The reasons for underachievement in gifted students: A case study

This research aims to explore the possible causes why gifted students exhibit underachievement. The study was designed as an embedded multiple-case study. A case study was conducted with 4th-grade gifted students (4 male and 1 female) attending three different campuses of a private school in Istanbul. In addition, the students' parents and Turkish and mathematics teachers were included in the research. Thus, data were collected from 20 participants, consisting of five students, nine parents, and six teachers. The schools where the research was conducted provides education to gifted students in a homogeneous classrooms. An accelerated and enriched curriculum is also applied to differentiate instruction for gifted students. Data from the participants were obtained through document analysis, observation, and semi-structured interviews. Base of results of the research, among individual reasons, low self-esteem, weak self-regulation skills, and low motivation emerge as prominent factors. Family related reasons; it is the family's too high or too low academic expectations, perfectionist attitude and inappropriate family involvement. School-related reasons can be stated as competitive classroom environment, insufficient differentiation and negative student-teacher interaction. However, although the reasons for underachievement seemed common among the participants, it was determined that the interactions differed when examined in an individual context. For example, while low motivation was a possible common reason for underachievement among the participants, the source of low motivation varied from one participant to another. This finding suggests that underachievement is a situation specific to the individual. Working with gifted students individually can yield beneficial results when intervening with underachiving gifted students.