A sampler of the next topics in Gifted Education: Social / Emotional Needs Testing and Assessment Academic Acceleration OverExcitabilities (OEs) Underachievement by Hoagies' Gifted Education Page

1. Gifted 201
Carolyn Kottmeyer
©2013-2014 Carolyn Kottmeyer

2. Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page
• The “all things gifted” page
– 1150+ pages = Overwhelming
– Site-wide search on every page!
• Not supported by advertising or
grants
– Affiliates programs
– Click on Shop Hoagies’ Page
• www.hoagiesgifted.org/shop.htm

3. Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page
• Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+
– Research summaries
– Quick events and contests
– News
– Gifted Parent, Teacher & Professional
Q&A
– More…

4. What is Giftedness?
• IQ 130+ - two standard deviations
above “normal”
• Achievement 2+ grade levels above
age/grade
• Asynchronous Development
• Characteristics checklists
– Early development of verbal and
numeracy skills
– Early reading

5. Gifted = Asynchronous
Giftedness is asynchronous development in
which advanced cognitive abilities and
heightened intensity combine to create
inner experiences and awareness that are
qualitatively different from the norm. This
asynchrony increases with higher
intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of
the gifted renders them particularly
vulnerable and requires modifications in
parenting, teaching, and counseling in
order for them to develop optimally.
– The Columbus Group, 1991

6. Gifted 201
• Social / Emotional Needs
• Testing and Assessment
• Academic Acceleration
• OverExcitabilities (OEs)
• Underachievement

7. Social Emotional Needs

8. What do gifted children need?
• Academic needs
– Challenging curriculum
– Work with academic peers
• Social Emotional needs
– Unconditional adult acceptance
• Parents, teachers
– Friends with similar interests, intensities
• Learn and play with other children like them
• Know there are others like them – They are
NOT alone!

9. Gifted Friendships
• Significant differences found
between…
– average and gifted / highly gifted
children
– Girls and boys
• Girls friendship concepts appear 2 - 4 years
ahead of boys
• Most significant at 3rd grade, decreasing
later

10. Gifted Friendships
• No significant differences were found
between gifted and highly gifted
children, but…
• Significant differences found in small
sampling of exceptionally / profoundly
gifted children, compared to gifted /
highly gifted children…
– Very small sample – 34 eg/pg children
– More research needed

11. True Friends
• Someone at the same level of
friendship
– Shares interests of gifted child
– Maybe not the same age
• May even be an adult…
– Maybe not the same level of giftedness
– But these would be ideal…
• Sometimes difficult to find
– Even more difficult when outgrown!

12. How many friends?
• Average children tend to have more
friends
– Popularity counts
• Gifted children tend to have 1 or 2
deeper friendships
– Early change to considering friends
qualitatively
• And that’s OK!

13. Introvert
• Recharges alone, with self and
surroundings
– Prefers a small group to a party
– Enjoys spending time alone
• May find it difficult to share feelings
• Prefers to watch first, mentally
rehearse
• Strong sense of personal space

14. Extravert
• Recharges from being with others
– Enjoys a group rather than being
overwhelmed
– Drained by being alone
• Lets you know what he thinks and
feels
• Frequently interjects, doesn’t mind
interruptions
• Needs verbal input and approval

15. Shy or Outgoing?
• Not necessarily tied to introvert /
extravert
– Can be shy and extraverted, or
– Outgoing and introverted
• May be changed / outgrown
– Best not to force change

16. Multiple ages
• Physical age
– Eye development, hand coordination,
life experiences
• Mental age
– Academics, subjects of interest
– Asynchronous academic levels
• Emotional age
– Varies, usually in between…
• Spiritual age

17. Emotion…
“Emotion cannot be treated separately
from intellectual awareness or
physical development. All three
intertwine and influence each other.” -
- Annemarie Roeper, 1981

18. Emotional Age
• Usually between mental and physical
age
• Often closer to mental age than
physical age
• Varies, depending on activity,
situation, how tired… lots of factors

19. Emotional Support
• Model positive values
• Be optimistic
• Treat their concerns as real
• Volunteer…
– Food collection
– Animal rescue
– Reading programs
• Gear support to the child’s concerns

20. Difficult expectations
• Parents expectations are often closer
to mental age
– Sometimes punish the gifted for “acting
their age”
• “Current age” neon forehead sign!
• School expectations are almost
universally closer to physical age
– May punish the gifted for preferring
older students, curriculum, activities
• Hold back or worse, try to “fix” the child

21. Most Difficult Expectations
• The gifted child often expects far
more of himself than he can deliver
– 8 year old brain, working through 5 year
old hands… frustration!
– 11 year old social conscience in 6 year
old mind…
• Sees the injustice, but considered too young
to take action…
• Sometimes develops intense fears

22. Underachievement Mindset
• Teachers and parents may create
perfectionism / underachievement
– Early praise for being smart, rather than
for effort
– When things eventually get challenging,
kids think they can’t do it because they
aren’t smart enough!

23. Positive Praise
• Praise for effort, not result
– All kids should have to work at
academics
– Appropriate level work!
• Praise for specifics
– I like how you described the characters…
– Not general: Great job on the
assignment

24. Appropriate Difficulty
• ALL children need schoolwork that
challenges them
• Without challenge, gifted children
don’t get the same chance to learn…
– Hard work
– Study skills
– Failure, and recover from failure

25. Mindset, by Carol Dweck
• Fixed mindset
– I must be perfect (or people won’t like me)
– Failure = lack of competence or potential
– Don’t want to work to improve weakness
• Because it means admitting weakness!
• Variable mindset
– Failure is a chance to learn
• Hard work makes me smarter

26. The Wrong Thing…
• Forcing the gifted child to be
someone she is not may cause…
– Hiding her true “self”
– Perfectionism
– Underachievement
– Imposter syndrome
– Low self-esteem
– Depression, or worse

27. Gifted Children Need…
• To be children!
– Carefree and fun and safe
– Unconditional love of parents
• To be themselves!!
– Learn at their own level and pace
– Play their own games
– Accepted by friends, school, church,
society…

28. Outdoor Play!
• We had more outdoor free play time; Our
kids have more screen time
• Outdoor free play linked to Creativity, Self-esteem,
Independence & Autonomy,
Sensory development, Social interaction,
more!
• Lack of outdoor play linked to, ADHD
symptoms, violence and anti-social
behaviors

29. Internet Resources
• SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the
Gifted)
– SENGifted.org
• Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page
– Pages on Social Emotional, Underachiever,
Perfection, Imposter Syndrome, ….
– HoagiesGifted.org
• Stephanie Tolan
– Non-fiction articles, fiction for gifted children /
young adults
– StephanieTolan.com

30. Print Resources: Kids/Parents
• Smart Teens' Guide to Living with Intensity: How
to Get More Out of Life and Learning
• A Parent's Guide to Gifted Teens: Living with
Intense and Creative Adolescents
– Both by Lisa Rivero
• Being Smart About Gifted Children
– By Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster
• Gifted Kids Survival Guides (10 and under, Teen)
– Both by Judy Galbraith and Jim Delisle
• 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids
– By Christine Fonseca

31. Print Resources
• Counseling the Gifted and Talented
– Linda Silverman, editor
• Annemarie Roeper: Selected Writings
and Speeches
• Understanding Our Gifted
– Social/Emotional, Volume 14, Issue 3
• Mindset
– Carol Dweck

32. Testing and Assessment

33. Testing…
• Grade level achievement tests
– State tests, nationally normed tests
– Out of grade level tests!
• Group ability tests
– Screening measures, to determine need
for further IQ testing
• Individual achievement tests
– WIAT, WJ-III, KTEA, PIAT
• Individual IQ tests
– WISC / WPPSI (gifted <age 6), SB-5,
WJ-III, DAS

34. Test Scores…
• Know your Standard Deviation!
– SD commonly equals 15…
• But not always!
• Gifted = average +/- 2 * SD
• Know your Margin of error!
– Ex: SEM = 3
• 68% chance score is within 3+/-
• 95% chance score is within 6+/-

35. Test Scores…
• Know your ceiling!
– 99th percentile is the ceiling
• Watch for single question misses that
dramatically lower the percentile
– IQ tests, know if child barely made 99th
percentile, or made it with many
questions to spare
• Look for supplemental scores: GAI,
Extended Scores
– Individual Achievement tests, ceiling
may be 12th or 16th grade
• Run “Mythical child” scores

36. WISC-IV Global Ability Index
• Publisher’s bulletin on Global Ability Index
(GAI)
– GAI removes Working Memory and Processing
Speed Index from calculation
• Do not assess what’s commonly included in gifted
programs
• Do not show the same 15 point standard deviation
– Published AFTER the WISC-IV
• Psychologists NOT notified after they purchase / train

37. WISC-IV Extended Norms
• Publisher’s bulletin on Extended
Norms
– Gives credit for correct answers above subtest
ceilings
– Used when child has 2+ 99th percentile (18 or
19) subtest scores
– Published LONG after the WISC-IV – February
2008
• Psychologists NOT notified after they purchase / train

38. Test scores…
• Same named scores on different
tests are usually NOT comparable
– Percentile, Standard Score, Age
equivalent…
• Scores on the same tests given by
school and private psychologists
often differ in scores**
– This doesn't mean parents “bought” the
score, but that psychologist had more
time to focus on the child, and more
experience assessing gifted children
**(retesting usually requires 12 month delay)

39. Achievement Test Scores
vs. Classroom Placement
• Curriculum Based Assessment
• Out of level Achievement Test
• Individual Achievement Test
– Compares to average students
• Group Achievement Test
– Tested grade level only
– Results: above, at or below grade
level.
Increasing value for
class placement...

40. Group Screening Measures
• Be aware…
– Normalization sample size
– Mean, deviation, and standard error
– Hard ceiling score
• GATES and others
– Survey – only as good as teacher-training
• SAGES and others
– Group test of both ability and achievement

41. Gifted AND Learning Disabled
• Can this be?
– Yes!
• Do these kids need to be identified?
– YES!
– They need appropriate work in their
areas of strength, AND appropriate
remediation or support in their areas of
weakness
• GT/LD kids are NOT average!

42. Resources
• Testing and Assessment
www.hoagiesgifted.org/testing.htm
• An Inventory of Tests
www.hoagiesgifted.org/tests.htm
• A Parent’s Guide to IQ Testing and
Gifted Education
amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0977109852/thehoagiesgifted

43. Resource Articles
• Why Test?
www.hoagiesgifted.org/why_test.htm
• What Do Tests Tell Us?
www.hoagiesgifted.org/tests_tell_us.htm
• Why Do My Child’s Test Scores Vary
From Test to Test?
www.hoagiesgifted.org/iq_varies.htm

44. Academic Acceleration

45. 100 years of debate
• 100 years of Acceleration Research
– All positive
• 100 years of pre-service teacher education
– Acceleration isn’t mentioned at all!
• A Nation Deceived
– www.NationDeceived.org
– free two volume report
– Volume I – executive summary of accelerative
options
– Volume II – research to back up volume I

46. 100 years of debate
“Research continuously demonstrates the
positive impacts of the various forms of
acceleration. Yet the educational
establishment, especially at elementary and
middle school levels, remains skeptical
based on the implications of ruined scope
and sequence charts and ungrounded fears
of hampering healthy social-emotional
adjustment. …Voices in the field of gifted
education and psychology, spurred by
current and relevant studies, have
consistently sustained support for
acceleration, yet to little avail.”
-- F. Richard Olenchak, Ph.D., P.C. and Joyce
VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D. (A Nation Deceived)

47. 100 years of debate
• “Acceleration is one of the most curious
phenomena in the field of education. I can
think of no other issue in which there is
such a gulf between what research has
revealed and what most practitioners
believe. The research on acceleration is so
uniformly positive, the benefits of
appropriate acceleration so unequivocal,
that it is difficult to see how an educator
could oppose it.”
-- Professor James H. Borland of Teachers College -
Columbia University states (Colangelo, Assouline,
Gross, & 2004)

48. Myths
• Driver’s license
– So?
• Prom
– Kids go in groups anyway. Or skip it entirely.
• You’ll have GAPS! <Gasp!>
– Aren’t gaps a GOOD thing? That means they
have something to LEARN!
• You won’t be able to live in the dorm
• If we allow you to accelerate this year,
what will you do *next* year?
• You won’t be able to drink in college
– A good thing, in parents’ minds!

49. Myths
• A common argument against acceleration states that it
is undemocratic to grant one student special exceptions
over others. People get confused as to the purpose of
acceleration and feel it is only for the wealthy. The
purpose of education, however, is not to grant an
identical education to each student, but to grant equal
educational opportunities. Where a normal student may
get a tremendous education in the normal classroom, a
gifted student may learn very little. This is not equal.
Gifted students come from every background
imaginable. Acceleration benefits those from a lower
social economic status the most. Wealthy parents can
often provide supplemental opportunities for their child.
These may not be available to those without the means.
It is the responsibility of the public school system to
grant students equal educational opportunities. This is
not possible if acceleration is ignored.

50. Social Emotional Myths
• “According to multiple leaders in the field of
gifted education, the sooner a student is
accelerated, the better. The longer
acceleration is delayed the more likely a
student will become involved in a social
group. If the acceleration takes place
before he or she enters school, there is no
social adjustment period.”
-- Daniel Anderson, Myths and Misconceptions of
Acceleration, University of Oregon, 2008
www.eric.ed.gov

51. Social Emotional Myths
• “The myth says that students who
skip will rarely fit into society, the
reality shows that those very
students tend to lead American
Society to greater heights”
(Colangelo et al., 2004, A Nation
Deceived)

52. Social Emotional Myths
Competing with Myths about the Social
and Emotional Development of Gifted
Students by Tracy L. Cross, Gifted
Child Today. 2002 Summer.
sengifted.org/archives/articles/competing-with-
myths-about-the-social-and-emotional-
development-of-gifted-students

53. Social Emotional Myths
“Myth 1: Gifted students should be with
students their own age. …something
inappropriate or untoward will occur if
different age groups spend time together.
Some believers of this myth will claim that
research supports this point, but in fact
they are mistaken.
“In [Tracy Cross’s] research with Larry
Coleman, it is clear that gifted students
need opportunities to be together with their
intellectual peers, no matter what their age
differences (Coleman & Cross, 2001).”

54. Social Emotional Myths
• “Myth 2. Gifted students are better off if
they spend their entire school day amidst
same-age, heterogeneous classmates. If
we allow gifted students to be clustered
together through one of any means
available, they will be unable to get along
with others later in life. Gifted students, to
be happy, must become socially astute.
Becoming socially astute requires that
gifted students spend as much time as
possible in heterogeneous classrooms.
“Sacrificing learning and creating
frustration based on this myth is unethical,
in my opinion.”

55. Social Emotional Myths
“Myth 3. Being perfectly well rounded should be
the primary goal for gifted student
development. Please note the phrase, “perfectly
well rounded,” as opposed to “somewhat well-rounded.”
Many parents, teachers, and
administrators believe that it is their role to
ensure that gifted students are perfectly well-rounded.
To that end, they will encourage,
prod, goad, push, threaten, and yell at gifted
students to get them to spend less time
engaged in their passion areas...
Much of the research on successful gifted adults
has revealed that they spent considerable
amounts of time, often alone, in their passion
areas as children.”

56. Social Emotional Myths
“Myth 7. Being too smart in school is a problem, especially
for girls. This myth represents adults’ worries about their
own feelings of acceptance; concerns about fears
associated with standing out; the typical anti-intellectual
culture of schools; the reflection of society’s under
evaluation of high levels of achievement; and the oft
mentioned, intuitively based association of high levels of
intellectual ability with low levels of morality.
The consequence of this myth is the nurturing of incredibly
high percentages of our students who underachieve in
school. These behaviors and beliefs about self make
perfect sense when one perceives the mixed messages
about being gifted in their school’s social milieu. We must
provide support for these children as they navigate the
anti-intellectual contexts in which they spend much of
their time.

57. Social Emotional Myths
• “Over forty years ago, educators reported experiments
proving the effectiveness of a procedure that was seldom
used. Since then it has been tested on many groups. The
averages of these tests have almost always shown it to be
helpful, and have not shown it to be harmful. Leading
educators praise it highly and continually recommend that
it be used in conjunction with other procedures. Yet
despite the research and the respected professional
endorsements, only a small percentage of teachers permit
its use, even though when properly prescribed it would be
beneficial.”
• Durr’s proposal (1964) referred to research on accelerated
progression, conducted and disseminated 40 years earlier.
• W.K. Durr, The Gifted Student, as cited by Miraca Gross in her
keynote, From “the saddest sound” to the D Major chord: The
gift of accelerated progression.

58. Academic Myths
“Studies of the academic effects of acceleration provide strong
evidence of positive outcomes for accelerated students. A
best evidence synthesis of 81 studies, undertaken by Rogers
(1991), found significant academic effect sizes (ES > +.30)
for 9 of the 12 forms of acceleration studied. Interestingly,
of the three accelerative procedures for which significant
effect sizes were not found, two (concurrent enrollment and
Advanced Placement) involve the gifted student spending the
majority of his or her time in the mixed-ability classroom!
Academic effect sizes were largest for grade-skipping ( .78),
credit by examination (.75) and grade telescoping (.56).
When researchers compare academic outcomes for
accelerated and non-accelerated gifted students, the results
tend to favour accelerands over non-accelerands, regardless
of which accelerative modality is employed (Swiatek and
Benbow, 1991) and the academic advantages remain
apparent not only in adolescence and young adulthood but
even after many years (Cronbach, 1996).”

59. Types of Acceleration
• Early Admission to Kindergarten
• Early Admission to First Grade
• Grade-Skipping
• Continuous Progress
• Self-Paced Instruction
• Subject-Matter Acceleration/Partial
Acceleration
• Combined Classes
• Curriculum Compacting
• Telescoping Curriculum

60. Types of Acceleration
• Mentoring
• Extracurricular Programs
• Correspondence Courses (Distance
education)
• Early Graduation
• Concurrent/Dual Enrollment
• Advanced Placement Courses
• Credit by Examination
• Acceleration in College
• Early Entrance into Middle School, High
School, or College

61. Grade-Skipping
• Also know as Full grade acceleration
• Most thoroughly researched option for
acceleration
– ALL RESULTS POSITIVE!
• Best years to skip
– Early entrance to K or 1st
– 2nd grade when reading and math are already
mastered
– Middle school
– Natural break in schooling
• When all kids move to a new school together

62. Academic Advocacy
• Academic Advocacy for Gifted Children: A
Parent's Complete Guide
– By Barbara (Bobbie) Gilman
– (Formerly titled Empowering Gifted Minds:
Educational Advocacy That Works)
– “the definitive manual on gifted advocacy for
gifted students. The author tells parents and
teachers how to document a child's abilities to
provide reasonable educational options year by
year. This book provides imperative information
on testing considerations, curriculum, successful
programs, and planning your child's education”

63. Iowa Acceleration Scale
• Iowa Acceleration Scale: A Guide for
Whole-grade Acceleration (K-8)
– Research based evaluation of evidence
– Not a test, but uses existing scores from tests
– Combines questions for school, teachers, parents
– Turns emotional choice into quantitative decision
– “A tool to help schools make effective decisions
regarding a grade-skip.”
– Guides a child study team (including educators,
teachers, parents, and other professionals)
through a discussion of the academic and social
characteristics of the student.”

64. Over-excitabilities
Why are you
screaming at me!
It’s too warm in
here!
This tag is digging
into my back!!
My presentation
isn’t perfect!!!
©2013-2014 Carolyn Kottmeyer

65. What are OverExcitabilities?
• Polish psychiatrist and psychologist
Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902–1980)
• Translated and continued by
psychologist Michael Piechowski
• Over-excitabilities (OEs) or
"superstimulatabilities“
• The gifted are extremely sensitive in
a variety of areas

66. What are OverExcitabilities?
• Stimulus-response difference from
the norms
• In these 5 areas a person reacts
more strongly than normal for a
longer period than normal to a
stimulus that may be very small
• Not just psychological factors but
central nervous system sensitivity

67. Overexcitabilities
• Psychomotor
• Sensual
• Imaginational
• Intellectual
• Emotional

68. Psychomotor OE
• Lots of physical energy and
movement
• Fast talking
• Lots of gestures
• Sometimes nervous tics
• May have trouble smoothing out the
mind's activities for sleep

69. Psychomotor Strategies
• Allow time for physical and/or verbal
activity
• Be sure the physical or verbal
activities are acceptable and not
distracting to those around them
• Provide time for spontaneity and
open-ended, freewheeling activities

70. Sensual OE
• Love for sensory things / hate for
“bad” sensory experiences
– Tags in shirt, seams in socks, “rough”
clothes, stickers!
– Sensitive to bright lights, loud or harsh
noises
– aesthetic awareness - the child who is
moved to tears at a beautiful sunset

71. Sensual OE
• Hates loud classrooms / gyms /
concerts
• Prefers (requires) blankie with satin
binding
• Loves / hates foods based on texture
(or color)

72. Sensual Strategies
• Create an environment which
comforts and limits offensive stimuli
• Provide opportunities for limelight by
giving unexpected attention, or
facilitating creative and dramatic
productions with audience
• Provide time for delight of the sensual
and soothing

73. Imaginational OE
• Dreamers, poets, “space cadets”
• Strong visual thinkers
• Use metaphorical speech
• Remember their dreams, react
strongly to them
• Believe in magic

74. Imaginational OE
• Strong fantasy life / interest
• Imaginary friends
• May write stories or draw instead of
doing seatwork or participating in
class discussions

75. Imaginational Strategies
• Help to differentiate between
imagination and real world, place a
stop sign in their mental videotape, or
write or draw the factual account first
• Help them use their imagination to
function in the real world and promote
learning and productivity, create their
own organization system

76. Intellectual OE
• Traditional gifted kids
• A strong “logical imperative”
• Love brain teasers and puzzles
• Complex reasoning, figuring things
out
• Love of learning!

77. Intellectual OE
• Strong readers and observers
• Strong concerns about moral and
ethical issues
• Impatient with those who cannot keep
their intellectual pace

78. Intellectual Strategies
• Respect / show how to find the
answers to questions
• Provide or suggest ways for those
interested in moral and ethical issues
to act upon their concerns
• Help them see how their intent may
be perceived as cruel or disrespectful

79. Emotional OE
• Intensity of emotion, with a broad
range of emotions
• Need deep connections with people
and animals
• Empathy and compassion
• Easily offended / betrayed by typical
friendship patters of other kids

80. Emotional OE
• Cries at movies
• Boys prefer girls for friends
– Girls less likely to pick on them for
emotional responses
• Searching for “true friend” at very
young age

81. Emotional Strategies
• Accept all feelings, regardless of
intensity
• Teach individuals to recognize and
anticipate physical and emotional
responses and prepare for them

82. Overexcitability Strategies
• Discuss Overexcitabilities!
• Focus on positives
– Benefits include being energetic,
enthusiastic, sensual, aesthetic, curious,
loyal, tenacious, moral, metacognitive,
integrative, creative, metaphorical,
dramatic, poetic, compassion-ate,
empathetic, and self-aware

83. Overexcitability Strategies
• Celebrate diversity
• Teach clear verbal and nonverbal
communication
• Teach stress management from
toddlerhood
• Create a safe, comforting environment

84. Dabrowski…
• “Emotional (affective), imaginational
and intellectual overexcitability are
the richer forms. If they appear
together they give rich possibilities of
development and creativity” (1972)

85. Misdiagnosis
• Psychomotor OE ≠ Hyperactivity
• Imaginational OE ≠ Inattentive
– Either might be diagnosed as AD/HD via
DSM IV/V
• Sensory OE ≈ Sensory Integration
Disorder (SI)
• Intellectual OE ≈ Giftedness
• Emotional OE ≈ Over-sensitive,
immature

86. Overexcitabilities are Not…
• An excuse for bad behavior
– We must help the gifted child learn to
deal with his OEs while not giving up his
“self”
• Something we can ignore
– They are very real, and as adults, we’ve
learned ways to deal with them
– We must help the kids learn, too

87. Resources
• Dabrowski's Theory of Positive
Disintegration by Elizabeth Mika
– hoagiesgifted.org/positive_disint.htm
• Bill Tiller’s Theory of Positive
Disintegration
– positivedisintegration.com

88. Resources
• Dabrowski's Over-excitabilities:
A Layman's Explanation by
Stephanie S. Tolan
– stephanietolan.com/dabrowskis.htm
• Living & Learning with Dabrowski's
Overexcitabilities by Cindy Strickland
(teaching unit for middle school kids)
– hoagiesgifted.org/living_with_oes.htm

89. Resources
• Living With Intensity: Understanding the
Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional
Development of Gifted Children,
Adolescents, and Adults
– amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/091070
7898/thehoagiesgifted
• Off the Charts: Asynchrony and the
Gifted Child
– rfwp.com/book/off-the-charts-asynchrony-
and-the-gifted-child

90. Underachievement

91. Underachievement
• “…underachievement is defined as
performance in class at a level
significantly below that which is
predicted by the child’s performance
on standardized tests of achievement
in the subject area under
consideration, or general academic
achievement at a level significantly
below that which is predicted by the
student’s intelligence quotient”
(Gross, Exceptionally Gifted Children,
1993)

92. Underachievement Is…
• First and foremost, a behavior and as
such, it can change over time [*not 2e]
• Content and situation specific
• In the eyes of the beholder
• Tied intimately to self-concept
development
(Underachieving Gifted Students, ERIC
digest #E478, James Delisle and Sandra
Berger)

93. Types of Underachievement
• Environmental
– Enforced – external
– Internal – why?
– Highly Gifted…
• Organic
– Twice exceptional
• Gender-based
• Cultural

94. Characteristics
• Poor Self-perception
• Low Goal Orientation
• Poor Peer Relations
• Difficult Authority Relationships
• External Locus of Control
• Flat or explosive Emotional
Expression

95. Supportive Strategies
• Classroom techniques and designs that
allow students to feel they are part of a
"family," versus a "factory," include
methods such as holding class meetings to
discuss student concerns; designing
curriculum activities based on the needs
and interests of the children; and allowing
students to bypass assignments on
subjects in which they have previously
shown competency.

96. Supportive Strategies (Family)
• Gifted children thrive in a mutually
respectful, nonauthoritarian, flexible,
questioning atmosphere. They need
reasonable rules and guidelines, strong
support and encouragement, consistently
positive feedback, and help to accept
some limitations
• Provide a wide variety of opportunities for
success, a sense of accomplishment, and
a belief in themselves

97. Intrinsic Strategies
• Incorporate the idea that students' self-concepts
as learners are tied closely to
their desire to achieve academically. Thus,
a classroom that invites positive attitudes
is likely to encourage achievement. In
classrooms of this type, teachers
encourage attempts, not just successes;
they value student input in creating
classroom rules and responsibilities; and
they allow students to evaluate their own
work before receiving a grade from the
teacher.

98. Intrinsic Strategies (Family)
• It is important that parents and teachers see
intellectual development as a requirement for
these children, and not merely as an interest,
a flair, or a phase they will outgrow
• "an intellectually gifted child will not be happy
and complete until he is using intellectual
ability at a level approaching full capacity…”
Judith Wynn Halstead, Guiding Gifted
Readers (Some of my Best Friends Are
Books)

99. Remedial Strategies
• Teachers recognize that students are not
perfect - that each child has specific
strengths and weaknesses as well as
social, emotional and intellectual needs.
Students are given chances to excel in
their areas of strength and interest while
opportunities are provided in specific areas
of learning deficiencies. This remediation
is done in a “safe” environment in which
mistakes are considered a part of learning
for everyone, including the teacher.

100. Remedial Strategies (Family)
• Avoid discouraging their children by
domination, insensitivity, silence, or
intimidation. Discouraging comments, such
as "If you're so gifted, why did you get a
D?''
• Avoid comparing children with others
• Show children how to function in
competition and how to recover after
losses

101. Remedial Strategies (Family)
• Study-skills courses, time-management
classes, or special tutoring may be
ineffective
– only if the student is willing and eager, and the
teacher is chosen carefully
• Special tutoring for the concerned student
experiencing short-term academic difficulty
• Courses or tutors who do not understand
the student may do more harm than good

102. Gifted / Learning Disabled (2e)
• “Recognition of learning disabilities
among the highly gifted is made
extremely difficult by virtue of their
ability to compensate”
(Silverman, Uniquely Gifted, 2000)

103. Compensation
• Compensation is inconsistent
– Health - Stress
– Sleep - Distraction
– Nutrition (dieting)
• These kids are NOT lazy or unmotivated
– When they fail, they assume this is “normal”
– When they succeed, others assume this is
“normal”

104. Allow to be Gifted!
• “Children with learning disabilities,
behavior disorders, or other types of
school problems who are also gifted
in one or more areas must be allowed
to be gifted in their areas of strength
while they receive assistance in their
areas of need.”
(Winebrenner, Uniquely Gifted, 2000)

105. 2e Resources
• Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted
Children And Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD,
Asperger's, Depression, And Other Disorders by
James T. Webb, Edward R. Amend, Nadia E.
Webb, Jean Goerss, Paul Beljan, F. Richard
Olenchak, and Sharon Lind
• The Mislabeled Child: How Understanding Your
Child's Unique Learning Style Can Open the Door
to Success by Brock Eide and Fernette Eide
• Different Minds: Gifted Children With AD/HD,
Asperger Syndrome, and other Learning Deficits
by Deirdre V. Lovecky

106. 2e Resources
• 2e Twice-Exceptional Newsletter
directed squarely at the intersection
of giftedness and learning difficulties…
www.2enewsletter.com
• Spotlight on 2e
– Easy-to-read booklets on 2e topics…
• Understanding your Twice-Exceptional Student (for
educators)
• Parenting Your Twice-Exceptional Child (for parents)
• Twice Exceptional
www.hoagiesgifted.org/twice_exceptional.htm

107. Twice Exceptional Needs…
• Need higher level thinking
• Need LD support / special education
• Need to learn
– Content
– Skills
– Self-esteem
• Need to be themselves!

108. Strategies
• To prevent or reverse underachievement,
schools need to provide supportive
strategies, intrinsic strategies, and
remedial strategies.
• The strategies include accommodations to
students' learning styles, focusing on
students' interests, and affirming students
as individuals with special needs and
concerns

109. Can Be Reversed!
• Underachievement is made up of a
complex web of behaviors, but it can
be reversed by parents and
educators who consider the many
strengths and talents possessed by
the students who may wear this label
(Underachieving Gifted Students, ERIC
digest #E478, James Delisle and Sandra
Berger)

110. Gifted 201
Questions?

111. Thank you