseling and some form of curriculum modification or differentiation. Roeper Review, 14, 130-136. When we hold low expectations for students, we may be unable to recognize, and therefore reverse, these students underachievement behaviors. Some professionals may try to gauge an age/performance discrepancy when identifying underachievers (Mandel & Marcus, 1995). These menus should include curricular modification and differentiation options such as curriculum compacting, counseling components, and self-regulation training activities. General, social, and academic self-concepts of gifted adolescents. (1982). Van Boxtel, H. W., & Monks, F. J. 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. Frankel, E. (1965). Giftedness, conflict, and underachievement. Teachers and parents perceptions of social-psychological factors of underachievement of the gifted in Korea and the United States. In reality, the standardization of classroom grades may be neither feasible nor meaningful. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children. Columbus, OH: Merrill. New York: Teachers College Press. A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning. WebUnderachievement is the unanticipated difference between accomplishment and ability. Although this may be a suitable method for identifying underachievers from the general school population, such an age/performance discrepancy may only identify the most severely underachieving gifted students. (1997). New York: Teachers College Press. However, identifying underachieving gifted students by locating discrepancies between ability and achievement as measured by standardized achievement tests may lead to the underidentification of this population. Vol. Even the research on common characteristics in underachieving gifted students is often inconsistent. However, research on effective intervention models for this population remains scarce. Ford advocated using a more holistic approach to defining and identifying gifted underachievers: Broad, inclusive definitions of underachievement support the notion that underachievement is a multidimensional construct that cannot be assessed with unidimensional instruments (Ford, p. 54). Dowdall, C. B., & Colangelo, N. (1982). Interestingly, some recent research suggests that underachieving gifted students share more common characteristics with underachievers in general than they do with achieving gifted students (Dowdall & Colangelo, 1982; McCall, Evahn, & Kratzer, 1992). The problem in this case lies in our initial predictions, not in the students levels of achievement. In a culture that generally prizes both childhood and adult achievement, we label as underachievers those students who do not perform as well as we might expect them to perform. 79-86). By implicit definition gifted stu- famous longitudinal study of 1,500 gifted students. Sociology of Education, 63, 44-61. In J. H. Borland (Series Ed.) ), Underachievement (pp. Standardized achievement tests offer one advantage over classroom grades: They provide documented, empirical evidence of reliability. Perceived factors influencing the academic underachievement of talented students of Puerto Rican descent. Zimmerman, B.J. Reversing underachievement among gifted Black students. This approach (Renzulli, 1977) specifically targets student strengths and interests in order to help reverse academic underachievement (Baum, Renzulli, & Hebert, 1995b). Gifted achievers and gifted underachievers showed difference in their attitudes toward school, attitudes toward teacher, motivation, self-perception, and goal 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). Dai, D. Y, Moon, S. M., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1998). Abstract. Publisher: National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) (1991). Borland, J. H. (1989). ), Underachievement (pp. Underachieving gifted students. New York: John Wiley and Sons. If a certain amount of variation between aptitude measures and achievement measures is normal, how does one distinguish between normal variability in scores and a discrepancy that indicates a cause for concern? Paper presented at the First Southeast Asian Regional Conference on Giftedness. (1990). One strategy for counseling passive-aggressive underachievers involves helping adolescents to recognize their abilities and interests, clarify their personal value systems and preferred goals, and pursue their studies to serve their own purposes rather than to meet or frustrate the needs of others (Weiner, p. 290). Students who are difficult to motivate are often categorized as underachievers. (1998). Or, is there a dynamic interaction between the underachiever and the family? Underachieving students may not want to identify with their parents (Clark, 1983; Weiner, 1992). In most counseling situations, the counselors goal is not to force the underachiever to become a more successful student, but rather to help the student decide whether success is a desirable goal and, if so, to help reverse counterproductive habits and cognitions. One would expect a gifted students performance to be above grade level in some subject areas, especially those areas in which that student has been identified as gifted. However conceptually sound this notion may be, a definition that does not differentiate between a straight-A student and a student who is in jeopardy of failing may have little practical utility for the practitioner. 5072 Accesses. Why bright kids get poor grades and what you can do about it. Gifted Education International, 9, 115-119. However, other intervening environmental influences and experiences that may not be obvious to school personnel or parents also affect achievement. A longitudinal study of 35 culturally diverse, gifted urban high school students compared successful students to a similar group of high-ability students who did not achieve (Reis et al., 1995). WebGifted underachievement: The causes of gifted underachievement, and interventions to reverse this pattern JESSY WU Abstract Giftedness is generally seen as the basis of Please note, the Davidson Institute is a non-profit serving families with highly gifted children. Educational Psychologist, 16, 151-164. We need to individualize programs for underachieving gifted students at least as much as we individualize programs for achieving gifted students. 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. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 121-133. However, dysfunctional families with achieving gifted students reported greater satisfaction with their family lives than did dysfunctional families of underachieving students. More recent studies (e.g., Anderson & Keith, 1997) report correlations as high as .67 between measures of ability and achievement. Mexican American students who came from Spanish-speaking backgrounds and who became proficient in English (FEP) were generally more successful in school than were those from Spanish-speaking backgrounds who were not proficient (LEP students) in English or than Latino students from English speaking backgrounds. WebFor example, many gifted individuals underachieve simply because their parents do not stress the importance of academic achievement and how it can translate into success in the future. 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. Case studies of talented students who achieve and underachieve in an urban high school (Research Monograph 95120). Psychological Bulletin, 111 (1), 127-155. Gifted "underachievers under-the-radar" are frequently overlooked, and sometimes even mistaken for high achievers. These are the exceptionally gifted students who coast through school, often receiving average to high average grades, but who fail to reach their potential. Environmental influences and events have a major impact on students achievement. Students peer groups in high school: The pattern and relationship to educational outcomes. (1988). Mather, N., & Udall, A. J. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. Gifted Child Quarterly, 42, 105-122. WebUnderachievement Syndrome: A Psychological Defensive Pattern. This article reviews and analyzes three decades of research on the underachievement of gifted students in an attempt to clarify the present state of research. Whitmore (1986) suggested that the problem of gifted students who lack motivation to participate in school or to strive to excel academically is, in most cases, a product of a mismatch between the childs motivational characteristics and the opportunities provided in the classroom (p. 67). American Psychologist, 51, 77-101. The construct of underachievement in gifted students differs across cultures. Causal attributions of underachieving gifted, achieving gifted, and nongifted students. A longitudinal test of a model of academic success for at-risk high school students.
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