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Motivating Gifted Students Not Achieving
Motivating Gifted Students Not Achieving
Many factors contribute to achievement, tration for many teachers, parents, and In this article, we focus on four fac-
motivation being one crucial aspect. counselors. tors that are related to achievement and
Motivated students appear to exhibit suggest a variety of strategies that teach-
three main perceptions. First and fore- Why do some gifted students ers and parents can use to promote
most, motivated students find value in demonstrate low levels of achievement? motivation and academic success.
their school experience. They enjoy Underachievement has at least four Students with learning disabilities often
potential underlying causes. First, an exhibit poor academic self-confidence
what they are doing or believe what
apparent underachievement problem (Baum, 2004; Stone & May, 2002).
they are doing will produce beneficial
may be masking more serious physical, Further, they benefit from explicit teach-
outcomes. Second, they believe they
cognitive, or emotional issues, such as a ing of self-regulation and study strate-
have the skills to be successful. Third,
learning disability (Moon & Hall, 1998; gies (Reis & Ruban, 2004). Therefore,
they trust their environment and expect Reis & McCoach, 2002). Second, under- we believe that strategies related to two
they can succeed in it. When students achievement may be symptomatic of a of the four factors discussed—self-effi-
value the task or outcome and have pos- mismatch between students and their cacy and self-regulation—are particular-
itive perceptions of themselves and their school environment. Third, under- ly well suited for use with high-ability
opportunities for success, they are more achievement may result from students’ students having learning disabilities.
likely to exhibit the following resultant attitudes about themselves and their
behaviors: (a) implementing self-regula- schooling. Fourth, lack of self-regulation Answering the Question
tion behaviors, (b) setting realistic and study skills may hinder some stu- “Why Try?”
TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 22-27. Copyright 2005 CEC.
expectations, and (c) applying appropri- What motivates a person to put forth
ate strategies for academic success. This effort to accomplish a given task?
article offers classroom strategies and Students engage in a task for two basic
Underachievement has at reasons: either they enjoy the activity or
tips for motivating students who are
struggling to find value in their school- least four potential they value the outcome or byproduct of
the activity in some way. Some students
work and feel good about their abilities, underlying causes. are unmotivated to achieve in school
who need assistance moving from
because they do not value the outcomes
extrinsic to intrinsic motivation, and
of school nor do they enjoy completing
who need guidance in interpreting their
dents from achieving academic success. schoolwork; therefore, they see little
environments.
Each of these reasons requires different value in completing their schoolwork.
Gifted students are one group of To reverse underachievement that stems
intervention strategies. Therefore, edu-
exceptional learners who are not nor- cators should attempt to isolate the ori- from an apparent lack of motivation, we
mally considered at risk for academic gin of the underachievement. We also must first determine how to build value
failure. We often expect the brightest recommend that gifted students who are into a student’s scholastic experiences.
students to also be the most motivated. having difficulty with school should be Consider a Social Studies class that is
Unfortunately, many gifted students screened for a wide variety of physical, learning about American government.
seem to lack motivation in school. mental, or emotional issues before One student may seek high grades to
Watching bright students perform focusing on motivation problems (Reis obtain a college scholarship. Another
below their potential is a source of frus- & McCoach; Siegle & McCoach, 2002). student may have plans to become a