The Underachievement - Research Proposal Example

Introduction Introduction There is a continuous surprise behind the persistent Underachievement in Gifted and Talented special needs students in schools. The problem worries both the educators, gifted and talented students as well as parents. There is however never effective panacea for the adequate reversal of the problem of underachievement in such students despite their high ability/talented special needs students. The most interesting part is the misconception about the real cause of the underachievement. Therefore, without proper assessment of such students, classroom teachers frequently tag them as “bright but unmotivated or underachievers. There is a need to through conduct the assessment per individually gifted and talented underachiever in order to proactively unearth the determinants for the underperformed in order to make such students satisfactorily realize their potential. When an educator assesses and identifies a student to have the learning disability, it is easier to help such a student that rushing into unfounded conclusions about their underachievement such as lack of self-regulation skills and self-efficacy. Moreover, previous studies have only stressed on the remediation of problems but less effort is pressure exerted on the development of talents, gifts and strengths endowed with such underachievers. In addition, the interventions uncovered previously have led to causes-intervention mismatch that have resulted in worsening conditions of the underachievers. The issue is further exuberated by the inability of educators to distinguish between issues linked to academic motivation and individual issues linked to students’ unrecognized disabilities. Such unfounded actions culminate in the escalated cases of amongst the gifted and talented high ability students with greater academic potential performing at a level not commensurate with their untapped abilities. The situation even further worsens due to lack of framework to determine the number of underachieving special needs students alongside the academic gulf between the numbers of special needs students with hidden talents and abilities. The present study will thus be conducted amongst the gifted student with hearing disabilities, high potential students with cerebral palsy, and gifted and talented students with learning disabilities and gifted children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The research will be carried out with respect to gifted students with behavioral problems, Gifted Students with Psychological issues as well as the Overexcitability of Gifted Children. The subjects of the study will be drawn from elementary, secondary and higher education institutions based on a randomized control. Nature of the Problem The Underachievement amongst the gifted and talented special needs students not only affects the students themselves but rather educators, parents, and even the field of education. Parents are often shocked by the sudden changes in their children performance when a hidden learning disability ultimately demonstrates itself. In addition, classroom teachers who frequently unrecognized the disabilities at initial stages are left with no option due to failure by students to realize their potential despite their high ability/talents manifestation and have hence unfoundedly tagged students as ‘Underachievers’ or Bright but ‘Unmotivated’. On the other hand, the field of education is also at a bust threat due to failure by previous researchers to amicably solve the problem that has ever increasingly worsened. The problem is so devastating and broad and therefore, I will minimize my study only with respect to the student with hearing disabilities, high potential students with cerebral palsy, and gifted and talented students with learning disabilities and gifted children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I am confident that such a target group will help sufficiently cover the topic and to solve the teething problem of Underachievement amongst the Gifted and Talented Students. Purpose of the Project The purpose of the current study is to investigate the reasons for the escalated underachievement amongst the Gifted and Talented high ability special needs student and to suggest effective intervention to reverse this vice in order to help such students realize their untapped potentials. The researcher will uncover the sources of the Underachievement and the present working intervention from the literature available and add on to the literature through a fresh primary study. The students with hearing disability, ADHD, learning disability and high potential students with cerebral palsy will aid in the accomplishment of the research. Moreover, study outcomes shall be conveyed to educators, parents and students to help meet the purpose of the current projects. Also, the study outcomes will be communicated to the education policy makers to implement the recommendation in ordered to jumpstart the strides towards solving the Underachievement amongst Gifted and Talented Students. Research Questions Why do so many Gifted and Talented Special Needs Students fail to realize their potential? What are the effective interventions to reverse the Underachievement amongst Talented and Gifted Students? What instigates challenges in the identification of problems amongst special needs students and appropriate interventions? What is the significance of reducing Underachievement amongst the Gifted and Talented Students to the field of education? Background and Significance of the Problem The Underachievement among the Gifted and Talented special needs students is a common problem in the field of education as well as the student’s organizations. Indeed, several studies have been conducted including the case studies aimed at reversing the ever worsening Underachievement amongst the Gifted and Talented Students. Despite, the high ability/talents manifested in Gifted and Talented students, they have, surprisingly, persistently failed to realize their potential thus posing a bust threat to the student organizations, filed of education, parents, and educators. Despite, the noted problem, there is no panacea for the problem reversal and hence known high potential students with special needs are probable to experience underachievement. The present efforts to counteract such needs have one-sided and only aimed at remediation of difficulties and silent on the development of areas of talents and strengths among the Special Needs Gifted and Talented Students. For years, this problem has troubled parents and educators and too often students who demonstrate significance academic potential flop to perform at a level commensurate with their capabilities. A number of underachieving students might lack goal-directedness, self-regulation skills and self-efficacy (Siege & McCoach, 2001.) in addition, previous studies demonstrate that other low achievers may agonize from either hidden or obvious disabilities while still some underachieve in reaction to unfitting educational environments or conditions. The problem has also been worsened by lack of a conventional description of Underachieving students due to the overarching psychological constructs due diversity in the population. Frasier and Passow (1994) studied the gifted students from diverse backgrounds concluded that there exist fundamental elements of giftedness (e.g. communication skills, problem-solving ability and motivation) across cultures and exceptionalities. The problem has attracted growing interest in the field of education as many research has gone to the field for investigating the cause and appropriate counteractive measures to reverse the underachievement. The studies have noted problems in the identification of the issues amongst the high ability students by the classroom teacher who have continuously failed to recognize the hidden disability due to failure by teachers to assess the student’s disabilities. Therefore, cause-intervention mismatch has become a threatening phenomenon that further worsens the underachievement reversal process. The Gifted and Talented students are, however, committed to their studies, but the failure by the organization to proactively identify their problem may weaken their commitment as they feel neglected. The study is significance to the organization (field of education) since it will equip the educators with appropriate knowledge and skills for identification of students problem and eliminate the cause-intervention mismatch hence helping the students realize their potential. In addition, incorporating both educators and students in the study of the subjects is significance to help each cohort understands roles in reversing the underachievement satisfactorily. Reference Frasier, M. M., & Passow, A. H. (1994). Toward a new paradigm for identifying talent potential (Research Monograph 94112). Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut. The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. McCoach, D. B. & Siegle, D. (2001). Factors that differentiate underachieving gifted students from high achieving gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly. Schmitz, C. C., & Galbraith, J. (1985). Managing the social and emotional needs of the gifted: A teachers survival guide. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Read More