The Effectiveness of Current Interventions to Reverse the Underachievement of Gifted Students: Findings of a Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Underachievement of gifted students has been a great concern for the field of gifted education. The current study reviewed 14 recent empirical studies concerning the effectiveness of underachievement interventions on gifted students’ achievement outcomes and psychosocial outcomes. Overall, there was no evidence that underachievement interventions significantly improved academic performance of gifted underachievers ( g = .09, p = .387), especially in terms of course grades. Gifted underachievers receiving interventions significantly outscored their comparison peers on psychosocial outcomes ( g = 0.22, p = .001), which consisted of a variety of measures on self-efficacy, goal valuation, environmental perceptions, self-regulation/motivation, and psychosocial functioning. Qualitative studies generally reported that gifted underachievers benefited from the interventions in terms of increased motivation for learning, improved self-regulation, and finding school more meaningful. Findings need to be viewed in light of the relatively low quality of the evidence from recent research on underachievement interventions.

Pay Attention to Inattention: Exploring ADHD Symptoms in a Sample of Underachieving Gifted Students

Much has been written about the relationship of giftedness and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as the relationship between ADHD and underachievement. The present study examined whether students who were identified as gifted underachievers were more likely to manifest symptoms of ADHD, as measured by the ADHD-IV. Over half of the gifted underachievers met the screening criteria for ADHD based on teacher reports, and almost 30% of the gifted underachievers met the screening criteria for ADHD based on parent reports. Most of these students had elevated scores on the inattention scale. The prevalence of inattention was over 2 times as high as the prevalence in the norming sample using the teacher rating scales and over 5 times as high as the prevalence in the norming sample using the parent rating scales. Although parents and teachers rated students similarly on the hyperactivity scale, teachers rated students as more inattentive than parents did. However, elevated parent ratings of inattention negatively predicted students’ self-regulation, goal valuation, and self-efficacy. Self-regulation was most strongly related to inattention. We cannot know whether the gifted underachievers with high inattention scores have undiagnosed ADHD. However, our results suggest that a substantial percentage of gifted underachievers exhibit attentional problems at home, and that these attentional problems are severe enough to merit further examination.

Understanding Underachievement: Mindset, Perfectionism, and Achievement Attitudes Among Gifted Students

The current study compared differences between mindset beliefs about intelligence (fixed vs. growth), dimensions of perfectionism (Concern Over Mistakes, Doubt of Action, Personal Standards, Organization), and achievement attitudes among gifted underachievers ( n = 15) and gifted achievers ( n = 169) in Grades 6 to 8 and examined the relationship between mindset beliefs and dimensions of perfectionism. Gifted underachievers had higher fixed mindset beliefs about intelligence ( d = .79), lower scores on Organization ( d = −1.01), and lower Self-Regulation/Motivation ( d = −1.17) when compared with gifted achievers. These factors also were statistically significant in logistic regression models predicting achievement status. In addition, for the entire sample of gifted students ( N = 264), fixed mindset beliefs predicted both dimensions of Evaluative Concerns Perfectionism (Concern Over Mistakes, β = .35, p < .0001; Doubt of Action, β = .28, p < .0001), while growth mindset beliefs predicted both dimensions of Positive Strivings Perfectionism (Personal Standards, β = .35, p < .0001, and Organization, β = .21, p = .001). Our findings provide a clearer picture of the relationships among underachievement, perfectionism, implicit theories of intelligence, and achievement attitudes, providing guidance for affective interventions.

Observation and analysis of three gifted underachievers in an underserved, urban high school setting

Underachievement among gifted students is a paradox that frustrates educators because of the significant disparity between students’ potential and their performance. Complicating the issue is the highly individualized nature of the underperformance, which must take into consideration factors of student culture, socio-economic status, motivation, and the environment. Once these factors are considered, both the intellectual and affective needs of the gifted underachiever must be examined and supported in order to try and bridge the gap between known ability and actual performance. This case study examines the factors behind three gifted underachievers in an urban, high school setting. Through interviews and observation, the researcher sheds light on the potential influences of each individual’s level of underachievement and shares insight into how it was addressed in the classroom through the lenses of motivation, culture and context, and the environment. While the approaches and outcomes for each student are different, one theme emerged: students were more effective at instituting change in their lives once they had fully accepted and embraced that they were both gifted and underachieving.