Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. In fact, only three typesthe anxious underachiever, the rebellious underachiever, and the complacent/coasting underachieverhave approximate parallels in all three authors schema. Gifted Child Quarterly, 15, 279-292. If the criterion is academic achievement defined in terms of course grades, it is impossible to compare grades across subject areas or even across students because of the variability in content and presentation. Recent research by Desmet and Pereira (2021) in the journal Gifted Education International took a close look at academic underachievement. 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. International handbook of research and development of giftedness and talent (pp. Current identification practices that underidentify gifted African American students hinder the identification of gifted underachievers of African American descent. In other words, using an overly narrow definition may increase Type II error, leading to a failure to identify a truly underachieving gifted student. For each personality trait common to gifted underachievers, there are many other underachieving gifted students who do not exhibit that trait. Conceivably, the combination of these factors may account for more variance in achievement than ability alone. Columbus, OH: Merrill. We propose an imperfect, yet workable operational definition for defining and identifying underachievers in general, as well as gifted underachievers. Bright childpoor grades: The psychology of underachievement. Underachievement: A common fallacy. General, social, and academic self-concepts of gifted adolescents. 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. Baum, S. M., Renzulli, J. S., & Hebert, T. P. (1995a). Both Whitmore and Supplee designed their programs to effect immediate change in student behaviors, as well as to research the construct of underachievement. 2 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 McNab, T. (1997). As previously mentioned, most definitions of underachievement involve a discrepancy between ability and academic achievement/performance. Publisher: National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Rimm, Cornale, Manos, and Behrend (1989) suggested using longitudinal test data in order to screen for possible underachievement. Setting and agenda: Research priorities for the gifted and talented through the year 2000. 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. M. (1995). B. Roeper Review, 4, 16-18. Academic underachievement among the gifted: Students perceptions of factors that reverse the pattern. In fact, even comparing grades in the same course becomes impossible because of the differences in different teachers curricular emphases, grading policies, and testing procedures. 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. 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. Krouse, J. H., & Krouse, H. J. Two methods can help reduce heterogeneity of the criterion variable (Raph et al., 1966). Baldwin, A. Y. Roeper Review, 4, 18-21. A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning. However, other intervening environmental influences and experiences that may not be obvious to school personnel or parents also affect achievement. Paper presented at the First Southeast Asian Regional Conference on Giftedness. High-achieving parents often provide positive role-modeling of achievement-oriented behavior; (Rimm & Lowe; Zilli, 1971). Underachievement occurs when a child's performance is below what is expected based on the child's ability. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. This behavior illustrates a values conflict between adult and child (Whitmore, 1986). (1992). Certain treatments aimed at combating underachievement combine counseling and school-centered interventions. Gifted Child Quarterly, 32, 267-272. ), Underachievement (pp. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please note, the Davidson Institute is a non-profit serving families with highly gifted children. Even so, several studies have found that underachievers do not exhibit lower self-concepts than their achieving counterparts (e.g. Berndt found that students seemed to resemble more closely their friends at the end of the school year than they did at the beginning of the school year. 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. In general, these students display high verbal expressive ability and good conceptual understanding concurrent with significant academic underachievement and frustration or a lack of motivation (Crawford & Snart 1994). An orphan for many years, In contrast, although the parents of underachieving gifted children may verbally espouse the values of achievement, they may have lives characterized by frustration and lack of fulfillment (Rimm & Lowe). New York: Teachers College Press. ), Underachievement (pp. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut, National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented. 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.) The research literature mentions only a small number of interventions. Baum, S. M., Owen, S. V., & Dixon, J. In a qualitative study of this intervention technique, five major features of the Type III enrichment process contributed to the success of the intervention. Or, can we see the forest for the trees? First, we must recognize the talents in culturally diverse youth. The Schoolwide Enrichment Model: A comprehensive plan for educational excellence. By Ingrid Wickelgren on November 2, 2012. Pendarvis, E. D., Howley, A. Students who seem to be unmotivated may have attention deficits. If a student performs more poorly on measures of achievement than one would expect based on measures of ability, then he or she is underachieving. However, research on effective intervention models for this population remains scarce. Toward a multimodal theory of underachievement. Profoundly gifted individuals Summer 2000. In J. H. Borland (Series Ed.) In addition, students who are not underachievers may exhibit one or several of these characteristics. Conversely, using a very broad definition may promote Type I error, causing overidentification of underachieving students. Externalizing behavior problems and academic underachievement in childhood and adolescence: Causal relationships and underlying mechanisms. 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. Further research and inquiry into this area should address the need for clearly defined, well-researched, and effective interventions for gifted underachievers. This definition could include most gifted students, as many receive top grades in school without expending sustained effort. For example, an observed score of 130 on WISC-III is in the 98th percentile. Fine, M. J., & Pitts, R. (1980). (1982). We need to individualize programs for underachieving gifted students at least as much as we individualize programs for achieving gifted students. As educators, we may or may not be able to change the external factors that contribute to the underachievement of certain gifted students. 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). The process of defining underachievement, identifying underachieving gifted students, and explaining the reasons for this underachievement continues to stir controversy among practitioners, researchers, and clinicians. The psychology of underachievement. Rimm, S., Cornale, M., Manos, R., & Behrend, J. The effects of group counseling on gifted underachieving adolescents. Gifted achievers and gifted underachievers showed difference in their attitudes toward school, attitudes toward teacher, motivation, self-perception, and goal Who should make the decision as to what is considered achievement and, by extension, what is worth achieving? Gallagher, J. J. WebGifted underachievers are underachievers who exhibit superior scores on measures of expected achievement (i.e., standardized achievement test scores or cognitive or intellectual ability assessments). Underachieving gifted males: Are we missing the boat? (1998). Students whose gifts and subsequent underachievement go unrecognized are sometimes called hidden underachievers (Ford, 1996) who underachieve because educational systems do not recognize their potential. Underachieving boys: Problems and solutions. Synthesizing the hypothesized characteristics of gifted underachievers becomes a nearly impossible task, and legitimate questions exist regarding the utility of such a list. However, the relationship between language proficiency and school is complex. Perhaps the family discord is a result of rather than a cause of, the childs underachievement. Underachieving gifted students: Review and implications. Defining achievement is even more problematic. For many minority and disadvantaged gifted children and adolescents, underachieving leads to deprivation of opportunities to receive educational services Rimm, S. (1995). A., & Howley C. B. Thorndike (1963) cautioned educators and psychologists not to waste their time and effort attempting to provide explanations arising solely from measurement errors, discussed below. 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). 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. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. The third theme, presented in Table 3, views underachievement as a failure to develop or utilize latent potential without reference to other external criteria. Defining underachievement operationally provides researchers and readers with a clearer picture of the composition of the sample being studied and enables the comparison of results of different studies. Heacox, D. (1991). Amazingly, the number of highly intellectual students who had not achieved well in school is as high as 50% (Schultz, 2005). Underachievement is a very complex situation with many possible interwoven causes. 149-195). Guest blog by Frank C. Worrell, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Rena F. Subotnik. Overcoming underachievement. For example, low self-concept is one of the most common characteristics ascribed to underachieving gifted students (Belcastro, 1985; Bricklin & Bricklin, 1967; Bruns, 1992; Clark, 1988; Diaz, 1998; Fine & Pitts, 1980; Fink, 1965; Ford, 1996; Kanoy, Johnson, & Kanoy, 1980; Schunk, 1998; Supplee, 1990; Van Boxtel & Monks, 1992; Whitmore, 1980). Roeper Review, 7, 184-189. Baymur, F., & Patterson, C. H. (1965). For example, Rimms trifocal model is a three-pronged approach that involves parents and school personnel in an effort to reverse student underachievement (Rimm, 1995; Rimm, et al., 1989). Consider an extreme example: No one would be surprised if a student who had been ill for a long period of time scored significantly lower on a standardized achievement test or a final exam than a healthy classmate of similar ability. It explores some of the problems of identifying these students. Communicator, 29 (1), 1, 19-24. Such approaches would differentiate among different types of underachievement, incorporating both proactive and preventative counseling and innovative instructional interventions. Educational Leadership, 54 (7), 18-22. Growing up gifted (3rd ed.). Research identifies various external factors that may lead to (1992). Guidebook for implementing the trifocal underachievement program for schools. Three of these paradigms are compared and contrasted in Table 6. Because different school systems use different criteria to label a student gifted, the populations of students who are identified as gifted vary; and, in some cases, they are not comparable. The definition of achievement in a particular subculture may be very different from that of the dominant culture. In this conception of underachievement, underachievers may be viewed as individuals who fail to self-actualize. - 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. Although some underachieving students appear to progress during academic interventions, the long-term effect of such programs are less clear. This article by Sally Reis and D. Betsy McCoach reviews years of studies on underachievement among the gifted. In other words, if a student were to take the same IQ test again, there is a 90% probability that his or her score would fall between 124 and 134. Roeper Review, 12, 23-29. Academic underachievement and behavior disorders, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 189-194. intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. In general, inadequate research has examined the interventions aimed at reversing underachievement. Sociology of Education, 63, 44-61. and classroom performance as evidenced by course grades. Butler-Por, N. (1993). Barton, J. M., & Starnes, W. T. (1988). Roeper Review, 8, 54-56. When we hold low expectations for students, we may be unable to recognize, and therefore reverse, these students underachievement behaviors. An underachievement epidemic. Schweitzgebel (1965) alluded to this phenomenon when he observed that underachievers, in contrast to slower learners, may in fact learn rapidly and well, but what they learn may not coincide with the content of our examinations (p. 486). 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. Risk and resilience: Contextual influences on the development of African American adolescents. (1995). Anderson, E. S., & Keith, T. Z. Kaph, J. In these classrooms, educators strive to create a favorable environment for student achievement by altering the traditional classroom organization. WebCharacteristics of gifted underachievers. The first theme, displayed in Table 1, portrays underachievement as a discrepancy between potential (or ability) and performance (or achievement). High-achieving students acknowledged the importance of being grouped together in honors and advanced classes for academically talented students. The Davidson Institute bears no responsibility for the content of republished material. Participants in Emericks study perceive that out-of-school interests and activities, parents, development of goals associated with grades, teachers, and changes in selves had a positive impact on achievement. Vocabulary facilitates communication; without a common vocabulary, professionals cannot assume that they are discussing the same construct. The most successful programs to reverse underachievement behaviors will provide a menu of intervention options for different types of underachieving gifted students. How can educators help bright students who are underachieving in school? ), Handbook of gifted education (2nd ed., pp. Holland, V. (1998). Several issues pose potential problems for understanding the underachievement of African American students. Likewise, negative peer attitudes can often account for underachievement (Clasen & Clasen, 1995; Weiner, 1992). By implicit definition gifted stu- famous longitudinal study of 1,500 gifted students. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks. Students who are required to repeat grade levels or courses are rarely singled out as a result of low standardized achievement test scores. The psychological characteristic ascribed to gifted underachievers vary and sometimes contradict each other. One fact seems certain: The identification procedure should flow directly and logically from the definition of gifted underachievement. In M. Kornrich (Ed. Underachieving students may not want to identify with their parents (Clark, 1983; Weiner, 1992). 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. Although conducting case studies and qualitative research on underachieving gifted students has become quite popular, few researchers have attempted to utilize true quasi-experimental designs to study the efficacy of various interventions. Research suggests that using IQ scores as the sole criterion for inclusion in gifted programs can create a bias against African American students (Baldwin, 1987; Ford; Frasier & Passow, 1994). Underachieving gifted students. 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. Weiner, I. Psychosocial development in intellectually gifted children. Reis, S. M. (1998). Friends influence on students adjustment to school. Do gifted underachievers have more in common with gifted students who do achieve or low-achieving students who are not gifted? Families with underachieving children tend to exhibit less positive affect (Mandel & Marcus, 1988). Mandel, H. P., & Marcus, S. I. Fehrenbach, C. R. (1993). WebUnderachievement Syndrome: A Psychological Defensive Pattern. New York: Teachers College Press. Borland, J. H. (1989). The causes and correlates of gifted underachievement have received considerable attention in recent research literature (Dowdall & Colangelo, 1982; Van Boxtel & Monks, 1992; Whitmore, 1986). 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. Mickelson, R. A. B., Mounts, N., Lamborn, S. D., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Defining underachievement based strictly upon scholastic success or failure may also be limiting. The parents of unmotivated underachievers may also benefit from therapeutic strategies that encourage them to speak positively about education, show an interest in their childs schoolwork, and praise their childs accomplishments (Weiner). The absence of any clear, precise definition of gifted underachievement restricts research-based comparisons and hinders the quest for suitable interventions. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 14, 451-467. When a person scores at one extreme of the testing continuum on one testing occasion, he or she is more likely to score closer to the mean on the next testing occasion. WebStudents who are both gifted and have LD exhibit remarkable talents in some areas and disabling weaknesses in others (Baum, 1990). Do students underachieve because they come from families in conflict? Newbury Park: Sage. Underachievement is an issue that can be especially impactful among gifted students, particularly those who are profoundly gifted. Gifted underachievers are especially prone to developing a poor self If unchallenging scholastic environments produce underachieving gifted students, then providing intellectual challenge and stimulation at all grade levels should decrease underachievement. Whitmore (1980) designed and implemented a full-time elementary program for gifted underachievers. To be gifted and learning disabled: From identification to practical intervention strategies. They may criticize the school for emphasizing conformity rather than originality and creativity. Fernandez, R. M., Hirano-Nakanishi, M., & Paulsen, R. (1989). Let us define underachievement as a discrepancy between expected achievement and actual achievement. Renzulli, J. S. (1977). Gifted students with attention deficits: Fact and /or fiction? A longitudinal test of a model of academic success for at-risk high school students. Emericks study indicated that one type of effective intervention may be based on students strengths and interests (Renzulli, 1977; Renzulli & Reis, 1985, 1997). (Rev. Educational Psychologist, 16, 151-164. Broedel, J., Ohlsen, M., Proff, F., & Southard, C. (1965). The Learning Styles Inventory: A measure of student preference for instructional techniques. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. Frick, P. J., Kamphaus, R. W., Lahey, B. In addition, a discussion of the cultural connotations of the construct of underachievement deserves further attention. One could even argue that Rimms definition includes almost all students. Curriculum compacting: A guide for teachers. Causal attributions of underachieving gifted, achieving gifted, and nongifted students. Defining underachievement in gifted students seems as if it should be an easy and straightforward task. The plethora of definitions and identification methods contribute to the difficulty in studying the characteristics of this population. Zimmerman, B.J. ), Self-regulation of learning and practice (pp. Recent research (Reis, Hebert, Diaz, Maxfield, & Ratley, 1995), provides further evidence that boredom may contribute to underachievement. Some professionals may try to gauge an age/performance discrepancy when identifying underachievers (Mandel & Marcus, 1995). - prioritizing 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.
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