School Performance: Under-Achievement

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One definition of under-achievement could be the following: "school performance, usually measured by grades that is substantially below what would be predicted on the basis of the student’s mental ability, typically measured by intelligence or standardised academic tests" (McCall 1992, pag. 54). There must be noted that there is a difference between under-achievement and low achievement, the latter refers to a situation where the pupil is achieveing to the extent of their abilities, but is well below average compared to their peers, whilst under-achievement occurs when students achievements are below what is expected according to their abilities. There are a wide range of causes of under-achievement, they are the following: fear of failure or success, fear of lack of acceptance by peer group, lack of motivation, English as a foreign language, undetected learning disabilities, inapropriate educational activities, too high or too low expectations of parents, lack of parental support for education, lack of impulse control, low risk-taking abilities, guilt for being advanced intellectually, interest in activities other than school, bullying at the school, no dream for the future and so on. The concept of educational inclusion consists of providing effective learning opportunities for all pupils regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity achievement and background. As stated in an Ofsted publication, "Equality of opportunity is a vital issue of social and economic importance to the whole of society" Gillborn, D. and Mirza, H.S. (2000). Michael Wilshaw (2013) pointed out that "the consequences of underachievement in state schools are a grave moral and political danger, as well as an economic failure. Underachievement has serious conse... ... middle of paper ... ...ll. Cohen, L. Manion, L. Morrison, K. and Wyse, D (2010) A guide to teaching practice. London: Routledge. Kovalic, Susan (2009) 'Gender Differences and Student Engagement', [Online]. Available at: http://www.leadered.com/pdf/Student%20Engagement%20and%20Gender%20white%20paper.pdf (Accessed: January 2014). Adams, Richard (2014) The guardian, Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jun/14/failure-schools-edl-michael-wilshaw?guni=Article:in%20body%20link (Accessed: January 2014). Bergqvist, Helen (2005) How do EAL students perform in MFL, Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/icpj/eal-study-resource-1: Edge Hill college. Emma Smith (2003) 'Failing boys and moral panics: perspectives on the underachievement debate', British Journal of Educational Studies, Available at: http://eprints.bham.ac.uk/1134/1/BJES_Underachievement_paper_post_print.pdf

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