school logo back to WCS home page WESTMOUNT CHARTER SCHOOL

The Centre for Excellence in Gifted Education

2519 Richmond Road SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Publicly Funded • established 1996 • K-grade 12

Westmount hosts the "Pillars of Gifted Ed" Conference - Oct 22/23 in Calgary

Westmount Charter School is pleased to host the first annual Pillars of Gifted Education Conference, being held at the Greenwood Inn, Calgary, Alberta, on October 22—23, 2010. 

The focus for this year’s conference will be The Affective Curriculum - one of Westmount Charter School’s four pillars.  Our keynote speakers will be Dr. Tracy Cross, director of The Centre for Gifted Education, College of William and Mary and Dr. Richard Olenchak from the University of Houston.  The two distinguished speakers recently co-edited (along with Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska) the book, Social-Emotional Curriclum With Gifted and Talented Students (2009).  As well as acting as keynote speakers, Drs. Cross and Olenchak will be conducting break-out sessions.

Intended for educators, parents, and youth, the conference will include presentations from 15 other speakers, including university researchers, administrators, teachers and counsellors of gifted students - all related to the social-emotional development of gifted students. Click here to register or for more info!

posted 20 May 2010

... and from our Cycle III AISI project:

Gifted Underachievement: Literature Review

see also:

Author

Year

Title

Source (If not a book)

Reis, S.M. and McCoach, D.B 

2000 

"The Underachievement of Gifted Students: what do we know and where do we go?" 

Gifted Child Quarterly, Vol. 44, No.3, pp. 152-170. 

Application

Defining and identifying the problems inherent in underachieving gifted. Research suggest that students who have reversed their underachievement behaviours have identified teacher mentorship as key to success.  

Peters, W.A.M., Granger-Loidl, H., and Supplee, P.  

2000 

"Underachievement in gifted children and adolescents: theory and practice",  

in K.A. Heller, F.J.Monks, R.J.Sternberg and R.F. Subotnik (eds.), International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent (2nd ed.), pp. 609-620. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science. 

Application

The most successful interventions which have attempted to reverse underachievement involve parents with a focus on work habits and study skills. Factors that induce underachievement include family and school variables, the influence of peers, and personality characteristics of the individual student.  

Rimm. S.B. 

1995 

Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades 

New York: Three Rivers Press.  

Application

Using the Trifocal Model focusing on the student, the parents, and the school, to reverse the underachievement syndrome in gifted children.  

Rimm, S.B. 

2003 

"Underachievement: A National Epidemic",  

in N.Colangelo and G.A.Davis (eds.), Handbook of Gifted Education, (3rd Ed.), pp. 424-443. Boston: Pearson Education.  

Application

Providing learning opportunities to encourage challenge and sustained efforts is critical in fostering achievement in gifted students.  

Seely, Ken. 

2003 

"High Risk Gifted Learners",  

in N.Colangelo and G.A.Davis (eds.), Handbook of Gifted Education, (3rd Ed.), pp. 444-451. Boston: Pearson Education. 

Application

Exploring the interaction of four major components: intelligence, learning style, competence and motivation as well as the risk and protective factors is important in the assessment process. Factors in the engagement process: reaction to challenge, beliefs about self and interpersonal support, are recognized and addressed.  

Lupart, J.L and Pyryt, M.C. 

1996 

"Hidden gifted students: Underachiever prevalence and profile." 

Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Volume 20, pp. 36-53.  

Application

Identifying and addressing the key academic and personal characteristics that define gifted underachievers (the "hidden gifted" population).  

Whitmore, J.R. 

1980 

Giftedness, conflict and underachievement.  

Boston: Allyn & Bacon.  

Application

Identifying and addressing the key academic and personal factors that define gifted underachievers.  

Pyryt, M.C. 

2001 

"The Giftedness/ perceptionism connections: Recent research and implications."  

Quest for Giftedness: Proceedings of the 11th SAGE Conference, pp. 25-28. Calgary: Society for the Advancement of Gifted Education 

Application

Supporting the gifted underachiever to effectively cope with perfectionism tendencies.  

Von Karolyi, C., Davis-Ford, V. and Hardner, H. 

2000 

Multiple Intelligences: A Perspective on Giftedness"  

N.Colangelo and G.A.Davis (eds.), Handbook of Gifted Education, (3rd Ed.), pp. 100-112. Boston: Pearson Education. 

Application

Recognizing giftedness through the Multiple Intelligences and educating gifted students using approaches that are sensitive to each individual's profile of abilities.  

Mendaglio, S. and Pyryt, M.C. 

2002 

"Using focused assessment to understand and enhance gifted students' self-concept." 

AGATE (Journal of the Gifted and Talented Education Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association), Volume 15, No.1, pp. 23-30. 

Application

Exploring the relationship of self-concept and the gifted underachiever and intervention strategies to address underachievement.