Although underachieving gifted students have been largely ignored in empirical research, there has been a modest surge of interest in describing and "treating" this population in recent years. It is estimated that nearly half of gifted youth achieve significantly below their potential. In the realm of school psychology, gifted children have…

Recent doctoral dissertation research about the gifted population is summarized. Topics include: "appropriate" education; social and psychological perceptions; depression and underachievement in gifted high school males; problem solving skills; behavior differences between academically gifted achievers and academically gifted nonachievers; and…

Recent doctoral dissertations on the gifted are reviewed. Sample topics include learning styles and self-concepts of underachievers and achievers; an identification model; gender distribution; effects of Junior Great Books literature discussions on reading comprehension; correlations among above-average ability, creativity, and task commitment;…

Expanded views of giftedness have begun to include previously unrecognized subpopulations, including gifted children with disabilities, gifted secondary school students, and gifted underachievers. Expanded views point to the viability of varied gifted programs; the use of human judgment in identifying giftedness; and consideration of giftedness…

Studies of behavior modifications with gifted students are reviewed in terms of maladaptive and adaptive behaviors in gifted underachievers, culturally different students, and gifted students with serious maladjustment and less serious behavior problems. (CL)

Underachievement in gifted students is a behavior that can be modified by an awareness of its causes and the introduction of preventative strategies. Some of the dualities which suggest intervention procedures are push vs. pull, risk taking vs. risk making, encouragement vs. praise, and first best vs. first worst. (Author/SW)

Research shows that underachievement in gifted students is caused by a number of factors, including the student's social and psychological attributes, unfavorable family and cultural factors, and low teacher expectations. Two major strategies have been used to eliminate or reduce underachievement--counseling and homogeneous educational grouping.…

The Estes Attitude Scales are reviewed for appropriateness of use as diagnostic and identification tools with elementary gifted underachiever populations. It is pointed out that the scales are especially helpful for examining students' attitudes toward school subjects. (SW)

Various causes of underachievement in the gifted early adolescent are considered, and features of good middle school programs for the gifted are reviewed. (SW)

This article describes an early childhood self-regulated metacognition program for underachieving gifted students. Teacher and peer modeling of such strategies as think-aloud, behavioral demonstration, and cuing of steps to efficient task accomplishment are outlined, with examples. Benefits of self-regulated learning strategies are reported from…

This article reviews the causes of underachievement in gifted students and discusses two successful intervention programs, a secondary program with individualized goals to meet the needs and interests of the students, and an elementary program which focused on active parental support and the services of a psychologist. Case studies of…

Three ways in which teacher expectations relate to scholastic performance are documented: self-fulfilling prophecy, perceptual bias, and accuracy. The role that teacher expectations may play in gifted underachievement is explored, and recommendations are offered for enhancing the school experiences of gifted underachievers. (JDD)

This article reviews several research studies on the achievement of gifted females. Factors that appear to contribute to lower achievement in career and profession include lower aspirations, lack of mentors, pressure to put energy into family, and poor self-esteem. Stressed are the different timelines for achievement experienced by many females.…

Summarizes research dissertations which explore obstacles of gifted women, early entrance of gifted students, teacher identification of students for gifted education, underachieving high school gifted, teaching gifted students, adjustment of gifted children to divorce, leadership abilities in the gifted, and cultural diversity among the gifted.…