Gifted Underachievement

Based on our observations over the past few years, we recognized that many gifted students do not realize their full potential and present a profile of underachievement. In order to address this, a proposal was made to the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). This proposal was approved in November 2006, and the project was run at Westmount from 2006-2009, the three-year AISI "cycle III" time frame.

Project Aims (2006):
The AISI project is designed for all our students to teach the critical skills to cope with academic challenges and to promote greater success in their learning. Pivotal to the success of this initiative is the strengthening of the tri-partnership of teacher-student-parent. We believe that if these critical learning skills are introduced at an early age, supported by home and school and practiced on a regular basis, then gifted students are more likely to experience academic success and to realize their potential.

The tri-partnership process, then, involves teachers, students and parents.

Process involving the teachers:
We began the process by asking our teachers to name the skills which our students need to realize for greater academic success. Our teachers identified the following critical skills: organization skills, work/study habits, time management, as well as the importance of improving planning/communication, overcoming perfectionism and lessening stress/anxiety in learning. Our discussions focused on how to involve all teachers in a meaningful, consistent and enduring process to support students in their skill acquisition.

Process involving the students:
We believe that in order for the PEP process to be meaningful and effective, the student needs to embrace the process by setting goals to address critical skills and assuming ownership and responsibility for his/her learning needs. Ultimately, the student will become the expert in his/her own learning and with support and encouragement from teachers and parents, develop greater understanding and independence.

Process involving the parents:
Building an effective PEP process, involving goal setting, skill acquisition and progress reporting, will require ongoing feedback as well as parental patience and support. We are pleased to be able to have a special, school-wide emphasis on these areas over the next three years and trust that, in time, parents, students and teachers will see the positive results of this process.

8 July 2010

Results and further reading

For a preliminary report on our learnings about gifted underachievement, mid-way through this AISI project, click here

For Westmount's AISI Cycle III synopsis, click here.

For our Principal's presentation to the 2009 World Conference for Gifted & Talented Children, which summarizes the learnings from the AISI project, click here.

For our "Toolkit for Effective learning", click here.

For a literature review on this topic, click here.

For information about and registration for the upcoming "Pillars of Gifted Education: The Affective Curriculum" Conference, Oct 22-23, 2010 in Calgary, click here.