Understanding and Reversing Underachievement in Gifted Students

Lisa Rubenstein, Ph.D.Ball State University

Indiana Association for the Gifted ConferenceDecember 14, 2015

The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.

(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)

26%Persistent Patterns

Defining Underachievement

Why define?

Right?

severe discrepancy between expected and actual achievement

Define underachievement:

Operationalize?

Expected: Achievement Tests, Ability Tests, Previous Achievement

Actual: Achievement Tests, Grades, Portfolios

Identifying Underachievement

Underachievement Study

0

1.25

2.50

3.75

5.00

PreGrade PostGrade

ImplementationNo Implementation

Underachievement Study

Identification Issues

Duration

Degree

Ubiquity

Test Score Issues

Twice-Exceptionalities

Potential Causes

Causes Overview

Motivational Factors

Personal Factors

Environmental Factors

Strategies to Promote Achievement

Content Delivery

Building an Intervention

Content Delivery

Building an Intervention

•Cognitive Strategies•Curriculum•Self-Regulation

Examples...•Counseling•Self-Contained Class•Embedded

Examples...

Tale of Two Models

Sylvia Rimm’s Trifocal Model for Reversing Underachievement

Achievement Orientation Model

Possess the Adequate

Skills

From Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self-Efficacy

Possess the Adequate

Skills

From Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Stable/Fixed

Flexible

OR

Types of Praise

Perfectionism

How to Build Self- Efficacy

• Compliment of skills they develop

• Practice lack-of-effort explanations for poor performance

• Avoid the appearance of unsolicited help

• Recognize progress during a lesson

• Help students to set goals, document their growth

• Peer models and self-model

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Possess the Adequate

Skills

From Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Motivation

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Value the TaskMeaningfulness/Goal

Valuation

Possess the Adequate

Skills

From Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

From Get Off My Brain, by Randy McCutcheon, illustrated by Pete Wagner

I remember when I first connected something from science

and literature and psychology. It was so exciting!...I was

seeing something, how things were working in the world,

and I wasn’t just looking for a test.

...where if you are playing a team that’s worse than you, you kind of stoop down to their level...that’s how I felt in a lot of my classes...because the ones that didn’t challenge me were the ones I didn’t try at all in.

Whenever there is a problem to solve…that is good for me…. I get really interested in current events and ethics and morality…

Motivation

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Value the TaskMeaningfulness/Goal

Valuation

Possess the Adequate

Skills

Teachers

From Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Teachers

Motivation

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Value the TaskMeaningfulness/Goal

Valuation

Possess the Adequate

Skills

Teachers Peers

From Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Motivation

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Value the TaskMeaningfulness/Goal

Valuation

Possess the Adequate

Skills

Teachers Peers

Parents/FamilyFrom Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Motivation

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Value the TaskMeaningfulness/Goal

Valuation

Possess the Adequate

Skills

Realistic Expectations

and Appropriate

Strategies (Self Regulation)

Teachers Peers

Parents/FamilyFrom Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Self-Regulated LearningZimmerman (1989) defines self-regulated learning as involving the regulation of three general aspects of academic learning.

1. Control of Resources(control their time, their study environment- the place in which they study, and their use of others such as peers and faculty members to help them)

2. Control of Motivation and Emotions(control self-efficacy and goal orientation to adapt to the demands of school and control emotions and affect (such as anxiety) in ways that improve learning)

3. Control of Cognitive Strategies(decide upon processing strategies that result in better learning and increased performance such as outlining or highlighting or creating pictures)

Self-Regulation Strategies

• Setting Short and Long Term Goals

• Identifying Rewards for Work Completed and Goals Met

• Time Management/Organization Strategies

• Study and Learning Strategies (Flash cards, testing yourself, finding the right environment, chunking study time over several days)

• Test-taking Strategies (Comparing class notes with material from the book, meeting with friends to brainstorm questions, arranging time with teachers for review)

• Developing an Individual Plan to Be More Successful in School

• Reflecting on What Has Occurred and Evaluating Progress

Motivation

Expect to SucceedEnvironmental Perception

Confidence in Ability to Perform Task

Self Efficacy

Value the TaskMeaningfulness/Goal

Valuation

Possess the Adequate

Skills

Realistic Expectations

and Appropriate

Strategies (Self Regulation)

Teachers Peers

Parents/FamilyFrom Del Siegle and Betsy McCoach

Achievement and Engagement

Implementation of Strategies

Resource for all strategies: www.gifted.uconn.edu/NRCGT.html

• Click on Underachievement Study.

• Each strategy has its own module.

• There are also lesson plans, worksheets, and videos.

Plan

Define.

Identify.

Intervene.

Questions?

lmrubenstein@bsu.edu

EffortAbility

Interest

A Balancing Act