A Follow-Up Study of One Group of Achievers and Underachievers Four Years After High School Graduation.In psychology and education there is continued interest in how academic achievement relates to future success (e.g., Arnold, 1993; Johnes, 1997; McCall, 1994; Wesley, 1994; Wolfe & Johnson, 1995). This article reports on the educational experiences and life satisfaction of a group of gifted academic achievers and underachievers during the first four years after high school. Information will be helpful for counselors, educators, parents, and students themselves, particularly underachievers, who may comprise 50% of persons with high ability (National Commission, 1984; Richert, 1991; Rimm, 1987). This study examined college academic performance, college attendance, type of institution attended, involvement in campus activities, career direction, and both academic and affective affective /af·fec·tive/ (ah-fek´tiv) pertaining to affect. af·fec·tive adj. 1. Concerned with or arousing feelings or emotions; emotional. 2. concerns. Those identified as achievers at high school graduation Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. and those identified as underachievers were compared in most of these areas. Post-secondary outcomes of gifted underachievers are not often studied, and there is also a lack of studies which include high-ability individuals who do not stay in college. There are also few comparisons of achievers and underachievers in the literature (e.g., Colangelo, Kerr, Christensen, and Maxey, 1993; Gustafson, 1994; Peterson & Colangelo, 1996; Thompson, 1976), especially at the college level (e.g., Santa Rita Santa Rita may refer to:
Studies related to academic performance and college attendance have usually come from outside of gifted education Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. Programs providing such education are sometimes called Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) or and have not necessarily involved students identified as gifted and talented, as is true of the following, which are pertinent to the current study. Generally, high school academic achievement has been associated with high performance in college (e.g., Talbot, 1990; Ting, 1997; Wesley, 1994; Wolfe & Johnson, 1995). However, Valine valine (văl`ēn), organic compound, one of the 22 α-amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. (1976) found successful former underachievers in college, and Mouw and Khanna (1993) found that 30% of students predicted to succeed in college had failed, while 50% of those predicted to fail had graduated or performed well. Hand and Prather (1989) found a modest pattern of lower-than-expected performance in urban-suburban students and higher-than-expected performance in rural-small-town students. College-entry qualifications are consistently related to college completion (Johnes, 1997), while personality factors (Strean, 1979), motivation (Vallerand & Senecal, 1992), satisfaction (Bennett & Okinaka, 1990), loneliness (Rotenberg & Morrison, 1993), anticipation of success (Worrell, 1996), work, finances, and family (Fischbach, 1990) have an impact on nonpersistence and lack of success in college. In addition, socioeconomic status socioeconomic status, n the position of an individual on a socio-economic scale that measures such factors as education, income, type of occupation, place of residence, and in some populations, ethnicity and religion. has consistently been related to college attendance (Evelyn, 1998), educational attainment Educational attainment is a term commonly used by statisticans to refer to the highest degree of education an individual has completed.[1] The US Census Bureau Glossary defines educational attainment as "the highest level of education completed in terms of the (Johnes, 1997); Kamens, 1967; Smith, 1981) and academic success (Boughan, 1995). Given the attention in this study to personal adjustments after high school, research related to affective concerns regarding success and satisfaction in college is of interest. These studies have come largely from the field of college student development. For example, factors contributing to campus involvement influence academic performance as well (Astin, 1975), 1993), and a sense of community is related to persistence (1) In a CRT, the time a phosphor dot remains illuminated after being energized. Long-persistence phosphors reduce flicker, but generate ghost-like images that linger on screen for a fraction of a second. toward degrees (Astin, 1975, 1984; Tinto Tin´to n. 1. A red Madeira wine, wanting the high aroma of the white sorts, and, when old, resembling tawny port. , 1975, 1993). Both of these findings are interesting in light of current campus social trends in the direction of academic and political disengagement disengagement /dis·en·gage·ment/ (dis?en-gaj´ment) emergence of the fetus from the vaginal canal. dis·en·gage·ment n. (Mitchell, 1998) and escape from campus (Levine & Cureton, 1998). In regard to such disengagement, there has been little attention to the phenomena of changing majors or changing institutions, although Seymour and Hewitt (1994) found that attitudes, coping strategies The German Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney defined four so-called coping strategies to define interpersonal relations, one describing psychologically healthy individuals, the others describing neurotic states. , and teachers with an active interest distinguished students who continued in science from those who switched to other majors. The finding that students sacrifice personal relationships for GPA GPA abbr. grade point average Noun 1. GPA - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted (Purdy, 1998) suggests that high academic achievement may affect satisfaction. In regard to affective concerns as related to academic performance, habits of achievement, including coping strategies, may be involved in academic resilience resilience (r  ·zilˑ·yens),n (Santiago-Rivera, Bernstein, & Gard, 1995). However, the psychological intensities associated with giftedness gift·ed adj. 1. Endowed with great natural ability, intelligence, or talent: a gifted child; a gifted pianist. 2. (Lovecky, 1992; Piechowski, 1992; Tucker & Hafenstein, 1997) may contribute to difficulties in both achievers and underachievers as they face new stressors in new environments. Underachievers in particular may not seek counseling for assistance (cf. Lacher, 1973). Affective concerns related to the young-adult developmental tasks of detaching from parents (Fasick, 1984), achieving emotional autonomy (Thornton, Young-DeMarco, & Goldscheider, 1993), and developing identity, capacity for intimacy This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. , and occupational direction (Chickering, 1969) may also affect post-high school success. In regard to one of those developmental tasks, difficulty with finding direction has been associated with lack of motivation (Baumeister, Shapiro, & Tice, 1985; Eigen, Hartman, & Hartman, 1987). A Phenomenological framework is appropriate for studying "phenomena that are patently complex and about which little is known with certainty" (Lancy, 1993, p. 9), such as post-high school development and personal adjustment. Narrative responses were analyzed an·a·lyze tr.v. an·a·lyzed, an·a·lyz·ing, an·a·lyz·es 1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations. 2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of. 3. qualitatively in this study to explore the subjects' understanding of their experiences, in accordance Accordance is Bible Study Software for Macintosh developed by OakTree Software, Inc.[] As well as a standalone program, it is the base software packaged by Zondervan in their Bible Study suites for Macintosh. with the "personal accounts" literature (e.g., Bruner, 1986; Garfinkel, 1967; Lancy & Kinkead, 1993; Mehan & Wood, 1975; Polkinghorn, 1988; Scott & Lyman, 1972). The Original Study This study was a four-year follow-up of a previous study (Peterson & Colangelo, 1996) which examined the school files of a group of high-ability achievers and underachievers (N = 153) all identified as gifted, for patterns related to attendance, onset and duration of underachievement, incidence of episodic episodic sporadic; occurring in episodes. e. falling a paroxymal disorder described in Cavalier King Charles spaniels in which affected dogs, starting at an early age, experience episodes of extensor rigidity, possibly brought on by stress. e. underachievement among achievers, academic courses in which students continued to achieve during periods of underachievement elsewhere, and course selection. Nearly one third of the students were identified as underachievers (i.e., in spite of having ability commensurate com·men·su·rate adj. 1. Of the same size, extent, or duration as another. 2. Corresponding in size or degree; proportionate: a salary commensurate with my performance. 3. with the top 3% of the national standardization standardization In industry, the development and application of standards that make it possible to manufacture a large volume of interchangeable parts. Standardization may focus on engineering standards, such as properties of materials, fits and tolerances, and drafting samples for two measures, their academic performance at graduation was not in the top 25% of their class). Ten percent of the studied population ranked academically in the bottom half of their class. In that study, achievers, compared with underachievers, had better attendance, took more demanding courses, and had higher composite scores on the ACT. However, the difference in ACT scores between achievers and underachievers was less than 7 percentage points (86.89 percentile percentile, n the number in a frequency distribution below which a certain percentage of fees will fall. E.g., the ninetieth percentile is the number that divides the distribution of fees into the lower 90% and the upper 10%, or that fee level vs. 93.42 percentile). Moreover, 5 (31%) of the extreme underachievers had ACT composite scores above the 90 percentile. One-third of those who were identified as achievers had experienced episodic (at least one semester se·mes·ter n. One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year. [German, from Latin (cursus) s ) underachievement. For most of the 49 identified as underachievers, underachievement was well established during junior high and remained chronic (at least 9 of 12 semesters, grades 7 through 12). However, 20% of the identified underachievers had improved academically before graduation. The Present Study A major purpose of this follow-up study was to discover what happens to high-ability students after high school in terms of college attendance, academic success, and developmental and environmental challenges. Another purpose was to determine if there are differences in most of these areas between those identified as achievers at high school graduation and those identified as underachievers. The study addressed five questions: * Are there differences between high school achievers and underachievers regarding college attendance and college academic achievement? * Is level of high school and/or college achievement related to involvement in campus activities? finishing 4 years of college in 4 years? sureness of career direction? timing of finding career direction? and satisfaction with life developments? * Are there relationships among level of achievement, involvement in activities, years of college attendance, sureness and timing of career direction, and satisfaction? * Do underachievers experience improved academic performance after high school? * What are the most difficult challenges after high school for high-ability students ? Besides adding to the comparative literature, the findings might offer helpful information to individuals with exceptional ability, as well as concerned adults, about the social, emotional, and academic adjustment and general development of high-ability adolescents and young adults. The findings concerning college performance may be especially helpful for college admissions, counseling, and residence hall staffs. Method Participants The student participants in the original study (Peterson & Colangelo, 1996), identified as gifted and talented and including both achievers and underachievers (N = 153), were mailed a questionnaire 4 years after their high school graduation. These students represented three consecutive graduating classes of an urban Midwestern high school of approximately 1500 students resulting in a set of questionnaires mailed each year, over a three-year period, to each group. The students were generally middle class and were entirely Euro-American. The participants had all been identified as eligible for the school's special program for high-ability students, and 85% had chosen to participate in that program. Selection criteria for the program included any two of the following: a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (Wechsler, 1974) score [is greater than or equal to] 130 +/- 6, with 130 being at the 98th percentile; a composite Otis-Lennon School Ability Test The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT®), published by Harcourt Assessment, Inc., is a measure of abstract thinking and reasoning ability of children pre-K to 18. (Otis & Lennon, 1989) score [is greater than or equal to] 132, with 132 being at the 98th percentile; a composite score on the Stanford Achievement Test (Psychological Corporation, 1988) [is greater than or equal to] 95th percentile; and at least one subtest score on the Stanford Achievement Test [is greater than or equal to] 98th percentile in the areas of vocabulary, reading, concepts of numbers, science, social studies, or language. A low grade point (GPA) did not preclude pre·clude tr.v. pre·clud·ed, pre·clud·ing, pre·cludes 1. To make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent. See Synonyms at prevent. 2. participation in the program. These participants were categorized cat·e·go·rize tr.v. cat·e·go·rized, cat·e·go·riz·ing, cat·e·go·riz·es To put into a category or categories; classify. cat according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. grade point (4.00 scale) at graduation: * High Achievers (GPA [is greater than or equal to] 3.75; N = 64): class rank at 90-100 percentile * Moderate achievers (GPA 3.35-3.74; N = 40): class rank at 75-89 percentile * Moderate underachievers (GPA 2.75-3.34; N = 33): class rank at 50-74 percentile * Extreme underachievers (GPA [is less than] 2.75; N = 16): class rank below 50 percentile The students were generally middleclass and were entirely Euro-American. Instruments The instrument used in this follow-up study was a non-standardized, self-report questionnaire of 23 items relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc post-high school life. Sixteen of those items asked for either Likert-type responses or choice of numerical or nominal categories A nominal category or a nominal group is a group of objects or ideas that can be collectively grouped on the basis of shared, arbitrary characteristic. A nominal group only has members and non-members. in the following areas: marital status marital status, n the legal standing of a person in regard to his or her marriage state. ; institutions attended; years of college, vocational-technical school Vocational-technical schools, often called vo-tech schools, are high schools in the United States and Canada designed to bring traditional academia to their students, as well as provide them with vocational and technical skills. , military service, or full-time employment; declared majors; GPA; sureness and timing of career direction; involvement in campus activities; and satisfaction. The questionnaire included one open-ended question A closed-ended question is a form of question, which normally can be answered with a simple "yes/no" dichotomous question, a specific simple piece of information, or a selection from multiple choices (multiple-choice question), if one excludes such non-answer responses as dodging a : What have been your hardest adjustments and challenges since high school graduation? Because some academic majors are associated with 5-year programs, information about graduation was not requested. Definition of Terms For this study, high school achiever was defined as academic achievement [is greater than or equal to] 3.35 (75th percentile in class rank). College achiever refers to academic achievement [is greater than or equal to] 3.0 GPA. High achiever in both high school and college refers to a GPA [is greater than or equal to] 3.75. high school underachiever refers to a GPA [is less than] 3.35, and college underachiever refers to a GPA [is less than] 3.0. high school extreme underachiever refers to a GPA [is less than] 2.75, and college extreme underachiever to a GPA [is less than] 2.0. The lower college cutoffs recognize the generally higher level of competition in college. Years of college refers to college attendance in terms of accumulated ac·cu·mu·late v. ac·cu·mu·lat·ed, ac·cu·mu·lat·ing, ac·cu·mu·lates v.tr. To gather or pile up; amass. See Synonyms at gather. v.intr. To mount up; increase. college credits and does not distinguish between full-time and part-time attendance. Procedure All of the students identified as gifted (N = 153) in three consecutive high school graduating classes (1990, N = 50; 1991, N= 57; 1992, N= 46) were contacted by letter 4 years after graduation (in 1994, 1995, and 1996) and invited to complete and return the questionnaire. Given that it was important to have a narrow span of time for assessing development at the end of 4 years, subjects not responding to the letter were contacted by phone 4 weeks after the mailing. When contact was made, the researcher administered the instrument orally, taking care to insure Insure can mean:
To explore the relationship between various pairs of variables, simple two-tailed correlations were computed. Levene's Test In statistics, Levene's test is an inferential statistic used to assess the equality of variance in different samples. Some common statistical procedures assume that variances of the populations from which different samples are drawn are equal. for Equality of Variances and t-tests were used to compare means. Percentages were calculated when such reporting was meaningful. Responses to the open-ended question concerning challenges and adjustments were analyzed qualitatively for themes using Glaser and Strauss's (1967) constant-comparative method. Initially, the researcher examined the narrative comments with no predetermined pre·de·ter·mine v. pre·de·ter·mined, pre·de·ter·min·ing, pre·de·ter·mines v.tr. 1. To determine, decide, or establish in advance: categories in mind, and themes such as relationships, new environment, finances, illness, perfectionism per·fec·tion·ism n. A tendency to set rigid high standards of personal performance. per·fec  tion·ist adj. & n. , and independent living emerged. These
became 14 categories of adjustments and challenges. Subsequently, a
graduate assistant and a master's-level counselor independently
applied the 14 categories to the separate statements submitted by study
participants, with agreement on 81% of the statements. The assistant,
counselor, and researcher discussed the other 19% of the statements,
arriving at a consensus on each statement and subsequently refining refining, any of various processes for separating impurities from crude or semifinished materials. It includes the finer processes of metallurgy, the fractional distillation of petroleum into its commercial products, and the purifying of cane, beet, and maple sugar the
14 categories (e.g., "relationships" became "significant
relationships" to be distinguished from "social
concerns"; and "finances" became "financing
education," leaving money management to "living on my
own"). All statements were then submitted to a Ph.D. counselor
educator and a master' s-level university counselor for independent
categorization according to the new categories. Finally, they and the
researcher regrouped the 14 categories into 9 broad clusters. Because
the intent was to illuminate il·lu·mi·nate v. il·lu·mi·nat·ed, il·lu·mi·nat·ing, il·lu·mi·nates v.tr. 1. To provide or brighten with light. 2. To decorate or hang with lights. 3. highly able young adults' personal concerns, and because individuals were responding to an open-ended question rather than to a checklist offering a list of predetermined concerns, no achiever-underachiever comparisons were made for these responses. Results Seventy-three young adults returned questionnaires when contacted 4 years after high school graduation. Twenty-four more were contacted successfully and administered the questionnaire orally by phone for a total of 97, 63% of the 153 initially contacted. Distribution of the participants among the four achievement categories was as follows: 44 (45% of respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. ) high achievers; 22 (23%) moderate achievers; 20 (21%) moderate underachievers; 11 (11%) extreme underachievers. The number responding in each category was within 4 percentage points of the corresponding number in the original study. There were 51 female (53%) and 46 male (47%) participants, again close to the 56% vs. 44% split in the original study. Sixty-seven (69%) chose to respond to the open-ended question. Statistical Analysis Of particular interest are the following correlations, all significant at p [is less than] .001, and all accounting for at least 10% of the variance. Level of high school academic achievement was positively related to number of years of college (r = .40), to college GPA (r = .64) and to involvement in campus activities (r = .44). Campus involvement was also positively related to number of years in college (r = .51). Sureness of direction was positively related to earliness of finding direction (r = .57) and to satisfaction (r = .36). Satisfaction was also positively related to campus involvement (r = .37), but was not related to either high school or college achievement. As expected, full. time employment was negatively related to number of college years (r = -.55) and to involvement in campus activities (r = -.36). Being female was positively related to campus involvement (r = .41) and years of college (r = .34). Several relationships were significant at p [is less than].01. College GPA was positively related to number of years of college (r = .28) and campus involvement (r = .28). Campus involvement was also positively related to earliness of career direction (r = .30). Being female was positively related to both high school (r = .29) and college achievement (r = .25) and years of college (r = .34) and negatively related to years of employment (r = -.27). Comparisons using t-tests showed differences between achievers and underachievers. At p [is less than] .001, achievers had more years of college, higher college GPA, and greater campus involvement. At p [is less than] .01, achievers were more sure of career direction, and at p [is less than] .05, achievers had earlier sureness of direction. There were no differences between achievers and underachievers in number of colleges attended and number of declared majors, years of military service, years of vocational-technical training, and satisfaction. Table 1 reports comparisons between achievers and underachievers.
Table 1
Comparison of Means of Achievers and Underachievers
for Various Pairs of Variables, Each Variable
Assessed on a Scale of 1-4 (4 = Highest)
Category Achievers SD Underachievers
N=66 N=31
(M) (M)
number of colleges attended 1.32 .50 1.26
number of years of college 3.70 .74 2.74
number of declared majors 1.67 .97 1.62
years of employment 1.73 .97 2.26
college GPA(d) 3.11 .71 2.07
sureness of career direction 3.14 1.04 2.55
earliness of career direction 1.90 1.10 1.38
campus involvement 3.12 .90 2.22
years of military service .21 .85 .32
years of technical school .64 .60 .74
satisfaction with life 3.48 .53 3.33
Category SD t-value df
number of colleges attended .63 -.51 95
number of years of college 1.39 -4.41(c) 95
number of declared majors .94 -.23 90
years of employment 1.21 2.32 95
college GPA(d) .73 -6.31(c) 90
sureness of career direction 1.18 -2.49(b) 95
earliness of career direction 1.06 -1.99(a) 82
campus involvement 1.19 -3.96(c) 91
years of military service 1.05 .55 95
years of technical school .63 .80 95
satisfaction with life .76 -1.13 94
(a) p < .05 (b) p < .01 (c) p < .001 (d) 4 = GPA > 3.75; 3 = GPA 3.0-3.74; 2 = GPA 2.0-2.99; 1 = GPA < 2.0 College Attendance Of the 97 participants, 94 (96%) attended at least 1 year of college, and 68 (70%) attended 4 years. All 66 high school achievers attended college, 55 (83%) of them for 4 years. Of the 31 high school underachievers responding, 27 (87%) attended college, and 14 (52%) of those finished 4 years. Of the 11 who had been extreme underachievers, 9 (82%) attended college, 5 of the 9 attending college (56%) finished 4 years of college, 2 (22%) had 3 years, and 2 (22%) had 2 years. One of these last 2 had been in the Army for 4 years, high school extreme underachievers (including those who did not attend college) had 4 years of college at a rate of 45% versus 83% of achievers and versus 70% of the entire sample. It should be noted here that, given the range of high school academic achievement among extreme underachievers (1.65-2.74 GPA), the 7 respondents in the upper half of that category (2.35-2.74 GPA) reported an average of 3.29 years of college. The three respondents in the bottom half (1.65-2.34 GPA) averaged 1.33 years of college. Seven in the total sample had served in the military, including one who had just graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and one who had recently entered West Point. Two underachievers who were finishing 4 years of service were registered to begin college. There were differences between high school achievers and underachievers regarding type of college initially attended. A higher percentage of achievers than underachievers attended private liberal-arts institutions (35% vs. 25%), major universities (32% vs. 25%), and Ivy-League institutions (5% vs. 0%). In contrast, a higher percentage of underachievers than achievers chose non-major public institutions (50% vs. 23%). Regarding changes to other institutions, 34% of underachievers made changes vs. 18% of achievers. Of those who made changes, 50% of achievers and 50% of underachievers changed to a smaller institution. Almost all changes were to institutions closer to home and/or less expensive. Types of institutions attended by achievers and underachievers are reported in Table 2. In terms of assessing rigor rigor /rig·or/ (rig´er) [L.] chill; rigidity. rigor mor´tis the stiffening of a dead body accompanying depletion of adenosine triphosphate in the muscle fibers. , there was no attempt to determine differences regarding majors given the variety, uncertain duration, and range in number (1-6) of reported majors and the variety of institutions attended by some individuals.
Table 2
Type of College or University Attended by
Achievers and Underachievers
Type of College or University Achievers Underachievers
(N = 66) (N = 31)
Private liberal arts institution 35% 25%
Major university 32% 25%
Ivy-League institution 5% 0%
Non-major public institution 23% 50%
Other 5% 0%
changed to another institution 18% 34%
changed to a smaller institution
(of those who changed) 50% 50%
Of the 49 underachievers in the original study, 20 (41%) had ACT composite scores at or above the 90 percentile. Half (N = 10) of those participated in the follow-up study. All but 1 of those attended college, and 7 (70%) had 4 years of college. Two (50%) of the 4 extreme underachievers with scores above the 90th percentile responded and reported 4 years of college. Academic Achievement Of the 43 participants who had been high school high achievers and who reported college GPA, 20 (47%) remained high achievers in college (GPA [is greater than or equal to] 3.75), 19 (44%) became moderate achievers (GPA 3.0-3.74), and 4 (9%) became moderate underachievers (GPA 2.0-2.99). Among all who had been high school achievers (both high and moderate achievers), 14 (21%, vs. 33% in the original study) experienced episodic underachievement (at least 1 semester below 3.0 GPA) during their college years, and 13 (20%) ended as underachievers. Of all high school underachievers who attended college, 11 (41%) improved academically, with 7 (26%) becoming achievers (GPA [is greater than or equal to] 3.00). For 12 (44%), achievement level remained approximately the same, and, for 4 (15%), achievement level decreased. Regarding gender differences, female underachievers who attended college were more likely to improve than were male underachievers (60% vs. 29%) and were also more likely to become achievers than were male underachievers (50% vs. 12%). Extreme underachievers were few in number in the study; nevertheless, a higher percentage of extreme-underachiever females who attended college (66%) became achievers than did extreme-underachiever males who attended college (20%). All extreme underachievers who sustained college attendance improved to at least moderate underachievement. Of the 11 underachievers who had improved to at least a 3.25 GPA before high school graduation, 6 (55%) improved academically in college (GPA [is greater than or equal to] 3.0). Of the 7 responding underachievers who had experienced at least 1 high school semester of mostly A academic work (GPA [is greater than or equal to] 3.5), or an improvement of at least a full grade-point, 5 (71%) had higher academic achievement in college than in high school. Qualitative Analysis Qualitative Analysis Securities analysis that uses subjective judgment based on nonquantifiable information, such as management expertise, industry cycles, strength of research and development, and labor relations. of Narrative Responses Qualitative analysis of the narrative responses to the open-ended question ultimately yielded 9 clusters of challenges and adjustments, 4 of which reflect young-adult developmental tasks: establishing autonomy, finding identity, achieving the capacity for intimacy, and finding occupational direction. In the largest cluster, Establishing Autonomy, with 61% of those who responded to the open-ended question commenting, difficulties were described: I was very homesick for my family. I had to learn to take the initiative to meet people. I didn't handle the responsibility of life on my own well at all. By far the hardest adjustment was becoming psychologically independent from my parents and establishing an adult relationship with them. These are examples of responses that were placed in the Finding Identity cluster: [In a new place] you have to build yourself all over again. Taking time to grow up, discover myself--I didn't do that when my peers did. My beliefs are similar to my parents,' but now I'm finding them for myself The cluster Significant Relationships focused on romantic partnerships: Dealing with a broken engagement. Unsuccessful love relationships. Statements under Finding Career Direction included the following: Deciding what I want to do. So much pressure on what career direction you go. The five other clusters reflected general concerns. Academic Concerns included these: Academics took me by surprise. Realizing that there are a lot of people smarter than I am. Perfectionism--both blessing and curse. I had trouble budgeting my time. I also had to learn how to study. I found that 30% had attended prep schools. My preparation was inadequate by comparison. The following were typical of responses indicating difficulty regarding New Environment: Just dealing with life in a violent city. Our house was shot up. I had a hard time adjusting to the liberal atmosphere, coming from a rather conservative and nondiverse background. Social Concerns included responses such as these: Living with undesirable roommates. I knew no one. Financing Education included the following: Trying to make enough money to live on and get an education at the same time. I'd never had to worry about money, but things tightened up in college--very stressful. These responses became part of the Critical Event cluster: Having my dad marry and move from our childhood home. Dealing with realizations about my childhood and releasing anger toward my parents. Table 3 summarizes the 9 clusters and includes the percentage of participants who mentioned concerns in each cluster.
Table 3
Areas of College Adjustment or Challenge Cited in
Response to an Open-Ended Question
Adjustment or Percent of
Challenge Category Those Responding
(N = 67)
Developmental
Concerns
Establishing Autonomy(a) 61%
Significant Relationships 24%
Finding Identity 21%
Finding Career Direction 19%
Other Concerns
Academic Concerns(b) 51%
Social Concerns(c) 27%
New Environment(d) 24%
Critical Event(e) 21%
Financing Education 18%
(a) e.g., leaving home, being responsible for self, struggling with emotional independence (b) e.g., perfectionism, pressure to excel, time management, adjusting to academic rigor (c) e.g., loneliness, finding friends, problems with roommates (d) e.g, adjusting to urban violence, large campus, diversity, cynicism Cynicism See also Pessimism. Antisthenes (444–371 B. C.) Greek philosopher and founder of Cynic school. [Gk. Hist.: NCE, 121] Apemantus churlish, sarcastic advisor of Timon. [Br. Lit. , Greek life (e) e.g., severe illness, trauma, accident, addiction addiction: see drug addiction and drug abuse. , family crisis, divorce or remarriage Re`mar´riage n. 1. A second or repeated marriage. Noun 1. remarriage - the act of marrying again of parent(s) Discussion Academic Prognosis prognosis /prog·no·sis/ (prog-no´sis) a forecast of the probable course and outcome of a disorder.prognos´tic prog·no·sis n. pl. prog·no·ses 1. for Underachievers Comparing all who attended college in both groups, a smaller percentage of high school underachievers completed 4 years (52%) than did achievers (83%), and, at a significant level, achievers had more years of college 4 years after high school. However, underachievers did indeed attend college, and they had an approximately 50/50 chance of sustaining college work when they attended immediately after high school. The small, but significant, difference between achievers and underachievers in ACT scores in the original study did predict a difference in academic achievement and ability to sustain college work, as did the differences in attendance and course selection. However, the differences do not appear to reflect an extreme liability regarding underachievers' college work, including extreme underachievers, even though there were differences between achievers and underachievers regarding type of institution attended. Two of the three extreme underachievers with ACT scores above the 95th percentile graduated from major universities (the third had three years, but had depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d her funds and was taking a year off from school), and 70% of all underachievers with ACT scores above the 90th percentile had 4 college years. High ACT scores for underachievers, then, offer hope for successful college work. The fact that 26% of underachievers became academic achievers in college, and 41% performed at a higher level than they had during high school, encourages cautious optimism for high school underachievers and concerned adults. The improvement of 20% of underachievers late in high school correctly anticipated that improvement would continue for some and would begin for others. The majority of underachievers who had experienced late or episodic achievement in high school (71%, N = 7) had generally better academic achievement in college than in high school, high school improvement, then, appears to be a good predictor of later, or continued, improvement. Habits of Achievement In this study, most changes academically were in a positive direction: The percentage of underachievers who became achievers (26%, N = 7) was higher than the percentage of achievers who became underachievers (20%, N = 13). In fact, almost as many underachievers improved (41%, N = 11) as stayed the same (44%, N = 12), an encouraging statistic statistic, n a value or number that describes a series of quantitative observations or measures; a value calculated from a sample. statistic a numerical value calculated from a number of observations in order to summarize them. . Regarding decline, 4 high achievers (9% of high achievers) became underachievers in college (GPA [is less than] 3.00), and 9 moderate achievers (41% of moderate achievers) became moderate underachievers (GPA 2.0-2.99). Nevertheless, mode of achievement was fairly stable. Large numbers in both categories (52% achievers; 44% underachievers) maintained the same level of achievement in college as in high school, suggesting that habits of achievement or underachievement are related to academic performance. The narrative responses of several individuals are of interest in regard to achievement habits. Ten individuals reported a major setback setback In architecture, a steplike recession in the profile of a high-rise building. Usually dictated by building codes to allow sunlight to reach streets and lower floors, the building must take another step back from the street for every specified added height interval. after an event such as death of boyfriend, sibling sibling /sib·ling/ (sib´ling) any of two or more offspring of the same parents; a brother or sister. sib·ling n. suicide attempt suicide attempt, suicide bid n → intento de suicidio suicide attempt, suicide bid n → tentative f de suicide , debilitating de·bil·i·tat·ing adj. Causing a loss of strength or energy. Debilitating Weakening, or reducing the strength of. Mentioned in: Stress Reduction illness, or car accident. Eight of these individuals were high school achievers. Two dropped out of college for at least a semester and then returned. Both resumed academic achievement. The other six stayed in college and resumed, or sustained, their achievement level, just as achievers generally had in high school. Of the two who had been underachievers, one dropped out of college and had not yet returned. The other remained in college. The eight achievers may offer support for the idea of resilience and habits of achievement. One female high-achiever in that group reported that during her sophomore year her divorced mother, who lived in that college town, died. With her other parent far away, she was left to arrange the funeral, handle the estate, and sell the house, all while taking a heavy academic load and maintaining a high GPA. Three high school underachievers reported that they got "either As or Fs" in college courses, one of them reporting that he was as selective with his efforts as he had been in high school. Another underachiever continued to underachieve in college, yet graduated with a degree in engineering from a reputable rep·u·ta·ble adj. Having a good reputation; honorable. rep  u·ta·bil school after
4 years, positive about his school experience.
Employment during College Though finishing college in 4 years has salience sa·li·ence also sa·li·en·cy n. pl. sa·li·en·ces also sa·li·en·cies 1. The quality or condition of being salient. 2. A pronounced feature or part; a highlight. Noun 1. for those concerned with financial planning Financial planning Evaluating the investing and financing options available to a firm. Planning includes attempting to make optimal decisions, projecting the consequences of these decisions for the firm in the form of a financial plan, and then comparing future performance against , college retention, and family and personal finances, it should be recognized that not having 4 sustained college years may be due to a number of non-academic factors, including life events and lack of financial support for college, both of which were reported by several respondents. The negative relationship between full-time employment and campus involvement suggests that significant employment during college is a negative factor (cf. Ehrenberg & Sherman, 1987), since campus involvement and satisfaction were positively correlated cor·re·late v. cor·re·lat·ed, cor·re·lat·ing, cor·re·lates v.tr. 1. To put or bring into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation. 2. , a finding supported by other literature (e.g., Tinto, 1993). Developmental Tasks and Tempo The developmental concerns that became four categories of narrative responses are normal and expected in the transition into adulthood. Of interest here was their being mentioned as "most difficult challenges" in response to an open-ended question. Dissension and struggle were reflected in several responses, though some comments gave credit to conflict for facilitating developmental progress. For all who mentioned conflict with family, the conflict had been resolved. Two female high school underachievers alluded to the complex process of achieving emotional autonomy. One reported that her rebellion Rebellion Absalom conspires to overthrow father, David. [O.T.: II Samuel 15:10–18:33] Bastille Day celebration of day Paris mob stormed prison; first outbreak of French Revolution (1789). [Fr. Hist. was fully spent during high school, and she listed a respectable GPA after 4 college years. Another, after an unsuccessful and conflict-filled first college year, found success and satisfaction in horticulture horticulture [Lat. hortus=garden], science and art of gardening and of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants. Horticulture generally refers to small-scale gardening, and agriculture to the growing of field crops, usually on a large at a technical school, was raising her daughter alone, and reported an improved relationship with parents. Several individuals (all male) also reported struggling with parents' divorce, remarriage, or geographical moves during their college years. Two males who discussed sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. spoke of gradual resolution of internal conflict. It may be of interest, regarding development, that only 20% of all participants reported being married or engaged. Issues related to finding identity may be reflected in the improvement in college of a much higher percentage of underachieving females than underachieving males. For females, the college environment may have been more comfortable for both ability and achievement than was high school (cf. Silverman, 1993). I't may be surprising that nearly one third (30%) of these high-ability respondents said they were not sure at all about career direction. In contrast, 42% were very sure. Therefore, it should not be assumed that either high ability or high achievement means strong career direction: Indeed, high school achievement level was only modestly related to sureness of direction 4 years later. Some students apparently continue with college and graduate, still undirected. One underachieving female achieved well after dropping out of college, finding direction, and re-entering college. An underachieving male was successful in a school for recording arts after two abortive abortive /abor·tive/ (ah-bor´tiv) 1. incompletely developed. 2. abortifacient (1). 3. cutting short the course of a disease. a·bor·tive adj. 1. attempts at college. A National Merit finalist tried three institutions before finding both direction and fit. Nine individuals (7 achievers, 2 underachievers) attended college for 4 years, but were not sure at all about direction at graduation. Similarities and Differences When comparisons of means showed differences between achievers and underachievers, with achievers having the greater numbers, the differences were predictable: years of college, college GPA, involvement in campus activities, and sureness and early timing of career direction. The achievers' sureness and earlier determination of career direction suggest that direction may be a factor in successful achievement. Of the variables that showed no differences, satisfaction may be the most surprising. This similarity Similarity is some degree of symmetry in either analogy and resemblance between two or more concepts or objects. The notion of similarity rests either on exact or approximate repetitions of patterns in the compared items. between achievers and underachievers suggests that academic achievement does not ensure satisfaction with how life develops after high school. Social and developmental factors may contribute more significantly to satisfaction. The fact that there were no differences regarding number of colleges attended, number of declared majors, and military and vocational-technical experiences was also unexpected. Conclusions and Limitations This study found, predictably, that high school and college achievement were significantly related. However, gifted underachievers did attend college. Many achieved well, and, in general, those who improved academically during high school maintained their improved levels of performance. Nevertheless, high school underachievement appeared to be associated with risk in terms of college choice, academic achievement, and sustained college attendance. High school achievement was positively related to number of college years completed, degree of involvement in campus activities, and, at a modest level, sureness of career direction. In addition, high school achievers found direction earlier than did underachievers, and early direction was positively related to sureness of direction, supporting earlier research linking direction and academic motivation. Sureness of direction and involvement in campus activities were positively related to satisfaction, but achievement was not related to satisfaction. More than one third of all participants, including both achievers and underachievers, listed academic concerns and adjustments. The fact that academics was only one of many concerns suggests that educators and other concerned adults need to focus not only on academic readiness, but also on anticipated social adjustments and developmental issues when preparing high-ability students for college and other contexts. As did the earlier study of this group, in spite of significant differences between achievers and underachievers, the follow-up study cautions against making assumptions about the future academic work of individuals on the basis of performance at only one stage of development. The relatively high mean ACT scores of underachievers predicted their ability to do college-level academic work. A large percentage of underachievers here improved their academic performance in college. Over half of high achievers performed relatively less well in college, although the vast majority remained, by definition, achievers. The fact that this was a largely middle-class and White sample limits the ability to generalize generalize /gen·er·al·ize/ (-iz) 1. to spread throughout the body, as when local disease becomes systemic. 2. to form a general principle; to reason inductively. from the findings. However, the relative (i.e., recognizing potential within-group diversity) homogeneity Homogeneity The degree to which items are similar. helps the study to focus on similarities and differences between achievers and underachievers and on the relationship of achievement to various variables, without various potentially confounding confounding when the effects of two, or more, processes on results cannot be separated, the results are said to be confounded, a cause of bias in disease studies. confounding factor socioeconomic so·ci·o·ec·o·nom·ic adj. Of or involving both social and economic factors. socioeconomic Adjective of or involving economic and social factors Adj. 1. and cultural variables. It also may bring attention to the largely male and middle-class underachieving group whom Colangelo et al. (1993) described and whose strengths "are often ignored or go unrecognized" (Emerick, 1992, p. 140). The somewhat low response rate is another study limitation. It is possible that those who had been academically successful in college were more likely to respond to the invitation to participate than those who had not, thus skewing the findings in the direction of achievement. It is also possible that something unknown contributed to the fact that exactly 50% of those reached by phone, in the follow-up to the mailing, were underachievers, possibly contributing to a skewed skewed curve of a usually unimodal distribution with one tail drawn out more than the other and the median will lie above or below the mean. skewed Epidemiology adjective Referring to an asymmetrical distribution of a population or of data result for underachievers. Their initial lack of response may reflect a habit of underachievement. It is also important to recognize the bias inherent in the data obtained by phone, no matter how accurately the questionnaire items were communicated. The fact that GPAs were self-reported is also a limitation. In addition, the wide range of high school achievement in the underachieving group may lead to underestimating the severity of the consequences of low performance. Last, the findings regarding the narrative responses might have been different had a checklist been used instead of an open-ended question. More attention to the relationship between development and underachievement in high-ability students is needed. In addition, considering that some individuals in this study were just returning to, or beginning, college after military service or other experiences, studies focusing on more than 4 years could examine variety in developmental tempo and explore changes in motivation and achievement that occur after age 22, the general age of this study sample (cf. Rimm, 1986, regarding "late bloomers This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. "). More studies of improvement and decline in achievement are also needed in order to help educators and counselors understand these phenomena and develop effective interventions. Attention to socioeconomic factors as related to interrupted in·ter·rupt v. in·ter·rupt·ed, in·ter·rupt·ing, in·ter·rupts v.tr. 1. To break the continuity or uniformity of: Rain interrupted our baseball game. 2. college attendance is warranted as well. Based on this study, it appears that those who achieve academically in high school, on average, will continue to outperform Outperform An analyst recommendation meaning a stock is expected to do slightly better than the market return. Notes: Exact definitions vary by brokerage, but in general this rating is better than neutral and worse than buy or strong buy. underachievers academically in colleges and universities and will sustain college attendance during the four years after high school. However, there will likely be remarkable exceptions to what is typical among both achievers and underachievers. In order to avoid assumptions based on stereotypes, the adults who work with both groups would do well to remember the anomalies cited in this study; the lack of achiever-underachiever differences in number of colleges attended, number of majors, and life satisfaction; and the successes of some who did not seem promising in high school. These data also suggest that highly able students are not immune to social and emotional difficulties and significant academic adjustments during college. Curriculum geared to affective concerns can help high-ability students anticipate social adjustments and developmental challenges in college (cf. Peterson, 1990), and college personnel can also offer assistance in these areas. For underachievers, mentors can communicate some degree of optimism that improved achievement is possible. 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Silverman, L. K. (1993). Social development, leadership, and gender issues. In L. K. Silverman (Ed.), Counseling the gifted and talented (pp. 291-327). Denver, Co: Love. Smith, A. D. (1981). Two- and four-year college student attrition Attrition The reduction in staff and employees in a company through normal means, such as retirement and resignation. This is natural in any business and industry. Notes: research to the 1980s: A review. (ERIC Document: Reproduction Service No. ED 264 300). Strean, H. S. (1979). Some reflections on therapeutic work with the college dropout. Psychoanalytic psy·cho·a·nal·y·sis n. pl. psy·cho·a·nal·y·ses 1. a. The method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are Review, 66(2), 201-214. Talbot, G. L. (1990). Personality correlates and personal investment of college students who persist and achieve. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 24(1), 53-57. Thompson, M. E. (1976). Distinctive characteristics of over and underachieving students: A synthesis of the research literature. (ERIC Document: Reproduction Service No. ED 131 358). Thornton, A., Young-DeMarco, L., & Goldscheider, F. (1993). Leaving the parental nest: The experience of a young, white cohort in the 1980s. Journal of Marriage and Family, 55, 216-229. Ting, S. R. (1997). Estimating academic success in the first year of college for specially admitted White students: A model combining cognitive and psychosocial psychosocial /psy·cho·so·cial/ (si?ko-so´shul) pertaining to or involving both psychic and social aspects. psy·cho·so·cial adj. Involving aspects of both social and psychological behavior. predictors. Journal of College Student Development, 38(4), 401-409. Tinto, V. (1975). Dropouts from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89- 125. Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago. Tucker, B., & Hafenstein, N. L. (1997). Psychological intensities in young gifted children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 41(3), 66-75. Valine, W. J. (1976). A four-year follow-up study of underachieving college freshmen. Journal of College Student Personnel, 17, 309-312. Vallerand, R. J., & Senecal, C. B. (1992). Une analyse an·a·lyse v. Chiefly British Variant of analyze. analyse or US -lyze Verb [-lysing, -lysed] or -lyzing, motivationnelle de l'abandon des etudes. Apprentissage et Socialisation, 15(1), 49-62. Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation. Wesley, J. C. (1994). Effects of ability, high school achievement, and procrastinatory Pro`cras´ti`na`to`ry a. 1. Of or pertaining to procrastination; dilatory. behavior on college performance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54, 404-408. Whitmore, J. R. (1980). Giftedness, conflict, and underachievement. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Wolfe, R. N., & Johnson, S. D. (1995). Personality as a predictor of college performance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 55, 177-185. Worrell, F. C. (1996). The risk-resiliency paradigm in research on dropping out. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is a professional organization representing psychology in the US. Description and history The association has around 150,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m. , Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (ERIC Document: Reproduction Service No. ED 407 624). Manuscript submitted August, 1998. Revision accepted June, 1999. Jean Sunde Peterson is on the Counseling and Development faculty at Purdue University Purdue University (pərdy  `, -d`), main campus at West Lafayette, Ind. , Indiana. She has considerable background as a teacher
and counselor of high ability adolescents and is the author of two Talk
with Teens (Free Spirit) books.
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