underachievement

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Permalink Reply by Gwen Brooks on February 2, 2009 at 3:44pm

Thanks for your comments and it is certainly a good start. Can you elaborate more on the neumonics . What part do they play in the underachievement of the child. How do these cause the child to underachieve? Is there a thoerist who can be used to back up what you say?

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Permalink Reply by Ralph Parker on February 2, 2009 at 12:37pm

We live in a society with a broken alphabet that is being used for the infrastructure of our educational system. We have three to four teams of teachers trying to teach the kids to read. One team that "damages" them and three teams that try to "fix" them afterward. The child gets blamed. We don't get any money until we "hurt" them. Remediation is the money base for every piece of legislation passed to "fix" the problem. We need to fix the effect of our alphabet on the process skills of syntax. Our letters have 1,120 spelling exceptions with 26 letters. We don't need a new alphabet! We need to fix what we already have in place, but we need to "fix" the beginning and not the end when they can't pass the exit exam. The entire population was taught in this "broken" alphabet and can't see that is the reason it doesn't work. Want more?? Parker

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Permalink Reply by Gwen Brooks on February 2, 2009 at 3:58pm

Thanks for replying to my discussion.I do understand what you say about the types of teachers and their roles in the lives of these children and points made about remediation but can you clarify your imagery of the alphabet. Are there researchers or theorists that can be used to support these ideas you have of underachievement. I will welcome any additions.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on February 2, 2009 at 5:09pm

Gwen, I teach gifted elementary school kids so underachievement is a topic I know a lot about. Nothing frustrates parents and teachers more than an exceptionally bright kid who does not perform. You should read the work of Dr Sylvia Rimm. She focuses on gifted kids who are underperforming but she has help for everyone. She says the main cause of (gifted) underachievement is 'opposistional parenting'--one parent too tough and one too easy--if only it was that simple! She also focuses on the difference between internal and external locus of control (which I think meshes with the work of Carol Dweck).

I think we parents and teachers are partially at fault. We put these kids up on a pedestal at an early age---the three year old who can read and spout dinosaur facts is brought out to show off at parents' parties, the teacher uses him/her as a role model--"why don't you act like Jake?" and as a class helper and a mini-teacher. The kindergarteners are in awe of a kid who can read. The kid becomes what they can do, they become their grades and sometimes lose themselves in the shuffle.

For bright kids there can be a huge disconnect between school and what they really want to learn. The messages kids get indicate being smart isn't cool, especially if you are a girl. Some of the worst underachievers are in fact perfectionists. That seems like an oxymoron but it's easier not to do it at all if you can't do it perfectly.

Here is the scariest thing I've heard and have witnessed about underachievement. It is entrenched by third grade and it is almost impossible to turn around. This is one of the most powerful reason for early identifcation of both giftedness and kids who are underachieving. Some researchers say 20% of gifted kids drop out of school--several of the smartest kids (IQ 150+) I have ever taught are working in menial jobs, scattered higher ed forays, drugs, etc. An internet search will provide a bunch of resources for you. Good luck in your search for info. N.

PS Nothing is being done to close the gap.

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