WESTMOUNT CHARTER SCHOOL
The Centre for Excellence
in Gifted Education
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Publicly Funded
established 1996 • K-grade 12

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.