1. Gifted Underachievers Part 1: If you’re so smart, why are you failing?!?!
“It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.”
~ Arthur C. Clarke

2. The Gifted Population at IRHS: REACH
299 students identified (scoring at least 97th percentile in at least one category)
9th: th: th: th: 62
Of those students identified:
11 are “Profoundly Gifted” (scoring in the 99th percentile ↑ in all tested categories)
32 are formally classified as 2E due to SpEd status and/or a 504 plan
71 are potential 2E (scores below the 50th percentile in 1 or more tested categories)
* these students may have under the radar “compensated learning disabilities”
Identified population mirrors the overall race and ethnic demographics
Academic snapshot of REACH students in the senior class:
6 are in the top 10
6 in the bottom 10%

3. Differences between High Achievers and Gifted Students
Gifted Learners:
Know the right answers
Work hard to achieve
Learn difficult material by means of guidance, practice, and repetition
Enjoy the structure of school
Productive and energized by group work
Have a good imagination
Motivated extrinsically by grades, recognition, and approval
Get it intuitively and want to know “why?”
Absorb knowledge without working hard
Learn difficult material rapidly, without much effort or help
Enjoy self-directed learning
Find group work distracting or slow
Use imagination to experiment and create
Intrinsically motivated by the search for meaning and passion

4. Assumptions about success in school form early. By 2nd grade:
Most students learn that…
Gifted students learn that…
I need to focus and pay attention so I don’t get behind
Following directions is how to get good grades
Studying helps me do well on tests
Asking questions helps me learn
Struggling pays off
I need to occupy my mind when I already know the material
Doing my best won’t matter – minimal work gets the same grade
Tests are easy so why study?
Asking questions gets you in trouble
I don’t have to try hard to learn

5. These aren’t the best lessons…

6. Which leads to - Underdeveloped Executive Functions
Impaired ability to:
Organize, set priorities, and initiate tasks
Focus, shift, or sustain attention and thinking
Regulate alertness and stay on task
Manage frustration and keep emotions in check
Use working memory and recall information
Self-monitor and control impulses

7. GIFTED UNDERACHIEVEMENT The disconnect between ability and performance can result in:
Low Academic Self-Concept: suspicion the gifted label was a mistake; feeling like a failure and a fraud in comparison to other students; success seems like a fluke or mistake; counterintuitive perfectionism; bad grades reinforce negative self-esteem.
Bad Attitude & Discipline Problems: challenging authority figures and low patience for activities that are repetitive or not challenging
Low Motivation & Self-Regulation: can’t see the long-term payoff or the point of school, so there’s little incentive to try

8. GIFTED UNDERACHIEVEMENT Common Behavior Patterns:
Aggression: student stubbornly refuses to comply with requests, causes disruption in class, rejects simple activities, alienates peers, lacks self-direction
Withdrawal: student won’t communicate, wants to work alone, won’t attempt to justify behavior, rarely participates in class activities or classwork, very good at being invisible
Passive compliance: conforms and goes along with classroom expectations but not at a high level, does just enough to get by and stay off a teacher’s radar, hides abilities in order to fit in with peers and be socially accepted

9. Characteristics of Gifted Underachievers
High IQ Score
Large knowledge bank
Gap in quality of oral & written work
Skill deficit in at least 1 subject
Sensitive to criticism
Inattentiveness
Poor work and study habits
Intense interest in one topic
Lack of effort
Unfinished work
Inability to concentrate on tasks
Low self-esteem
Self-medicating
Prone to escapism
Cynicism
Divergent thinking
Discouragement
Disorganization
Self-critical
Debilitated by perfectionism
Won’t respond to motivational strategies

10. Implications for teachers
Teach, require, and reward the use of executive functions
Pre-assess to find where students are – to both plan and validate
Provide choices with projects and be open to students who propose a different approach to accelerate their learning – differentiated, but not additional
Be aware that intellectual ability and social/emotional skills don’t always match
Raise awareness of behaviors and the impact they have on others – privately!
Communicate that you understand OE and help students learn about what might be happening (I’ll be doing this via the Pre AP English push-in)
Encourage healthy social interaction with peers - but don’t force it
Be mindful of stress and help students learn strategies to deal with it
Find and focus on the positives – somewhere there’s a silver ling

11. My role as a REACH teacher
Teach Honors Internship 101 & 102
“Push-into” Pre AP English 9 & 10 classes
Testing and identification of gifted suspects
Monitoring & advocacy for underachieving gifted students
Support for the accelerated academic development and affective needs of gifted students
Support for teachers to work with and make accommodations for gifted students