Why gifted students underachieve

Seventh grade has brought more homework that requires more effort and she isn't sailing through anymore. She is disorganized, forgetting to complete or turn in assignments. The worse her grades get, the less effort she exerts. I have no idea how to combat this problem. I am extremely frustrated because I have been worried about this for years. Multiple gifted-education teachers and counselors have either minimized my worries or have been ineffective in addressing it.

My daughter has fallen into the classic trap of gifted kids. She has no idea how to persevere or overcome adversity because she has never experienced this before. If anyone has resources to recommend, I would love to hear about them! Tattoo, You are in a tough position. It is heartbreaking to watch your child go through this. There are strategies that can be taught to help children develop study skills - they just need to be taught in a manner that gifted children are "willing" to accept and fit with actually challenging school work.

She may be struggling with anxiety about exerting herself if there is a possibility of failing, so finding what is interfering with her efforts is also essential. Sometimes working with a therapist can be helpful. Unfortunately, we are on our second counselor. The first one took the "She's smart, she'll be fine" approach. The current counselor is, as my kiddo puts it, "too coddling".

We have applied to a local school that is more flexible with placement, but it is a lottery process. We are really hoping for a spot for next year. I empathize with you TattooMama. My daughter is 5th grade currently but we have a similar description to yours and certainly I can see myself writing exactly what you wrote 2 years from now.

While we found a counselor that was helpful when it comes to anxiety, it was not someone who understood how the gifted component impacted the behaviors. But, many are not. Raising my hand as the "under the radar" underachiever. I can count on one hand the nights I actually studied.

If someone had recognized my divergency as actual thought instead of wrong answers, it may have been different. I want so much more for the gifted children out there. Thanks for writing such a specific and accessible article highlighting a subset of gifted that are mostly overlooked. I appreciate your spotlight! Thank you, Atlas. I appreciate your willingness to share your personal experience - it fits with what so many others go through, and adds emphasis to what is a glaring hole in the educational experience for so many students.

Really appreciate this broader view of the underachiever Gail. I look forward to the upcoming posts and finding more strategies to help me work with this population. Thank you for this article.

What suggestions do you have when the school's gifted test does not identify the child as gifted? They give the Cogat here and she did well but not high enough. She entered kindergarten early and has been expressing her boredom since 1st grade she's now in 4th grade. I wish more teachers would read articles like this one.

My son had a difficult time meeting teacher's expectations because they were put out with him. He would give the bare minimum, but they would never add to the curriculum to challenge him. He hates writing, but could be an excellent writer if they would set challenges for him. I am praying that next year will be the year the teachers take him to task and make the work according to his ability. He will be in 5th grade. I'm glad to know that I am not the only parent out there.

Katie, You are certainly not the only parent struggling with this. Hopefully your son will have some teachers who will be willing to challenge him. I was like this in high school, hell if I'm being honest with my self I'm still like this, hard to admit, but I give up a lot when doing a lot of things. I'll get all inspired and I will stop for no particular reason and lose interest.

I think it's partially habit for doing it so long and it stems from a complex family history I don't really care to start ranting about. But essentially, if you have a kid like this, I think it is more than just them being bored, I think it has a lot to do with their self esteem as well. Not just self esteem about them being good enough intellectually but possibly socially as well.

In my case, family life really sucked and long story short at 17 i moved in with my friend's family. That is where a lot of things changed for me.

His family was always encouraging and pushing me and not just saying get better grades or else but saying, hey what do you need, why are you getting bad grades, and it was out of genuine concern rather than just me getting better grades.

I can't really explain why I tried harder for them more than I did my own parents, maybe I respected them more I don't know, but I do know that there was a day that I saw my friend's dad was visibly sad that I was giving up on myself and that hurt knowing that I let someone else down and I really started trying. That year I made up 4 failed classes and passed all my current classes. It was a super emotional year but I'm glad I had it with them, I would be much worse off had I not lived with them that year.

I still have major problems that I need to work on, but it is like a terrible habit and its hard to get rid of, you can revert to it so easily. I think one of the problems is that everything feels pointless, so I would figure out some way to make sure that they know and not just through telling them, but through example that their efforts are not in vein and that they are not pointless, and maybe that will help them. Also let them know, by showing them, that you are there to help with whatever they are dealing with and that you care not because you are obligated to but because you actually care.

I don't know how you do it, but that's what you got to get through to them, that there are people who actually actively care and that their efforts are not pointless.

Those were the biggest factors for me. Anonymous, Thank you for your poignant, heartfelt description of what you went through. You point out so clearly how much children - all children - need emotional support and encouragement to reach their potential. In my years of working with gifted learners, I have come to believe that one of the pervasive causes of underachievement is fear. I invite you to consider that gifted children labour under the weight of incredible expectation.

Typically, the academic expectations from parents and teachers are immense and unceasing. The current NAGC position is an example of this, as performance and output are their benchmarks and eminence is their goal.

Comparisons to people such as Einstein, Mozart and Hawking are common and set a pretty high bar. Perfectionism and the Imposter Syndrome compound these fears and can be debilitating. For many of the gifted I have worked with, there is no space between gifted and stupid, so falling short in any way makes them believe they are not gifted but stupid. There is a tremendous desire to avoid others, and themselves, from forming that conclusion.

The best way to gain some control of that inevitability is to avoid producing anything that can be evaluated and judged as falling short of gifted - ergo, stupid.

The parallel to this thinking is also the reality for many that performance is either perfect or a failure. The risk of this judgement is increased as the performance of gifted kids is more scrutinized, not only by others but by themselves. Gifted persons tend to be more aware and critical of themselves.

They are also less able to regulate the need to perform at the level of perfection. Another factor contributing to their fear is the inevitable transition from the celebrated, spontaneous examples of their innate childhood curiosity to the high level of expectation that becomes their reality once they start school. Their motivation shifts from an internal locus of control wherein curiosity, discovery and the acquisition of new knowledge and skills are sources of intense pleasure to the external locus of control where their motivation is to please parents, teachers and others, and where the possibility of failure becomes their shadows.

Many gifted persons are also proponents of the idea that intelligence is fixed, so you either are or you are not. Entity vs Incremental Theory, Dweck, Those who believe this are not able to see that failure is something to be learned from in order to grow, avoid the opportunities to fail in order to avoid the inevitable conclusion that failure leads to - not gifted and therefore stupid. In their younger years, many gifted kids are able to read, creatively solve problems, work with numbers and think abstractly.

Progress in school comes easily. As they age and are faced with work of increasing difficulty, progress does not come as easily. The increased level of challenge can lead many to believe that they are not as smart as they once thought they were.

Again, not gifted but stupid. The role of fear in a gifted person's life can be immense. Expectations can be paralyzing. The resulting sense of not being in control of many of the factors determining one's status as gifted or not gifted - a success or a failure - can lead to the extreme reluctance to do anything at all that offers the possibility of judgement.

The only way to gain some control over this process is to refuse to produce. The result is underachievement. Hal, Thank you for your thorough and detailed comments about fear-based factors related to underachievement.

I completely agree that fear of failure, in particular, underlie avoidance for many gifted people. Your last paragraph highlights this dilemma so clearly. I think that the extent to which fear contributes to the limitations and resulting underachievement relate to the child's temperament, the family dynamics, and the school environment, as not all gifted children succumb to this. What is clear, though, is that the pressure to perform and succeed at all costs is so detrimental, and robs them of the intrinsic joy of learning that once existed when they were young.

Thank you so much for your comments. Consider executive brain function as a possible problem. YouTube: drcharlesparker I schooled my own doctor with Dr. Again, think: Brain function, not superficial, outward appearances. Absolutely agree that some of the distractions with learning for some gifted students are a function of ADHD, twice exceptional issues, or executive function problems.

However, there are a range of reasons for underachievement and all of them are not due to brain function. Sometimes, there are social issues or merely boredom with an inadequate education. Our challenge as parents, educators, health practitioners or therapists is to identify the reason.

Thanks for your feedback. Underachievers under-the-radar I am speechless. I can't even write, thats how shocked I am. The fourth type It is The causes of underachieving are incredibly diverse. My suggestion is if you want to discover why a gifted child is underachieving, the most productive thing to do is develop a relationship with him or her, and watch and listen.

Hal, Exactly. All are different and unique - you have to get to know each of them. Cross, T. School-based conception of giftedness. Journal for the Education of the Gifted , 37 1 , Dare, L. Parents' experiences with their children's grade-based acceleration: Struggles, successes, and subsequent needs. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education , 25 2 , Fang, J.

The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 9 Ford, D. Racially, ethnically, and linguistically different gifted and talented students. Gifted Child Today, 37 3 , Gross, M. Exceptionally gifted children: Long-term outcomes of academic acceleration and nonacceleration. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29 4 , Imbeau, M. Gifted Child Today, 41 1 , Little, C. Curriculum as motivation for gifted students.

Psychology in the Schools, 49 7 , Marsh, H. The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79 3 , McCoach, D.

The school attitude assessment survey-revised: A new instrument to identify academically able students who underachieve.

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Gifted Child Quarterly , 51 4 , If a disability is uncovered, schools should provide the appropriate academic accommodations. Gifted children who are not intellectually challenged may "give up;" they may stop caring about learning or at least stop caring about doing work in school. Differentiated instruction can help these children, but it need not be delayed until third grade. The advanced material can be provided as early as first grade. If your school district doesn't provide gifted curriculum or programming until third grade, talk with your child's teacher about how to challenge your student.

Just remember that adding busy work or additional assignments does not provide a challenge for a gifted student. The key is to provide work that stretches them academically.

Instead of piling on more homework , which can feel like a punishment, ask the teacher if there are opportunities to do more difficult or thought-provoking assignments. For instance, maybe your child can move beyond basic math and do more complicated math problems or worksheets. Or, maybe your gifted student can read higher-level books for their reading assignments. Work with the teacher to develop opportunities for your student in order to keep them engaged in school.

Gifted children are not immune to grief and its effects. They can display intense mourning for the same issues that can cause grief in all children. For example, the death of a family member or pet as well as family problems like divorce can all cause grief, stress , and anxiety.

Just like every other child, this grief can have a significant impact on academic performance. Gifted children also are prone to existential depression. Another common cause of depression in gifted children is bullying.

Gifted children may be targeted because other kids are envious of their abilities or the attention they receive, or because they're seen as different. As with all cases of depression, gifted children should get counseling to help them cope with their feelings. One reason students excel is to experience the reward it brings—good grades and praise.

Some children, however, are not motivated by these extrinsic or external rewards. They are intrinsically motivated. For them, the desire to excel must come from within. For this reason, work that is not intellectually challenging is not likely to motivate an intrinsically motivated underachiever.

The best way to motivate this kind of underachiever is to provide challenging material, but it should be done early. Waiting too long to introduce challenging material may allow a pattern of underachievement to become more firmly rooted in your child's life. Even though some gifted children may be highly motivated to work and excel outside of the school environment, underachieving in the school is still considered a problem.

School grades, particularly those in high school, can either open or close doors to possibilities in the future.