San,
There is so much data out there to back up the idea that highly gifted kids will act out when they are educationally unchallenged and academically misplaced. I have been collecting just such data, so I will try to find all of my bookmarks for you. Here are a quick few that I can find immediately.
http://www.hoagiesgifted.com/underserved.htmhttp://www.giftedkids.ie/08%20April%20Newsletter.pdf (scroll down until you get to the Falling By the Wayside article)
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10241.aspxAlso damaging is when adults ignore high level ability and focus instead on perceived emotional immaturity, behaviour problems or social immaturity. Underestimation of ability can result in a rapid decline in self-esteem and consequently self-confidence.
Even more damage can result when adults ignore a child's high level ability and focus instead of weaknesses in areas of slower development. A child's giftedness may even go unnoticed, eclipsed by behavior problems, physical weakness, or social immaturity. Whitmore (1980) gives the example of Bobby, with an IQ of 153, who spent a second year in the first grade as a result of his disruptive behavior and his failure to complete daily classroom work. A teacher's underestimate of a child's ability can trigger a rapid decline in self-esteem. Pringle (1970) found, for example, that most of the 103 bright children brought to a clinic because of general maladjustment had teachers who underestimated their ability. The most frequent symptom presented by these able misfits was a lack of confidence.
And here is an interesting article on how gifted kids differ emotionally from ND kids. It is called the funnel theory. I'm not completely sold on it, and it seems a little bit simplistic. But it is a great place to start when thinking about the emotional needs of gifted kids.
http://www.shulamit.info/funnel.htmHope this helps some. I will try to look up other references and post them later.
