What Underachieving
Middle School Students
Believe Motivates them to Learn

Chapter 1: The Challenge to Educate Everyone

Chapter 2: A Review of Literature

Chapter 3: Methods

Chapter 4: The Results

Chapter 5: Discussion

References

Appendixes
     The Pilot Study
     Identifying Students
     Consent Forms
     Characteristics
     Sample Transcript
     Sample Field Notes

Biography

Appendix D

Characteristics of Underachieving Students Checklist

Characteristic Checklist

Underachieving Middle School Student Study

Please rate each child on each of these factors on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Use 0 (zero) if you are unsure or don’t know.

Student's primary social group is outside of the school

Student participates in little or no extracurricular activities

Student socializes with delinquents and/or students who have a poor achievement orientation

Student's need for peer acceptance and relations outweighs his or her academic concerns about school and achievement

Student lives in one or more risk factors (e.g., poverty, single-parent family, poorly educated parent(s), etc.)

Student's home life is stressful

Low parental educational level

Student has one parent in the home

Student has little parental/family supervision; poor family relations

Parental expectations for student are too low or unrealistic

Low socioeconomic status

Communication between home and school is poor

Morale among teachers, school personnel, and/or students is low

Student motivation is consistently low

Student has negative attitude toward school

Student cannot tolerate structured and/or passive activities

Student relates poorly to authority or adult figures (e.g., teachers, parents, administrators)

Student has experienced emotional trauma (on more than one occasion, consistently, or frequently)

Student has low self-esteem

Student has low academic and/or social self-concepts

Student attributes failure to lack of ability; attributes success to luck or easy task

Student consistently seeks immediate gratification

Student's learning style preferences are inconsistent with teaching styles

Student suffers from test or evaluative anxiety

Student has a learning disability

Student has low grades or grade point average

Student exerts little effort on school tasks

Student avoids challenging work

Student bores easily; dislikes drill work and rote practices

Student disrupts the classroom

Student procrastinates on school assignments

Student has poor study and/or test taking skills

 

From REVERSING UNDERACHIEVEMENT AMONG GIFTED BLACK STUDENTS: PROMISING

PRACTICES AND PROGRAMS by D. Y. Ford, 1996.

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Last updated April 25, 2001
Mike Muir
Assistant Professor of Education
University of Maine at Farmington
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