2. UNDER ACHIEVERS
According to James Underachievers are those people who
achieved accademically at a level below what would be expected
for the individuals ability level.
In other words underachievement is the discrepancy between
childâs school performance and some index of childâs ability.
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF UNDER ACHIEVERS
Underachievers posses one or more of the following
characteristics.
1.They show a discrepancy between ability and achievement
because they fail to work up to their ability in school subjects.
2.underachievers have low self esteem,low levels of self
confidence,lack of goals and feelings of inferiority.
3.poor study habits.
4.Poor school performance
4. 5.They show learning disabilities of diverse nature.
6.They posses low locus of control.
7.They have poor test results at school and no hobbies or interest
at home.
8.They have low self-image , often displaying
distrust,indifference and lack of concern and hostility.
5. CAUSES OF UNDER ACHIEVEMENT
1. Physical factors:-Defects of sense organs , physical and motor
handicaps , persistent or chronic illness etc. can cause
underachievement.
2. Socio-Psychological factors:-Poor self esteem ,low levels of self
confidence, inability to persevere , lack of goals ,feeling of inferiority,
lack of believe in the achievement ideology and low accademic and
social self concepts contribute significantly to under achievement.
3. Family related factors:-This includes factors like family conflict,low
expectations of success in school subjects , emotional disturbance
between parent and child , lack of learning facilities in the home and
parental disputes.
6. 4. A poor fit between the child and the school placement.
5. School related factors:-Factors like less positive teacher-
student relationship,having too little time to understand the
material,poor instruction,too few options,less supportive
classroom climate,lack of motivation and interest in classroom
etc. contribute to underachievement.
7. EDUCATIONAL PROVISIONS FOR
UNDERACHIEVERS
1. Early identification and counselling:-The school counsellor
should take steps to identify underachievers at the early school
years with assistance from teachers and parents.
2. Special classroom:-These classroom have a small student-
teacher ratio,more freedom and control of their own learning.
3. Adjusting school activities:-Flexibility of
curriculum,instructional strategies to meet individual
needs,varied learning style options,setting goals not far from
students ability etc. will help help to minimise the incidents of
underachievement.
8. MENTALLY CHALLENGED/MENTALLY
RETARDED CHILDREN
1. An individual whose IQ is below 70 is considered as mentally
retarded.
2. Mental retardation need not be a lifelong condition , especially
for those whose degree of retardation is relatively mild.
3. IQ below 70 is termed as educable mentally retarded
IQ 50-70 is termed as trainable mentally retarded
IQ below 25 is termed as custordial mentally retarded.
9. CHARACTERISTICS OF MENTALLY
RETARDED CHILDREN
The characteristics of mentally retarded children are classified
into two categories.
1.Cognitive characteristics:-The most obvious characteristics of
mentally retarded children are their reduced ability to learn. This
include
a)Attention deficit
b)Poor memory
c)Inadequate language development
d)Poor accademic performance
10. 2.Personality characteristics:-Mentally retarded children display
some unique characteristics.
a)Social and emotional inadequacy
b)Lack of motivation
c)Limited individual differences
d)Adjustment problem
11. CAUSES OF MENTAL RETARDATION
Genetic and Enviornmental factors are the two main causes of
retardation.
12. EDUCATIONAL PROVISION FOR
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN
1.Special schools with special arrangement of equipment,suitable
enviornment and specially trained teachers for backward
children will be most benefited by students.
2.Curriculum ,methods of evaluation,should be adjusted
according to their individual needs.
3.The learning task should be brief and uncompleted.
4.There should be provision for over learning.
5.Curriculum includes activities for teaching occupational jobs.
13. IDENTIFICATION OF MENTALLY
RETARDED CHILDREN
âą Intelligence tests :- There are various types of IQ tests.
Because of their accuracy and predictive capabilities
practitioner prefer individually administered tests to group
tests. Stanford-Binnet and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children-Revised(WISCR-R) are the most common individual
IQ tests for children. Both the tests are verbal.
âą Assessing adaptive behaviour :- There are numerous adaptive
behaviour measures are available.Two of the most commonly
used measures are AAMD Adaptive Behaviour Scale-School
edition and the Adaptive Behaviour Inventory For
Children(ABIC).
