Gifted UnderachieversBy: Jessica Pierce

Kristen Hartley

Until every gifted child can attend a school where the brightest are appropriately challenged in an environment with their intellectual peers, America can't claim that it's leaving no child behind. – Jan and Bob Davidson with Laura Vanderkam, in Genius Denied

What is a gifted underachiever?•Difficult to define•Many variables•Extremely subjective•Every child and teacher is different•Perceptions vary from teacher to teacher and parent to parent•Content and situation specific

Differences At-a-GlanceUnderachievers… Selective Consumers… …do not understand causes and

cures …are dependent and reactive …tend to withdraw …respect or fear authority

figures …need structure …exhibit uniformly weak

performance …generally require family

intervention …may change over long term …are often perfectionist …have poor academic self-image

…can explain the problem and possible solutions

…are independent and proactive

…tend to rebel …see teachers as adversaries …require little structure …exhibits varying

performance based on teacher/content

…can usually be dealt with within school resources

…may change “overnight” …are frequently satisfied with

their accomplishments …see themselves as

academically able

Strategies to Help Reverse Behaviors and Attitudes of Selective Consumers

and Underachievers1. Supportive Strategies- these help affirm

the worth of the child in the classroom and help promote greater potential and success

2. Intrinsic Strategies-these help the child become motivates based on his or her efforts to learn, achieve, and contribute within a group

3. Remedial Strategies-these are to help students in areas of weakness where he or she has experienced failure and has become unmotivated to engage in learning tasks

Supportive StrategiesSelective Consumer UnderachieverEliminate work already

masteredAllow independent study

on topics of personal interest

Nonauthoritarian atmosphere

Prove competence via multiple methods

Teach through problem solving techniques over rote drill

Hold daily class meetings to discuss student concerns and progress

Directive atmosphereDaily/weekly/monthly

written contracts of work to be completed

Free time scheduled each day to show importance of relaxation and free choice

Concrete and predictable instructional methods

Intrinsic StrategiesSelective Consumer UnderachieverStudents help to

determine class rulesAssignee specific

responsibilities for classroom maintenance and management

Teacher practices reflective listening

Students set daily/weekly/monthly goals with approval from teacher

Students are aware of specific rewards for attempting and or doing their work

Allow students to evaluate work prior to the teacher assigning a grade

Frequent and positive contact with family regarding child’s progress

Verbal praise

Remedial StrategiesSelective Consumer UnderachieversSelf selected, weekly goals

for improvement determined between students and teachers

Private instruction in areas of weakness

Use of humor and personal example to approach areas of academic weakness

Familiarize students with learning-styles research

Programmed instruction materials, where students grade their own papers immediately on completion

Peer tutoring of younger students in areas of strength

Small-group instruction in common areas of weakness

Encouraging students to work on projects which don’t involve a grade

Teachers told me I was rude,Bumptious, overbearing, shrewd. Some of the things they said were

crudeI couldn’t understand.

And so I built myself a wall,Strong, solid, ten feet tall.

With bricks you couldn’t see at all.So I couldn’t understand.

-11 year old boy

If we were TV sets, some of us would only get five channels. Others are wired for cable (the general population) and some of us (the gifted) are hooked up to a satellite dish. That makes these gifted children capable of making connections that others don't even know exist! Teaching those types of voracious minds in a regular classroom without enhancement is like feeding an elephant one

blade of grass at time. You'll starve them. – Elizabeth Meckstroth

CreditsDelisle, Jim and Judy, Galbraith. When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers. Free Spirit Publishing. Minneapolis, 2002.

Shaine, Josh. Underachievement from the Inside Out. http://www.geocities.com/josh_shaine/insideout.html?200826