By: 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-Glance Underachievers… 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 Underachievers 1. 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 Strategies Selective Consumer Underachiever Eliminate work already mastered Allow 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 atmosphere Daily/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 Strategies Selective Consumer Underachiever Students help to determine class rules Assignee 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 Strategies Selective Consumer Underachievers Self 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 crude I 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

Credits Delisle, Jim and Judy, Galbraith. When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers. Free Spirit Publishing. Minneapolis, Shaine, Josh. Underachievement from the Inside Out.