| In the era of No Child Left Behind (ED, 2001), public school administrators have dedicated resources to ensuring all students reach proficiency in basic skills on the state mandated assessments. The focus on reaching proficiency on NCLB assessments is less of a concern for gifted students who exceed grade level expectations and have the potential to excel in school and life. For many of these students, the public education system fosters their growth and achievement. For other gifted children, underachievement and selective consumerism tendencies surface as they progress through school. Since giftedness does not guarantee achievement in the school setting, early identification of gifted students with the potential for academic difficulties is essential. Could the WISC-IV (Wechsler, 2004), commonly used for gifted identification, hold the key to the gifted child's academic success or difficulties?;This exploratory study of 32 eighth grade students in a suburban public school investigated if a correlation existed between the students' WISC-IV Discrepancies and three variables: Performance measured by English classroom data, Academic Competence measured by the ACES-Student (DiPerna & Elliot, 2000), and Academic Attitude measured by the SAAS-R (McCoach, 2002). Based on previous research, the study initially sought to establish the prevalence of students with ≥23-point WISC-IV Discrepancies (n=56.3%). The students' WISC-IV Discrepancies were then correlated with each variable (Performance, Academic Competence, and Academic Attitude). Analyses were performed and reported for the entire group (N=32), the >23-point WISCIV Discrepancy subgroup (n=18), and for a subgroup without a participant whose data characterized him/her as an outlier (n=31). Significant correlations were noted for the entire group for Verbal Comprehension---Processing Speed and Motivation/Self-Regulation (p<.05), the ≥23-point subgroup for Verbal Comprehension---Perceptual Reasoning and Academic Skills (p<.05), and the subgroup excluding the outlier for Verbal Comprehension---Processing Speed and Motivation/Self-Regulation (p<.01). Using the information from the measures, students were characterized as potential underachievers, potential selective consumers, and achievers. Individual case studies for select students are presented and discussed.;KEY WORDS: Gifted, Underachievement, Selective Consumerism, WISC-IV Discrepancy, Performance, Academic Competence, Academic Attitude, ACES-Student, SAAS-R. |
