Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Achievement vs Intelligence

I'm looking for any books that can help me understand the achievement vs intelligence gap that occurs with some children. It seems like most the books on child development, gifted children discuss issues that occur when IQ is greater than achievement. Yet,I'm actually looking for information on the reverse situation (i.e. IQ < achievement). I have seen a couple of books that address that this does happen but not in detail nor any theory as to why. I appreciate any resources that you can suggest!

Gladwell's "Outliers" is an interesting read. His thesis is that its an environment that rewards hard work. The section on schools that cater to inner city kids may be what you are looking for.

I like this book a lot:

http://www.amazon.com/Better-Surgeons-Performance-Atul-Gawande/dp/0312427654/ref=pd_sim_b_1

The section on Surgeons in India is very interesting because they have no resources, yet do astonishing things.

IMHO, people rise very far when they are constantly placed in very challenging situations that almost (but not) overwhelm them with mentors who can listen to them and guide them and who they listen to.

The book �Smart Boys� by Barbara A. Kerr, Ph.D. and Sanford J. Cohn, Ph.D. has a short section that addresses causes of �overachievement� which they define as when a child�s academic performance is higher than that predicted by psychological tests.

The two main categories are;

1. The Student has test Anxiety (Self explanatory)

2. The Student is Benefiting from a Reputation or Halo Effect
This could be caused by older siblings, family reputation or high interpersonal skills.

I agree with Eema on this one, some kids just don't test well. I think that IQ tests are useful when show that a child IS gifted, but I don't think that they are reliable enough to PROVE that a child isn't gifted.

In the end, I see gifted as a child having special educational needs that are unlikely to be met in her neighborhood school without substantial modification.

I think that achievement is a very different thing than high IQ. High achievement can occur with a hard working person once the range of IQ gets into the 120s. If that person is also very creative, then unquie high achievement can certianly start in the 120s of IQ. Take a look at Dr. Deb Ruf's 'Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children left behind' and there is a list of very important and successful achievers with 120 and up IQs in the back.

IQ and success in life are generally related when you look at large groups of people, but for any individual, there is quite a range.

In the end, if you really want to know if your child is 'gifted' IQ wise, let him have a chance to do academics a few years ahead of himself. If he still rises to the top of the class, then you can assume he's gifted and just not testing well for whatever reason. If he is wearing himself out or not performing well, then you still don't know for sure, but you have another datapoint.

I hope that helps!
Grinity

I third that! A lot more than intelligence goes into achievement.

[quote=Austin]
Gladwell's "Outliers" is an interesting read.

I love this book and would love to discuss it with someone who has read it.

Ellipses - here's a thread from this forum on Outliers:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/34681/1.html

Thanks St. Pauli!

I began working directly after college in 1982. I have seen such a change in work ethics since then. More often, students from Asia were the employees moving up in the work force. I have become close with them and we talked about backgrounds. Their attitudes are very different than ours. I have applied many of their attitudes and ideas to raising my daughter and it has helped. My white American friends raise their children quite differently and their children have not turned out as well. I have seen so many highly gifted kids who are doing nothing or worse.

Ellipses, what do you see as the key differences between Asian parents and what they are doing and American parents?

I was one of those not great test takers, ok I am not gifted LOL. But school came easy for me, I hardly studied have an MA. But I didn't even break a 1000 on the SATs. I just hated tests like that. But if I knew what I needed to study then I would do great. So am I naturally smart eh I would say no, but if I know what to study I will do great. So IQ tests are not the end all and be all.