Packed with practical tools, this book provides K-6 educators with a research-based framework for accelerating the reading and writing growth of underperforming students. Strategies and resources are included for building foundational skills, comprehension, and vocabulary; engaging students with independent reading and periodicals; developing…

Academic underachievement of students from disadvantaged backgrounds is an ongoing and unresolved problem. Schools serving vulnerable communities often fail to meaningfully engage their students who are often exposed to significant family and environmental adversities. However, where the educational landscape is overwhelmed with neoliberal…

This collaborative autoethnography explores the experiences of two art therapists who designed and implemented art therapy programs for achievement gaps in schools in Korea. We gathered autoethnographic data and contextualized information within the socio-cultural and institutional framework of Korean society. Four discussion points emerged: (1)…

Gifted underachievers perform worse in school than would be expected based on their high intelligence. Possible causes for underachievement are low motivational dispositions (need for cognition) and metacognitive competences. This study tested the interplay of these variables longitudinally with gifted and non-gifted students from Germany…

We propose using Stochastic Frontier Analysis to estimate pupils' academic underachievement. We model underachievement as the gap between expected achievement and actual achievement, not due to a learning disability. Our data are a panel for 2,228 Belgian pupils observed over 6 years of primary education. We found that the average underachievement…

The purpose of this study was to present, compare, and contrast data collected from rural Georgia educators concerning their beliefs and knowledge of the benefits of student retention. The researcher identified the most common areas of agreement and disagreement among educators concerning grade-level retention. Additionally, the researcher…

This book provides an opportunity for researchers, professionals, and practitioners working directly with gifted individuals to engage with and examine the concept of underachievement of highly capable and talented individuals from different perspectives. Chapters written by experts in gifted education from diverse backgrounds explore…

Background: Problem-solving as a vehicle to develop independent thinking skills is mostly underestimated and is often either overlooked or not given adequate attention within the existing South African mathematics curriculum. Consequently, numerous learners often display limited skills or lack skills to adequately crack Mathematics problems by…

Research has shown that some students who underperform in mathematics overestimate their performance, while others who excel in mathematics underestimate it. Looking at this mismatch of performance and confidence judgement--the Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE)--the current study investigates how well students' confidence judgement and item-specific…

Teachers' mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (MPCK) is a necessary component for mathematics achievement. Despite the importance of this component, some teachers demonstrate limited knowledge of how best to facilitate mathematics instruction. The problem addressed through this study was the consistently low mathematics achievement of Grade…

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to compare the end of year GPAs of 8th grade underachieving students who participated in Career and Technical Education programming through the Memphis Ambassadors Apprentice Program to those who did not. Introducing Career and Technical Education programs and activities to students at a young age…

Utilising a qualitative case study, we set out to investigate how learners at Hope Saturday School evoked the principles of ubuntu/humanity as they collaborated during project-based learning. The article is part of a broader study in which a mix of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, observations, document analysis and field notes…

This research addressed the problem of achievement gaps among elementary schools in Massachusetts. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to determine what effect, if any, funding had on elementary school accountability classification, student academic achievement, and per pupil expenditure rates. Equity theory indicated…

Around 6% of U.K. children are underachieving at school relative to their potential (URP). We explored whether difficulties with phonological decoding, short-term memory (STM), and complex grammar may be responsible. We compared school-based reading test data or formal SATs, and verbal reasoning in 2462 children (150 URP and 2312 non-URP children)…

High-quality teacher-student relationships are related to a wide range of positive student outcomes, especially in students with special educational needs. To enable tailored support to help teachers engage in positive relationships with these students, it is important to identify and understand the different types of teacher-student relationships…