Using such an identification method to identify gifted underachievers may lead to problems of under-identification. The absence of any clear, precise definition of gifted underachievement restricts research-based comparisons and hinders the quest for suitable interventions. Parents of underachievers often tend to be overly lenient or overly strict (Pendarvis, Howley, & Howley, 1990; Weiner, 1992). Finally, several fundamental philosophical issues surround the entire concept of underachievement. 152-170 Roeper Review, 12, 23-29. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. However, an interesting, though less studied, line of research involves comparing gifted underachievers to other students who are at the same achievement level as measured by GPA, achievement test scores, and so forth, regardless of their measured mental ability. An underachievement epidemic. Mansfield, CT: Creative Learning Press. Tomlinson, C. A., Callahan, C. M., & Lelli, K. M. (1997). Growing up gifted (2nd ed.). Educational Psychologist, 16, 151-164. Culturally diverse students face unique barriers to their achievement for several reasons. Research identifies various external factors that may lead to Holland, 1998). For example, statistical regression to the mean further complicates the comparison of two aptitude or achievement measurements. Reggie Bush, RB, Miami Dolphins: Bush was on his way to a top five appearance before he finally had a breakout season for the Dolphins in 2011, putting to (p. 157) Reis and McCoach further contend that underachievement can-not be the result of a diagnosed learning disability and must be Up from underachievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Gifted Children, Louisville, KY. Schwekzgebel, R. (1965). (1990). Fine, M. J., & Pitts, R. (1980). American Psychologist, 51, 77-101. However, research on effective intervention models for this population remains scarce. 139-162). (1990). (1985). Psychology in the Schools, 17, 395-399. Overcoming underachievement. Too often, for no apparent reason, students who show great academic promise fail to perform at a level commensurate with their previously documented abilities, frustrating both parents and teachers (Whitmore, 1986). (1998). If we hold low expectations for students who then achieve at low levels, they are not underachievers. Baum, S. M., Renzulli, J. S., & Hebert, T. P. (1995a). Therefore, in the absence of developing formal programs for underachievers, providing underachievers with support, attention, and positive feedback could help these students reverse their underachievement. Despite this interest, the underachievement of gifted students remains an enigma. Heacox, D. (1991). Reversing underachievement: Creative productivity as a systematic intervention. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. High-achieving students acknowledged the importance of being grouped together in honors and advanced classes for academically talented students. Future research must attempt to unravel the complex causes of academic underachievement and provide interventions that help reverse underachievement behavior. Therefore, such studies will require the attention of researchers who can utilize sophisticated design techniques. This raises several important issues. The most successful programs to reverse underachievement behaviors will provide a menu of intervention options for different types of underachieving gifted students. Recent research by Desmet and Pereira (2021) in the journal Gifted Education International took a close look at academic underachievement. Disclaimer: The appearance of any information in the Davidson Institutes Resource Library does not imply an endorsement by, or any affiliation with, the Davidson Institute. Therefore, future researchers in this field should posit coherent, complete models of gifted underachievement and design interventions in accordance with their proposed models. 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. Exceptional Children, 24, 98-101. (NCES 97-055). (1991). 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). Khatena, J. Such approaches would differentiate among different types of underachievement, incorporating both proactive and preventative counseling and innovative instructional interventions. The multidimensionality of peer pressure in adolescence. 501-513). The sample consisted of 56 gifted underachievers and 122 gifted achievers from 28 high schools Baymur, F., & Patterson, C. H. (1965). Gifted Child Quarterly, 31, 180-185. In some states, students must achieve an IQ score at or above a certain cut-off in order to acquire the gifted label. Understanding a lack of motivation to excel. - 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. Students peer groups in high school: The pattern and relationship to educational outcomes. Dai, D. Y, Moon, S. M., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1998). Teachers and parents perceptions of social-psychological factors of underachievement of the gifted in Korea and the United States. 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 Dropping out among Hispanic youth. In a recent study, researchers used self-selected Type III enrichment projects as a systematic intervention for underachieving gifted students. But neither our psychological insights nor our statistical evidence give us reason to believe that a scholastic aptitude test measures all of the significant determiners of scholastic achievement. A comparative study of achieving and underachieving boys of high intellectual ability. 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). Sixty-six percent of the students named peer pressure or attitude of the other kids, including friends, as the primary force against getting good grades (pp. Unfortunately, the need for multiple approaches to treatment will complicate the research designs necessary to test the efficacy of underachievement interventions. Columbus, OH: Merrill. However, because standardized achievement tests do not directly reflect the actual school experience, they may not be indicative of a students classroom performance. Perhaps the family discord is a result of rather than a cause of, the childs underachievement. Because the passive-aggressive behavior of such children is usually directed against their families, family counseling interventions may also help reverse passive-aggressive underachievement. WebUnderachievement is the unanticipated difference between accomplishment and ability. Underachievement occurs when a child's performance is below what is expected based on the child's ability. Dowdall, C. B., & Colangelo, N. (1982). Oxford: Pergamon. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented. Green, K., Fine, M. J., & Tollefson, N. (1988). The manifestation of underachievement may reflect a mismatch between the student and the curriculum. Some professionals may try to gauge an age/performance discrepancy when identifying underachievers (Mandel & Marcus, 1995). These interventions should probably involve counseling and some form of curriculum modification or differentiation. 11-12). Does the underachievement of the child create problems in the family unit? Guest blog by Frank C. Worrell, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Rena F. Subotnik. In addition, bestowing adult status on a child at too young an age may contribute to the development of underachievement (Fine & Pitts, 1980; Rimm & Lowe, 1988). Furthermore, Rimm (1995) developed her underachiever profiles to reflect the variety of students she had treated in her clinical practice. How can a gifted student also be an under-achiever? Broedel, J., Ohlsen, M., Proff, F., & Southard, C. (1965). (1988). 9 Citations. Certain treatments aimed at combating underachievement combine counseling and school-centered interventions. Being aware of these factors could change teacher and parent perceptions of the student as an underachiever. IQ test scores, achievement percentile scores, or grades that have declined for three years in a row are strong indicators of an underachievement problem. Eleven of the 17 participants showed improved achievement; 13 of the 17 students appeared to exert more effort within their classes; and 4 of the 17 students showed marked improvement in their classroom behavior. Ford, D. Y. (Research Monograph 95114). In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds. Jeon, K. (1990, August). Students who are not given adequate opportunities to develop their talents often become involuntary underachievers. Recent research suggests that quality of schooling (Anderson & Keith, 1997; Baker, Bridger, & Evans, 1998) and completion of academic course-work research (Anderson & Keith) appear to be significant predictors of achievement for at-risk high school students. Amazingly, the number of highly intellectual students who had not achieved well in school is as high as 50% (Schultz, 2005). A comparison of gifted underachievers and gifted high achievers. ; Christopher Columbus, an explorer, and discoverer of new lands.Primarily home-schooled. In other words, using an overly narrow definition may increase Type II error, leading to a failure to identify a truly underachieving gifted student. 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. In fact, only three typesthe anxious underachiever, the rebellious underachiever, and the complacent/coasting underachieverhave approximate parallels in all three authors schema. After reviewing the research in the field of gifted underachievement, Emerick (1992) observed that the picture of the underachiever which emerges is complex and often contradictory and inconclusive (p. 140). The Schoolwide Enrichment Model: A how-to guide, for educational excellence. Recently, researchers have begun to probe the relationships among underachievement, attention deficit disorders, and learning disabilities (Hinshaw, 1992a, 1992b). Delisle, J. 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. (1983). Dowdall and Colangelo (1982) described three underlying themes in the definition of gifted underachievement: In other words, if we predict that students will not succeed, and then they fail, they have not performed below our initial expectations. (1991). New York: Teachers College Press. Environmental influences and events have a major impact on students achievement. (1982). Kedding, R. E. (1990). In J. H. Borland (Series Ed.) Busch, B., & Nuttall, R. L. (1995). However, using such a formula to screen for gifted underachievement may underestimate the number of students who are falling into patterns of underachievement. Newbury Park: Sage. Janos, P. M., & Robinson, N. (1985). This genus of this definition, illustrated in Table 2, views underachievement as a regression equation involving human potential and performance (Frick et al., 1991). Eds. This definition could include most gifted students, as many receive top grades in school without expending sustained effort. Further research in this area must focus on developing multiple approaches to both preventing and reversing underachievement. Finally, researchers and practitioners must translate knowledge and insights about causes and correlates of underachievement into models and strategies that educators can use to develop more effective prevention and intervention programs. B., Loeber, R., Christ, M. A. G., Hart, E. L., & Tannenbaum, L. E. (1991). These parents do not set high standards or expect their children to reach them. 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.
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