Author : Barbara Jean Moore
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 606 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (441 download)
Book Synopsis Three Case Studies of Gifted Students who Underachieve in High School by : Barbara Jean Moore
Download or read book Three Case Studies of Gifted Students who Underachieve in High School written by Barbara Jean Moore and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Academic underachievement in gifted students is a serious problem that has perplexed educators and researchers for more than five decades. A large body of quantitative research studying personality and environmental factors related to underachievement has isolated certain variables, such as lack of effort, socioeconomic status, learning style, and peer pressure, that may be concomitants of underachievement. Few studies, however, have used qualitative methodology to understand how gifted underachievers or their parents perceive this problem. This research study used a qualitative, case study approach to the problem of academic underachievement in three gifted high school students from White, suburban, middle income families. The students, two male and one female, and their parents were interviewed and the students were observed in their classes to understand the way students and their parents describe and try to deal with academic underachievement, and to explore how personal, family, and environmental factors relate to academic underachievement Findings indicated similarities in the chronology of events related to the academic underachievement of the three students. First, from early childhood, students' home environments were characterized by communication problems and parenting practices that were inconsistent and lacked balance. Second, during early adolescence, a move to a new school created a break in close friendships, increasing the child's feeling of stress and isolation. Third, an un-stimulating high school environment prevented the child from forming a strong sense of identity in school. Finally, the child's lower report card grades focused the parents' attention on the underachieving child, reinforcing the underachievement. These findings can help us better understand how combinations of factors in the home school, and peer environments contribute to academic underachievement in gifted students"--Leaf [iv].