Page 20 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 20
abandon their schooling at a level that is too low for their skills and objective
potential, and when they leave the educational process earlier than would be
optimal according to their subjective and objective needs’.
Of course, any of these definitions can be accepted, and anyone who fails
to achieve the predetermined levels on certain assessment scales can be de-
fined as an underachiever. However, the aim here is to maintain a broader
perspective and expand the definition of underachievers. What individuals
perceive as underachievement (also) depends on their subjective views. In ac-
cordance with their past experience and their own acquired beliefs on what is
important, they also evaluate their performance in a certain field, in this par-
ticular case within education. What is considered underachievement for one
person might be a satisfactory achievement for another.
Whether or not an underachiever is concerned also depends on the con-
text in which this occurrence is observed. If an individual is part of a school
where the majority of students are high achievers (in Slovenia this would
mean, for instance, the average grade of more than 4 on the scale of 1-5), it
is more likely that grade 2 will be understood as underachievement (both in
20 the individual him/herself, as well as teachers, schoolmates and wider society).
Another important factor to consider is whether performance is viewed from
the perspective of the entire population. There is no doubt that in any school
there are students whose performance is extremely low in comparison with
the performance of their contemporaries. However, their performance would
not necessarily be perceived as low if comparisons were made as part of na-
tional examinations or international comparative assessment studies. The so-
called ‘social comparison processes’ or ‘evaluations of one’s own views, perfor-
mance or behaviour in comparison with others’ are defined by Marsh (1990)
in the big-fish-little-pond effect model and the internal/external frame of ref-
erence model; by means of these two models he explains that the learning
self-concept is positively correlated with students’ individual learning out-
comes, and negatively with the average student achievement of the school or
class in which the student belongs (Pečjak and Košir, 2002).
Study results also reveal that achievement in international comparative
assessment studies and students’ school grades are not in complete agree-
ment. They indicate that in addition to assessing students’ acquired knowl-
edge and skills, teachers often also assess other students’ characteristics. Ac-
cordingly, analyses of additional questionnaires, used in PISA (2009), indicate
teachers often better assess girls and students from socially and economically
privileged backgrounds, although they do not demonstrate better knowledge
or skills than boys or students from socially and economically less privileged
backgrounds (OECD, 2013).
Some researchers have focused their studies on identifying students who
could potentially become underachievers. This was done by analysing the fac-
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
potential, and when they leave the educational process earlier than would be
optimal according to their subjective and objective needs’.
Of course, any of these definitions can be accepted, and anyone who fails
to achieve the predetermined levels on certain assessment scales can be de-
fined as an underachiever. However, the aim here is to maintain a broader
perspective and expand the definition of underachievers. What individuals
perceive as underachievement (also) depends on their subjective views. In ac-
cordance with their past experience and their own acquired beliefs on what is
important, they also evaluate their performance in a certain field, in this par-
ticular case within education. What is considered underachievement for one
person might be a satisfactory achievement for another.
Whether or not an underachiever is concerned also depends on the con-
text in which this occurrence is observed. If an individual is part of a school
where the majority of students are high achievers (in Slovenia this would
mean, for instance, the average grade of more than 4 on the scale of 1-5), it
is more likely that grade 2 will be understood as underachievement (both in
20 the individual him/herself, as well as teachers, schoolmates and wider society).
Another important factor to consider is whether performance is viewed from
the perspective of the entire population. There is no doubt that in any school
there are students whose performance is extremely low in comparison with
the performance of their contemporaries. However, their performance would
not necessarily be perceived as low if comparisons were made as part of na-
tional examinations or international comparative assessment studies. The so-
called ‘social comparison processes’ or ‘evaluations of one’s own views, perfor-
mance or behaviour in comparison with others’ are defined by Marsh (1990)
in the big-fish-little-pond effect model and the internal/external frame of ref-
erence model; by means of these two models he explains that the learning
self-concept is positively correlated with students’ individual learning out-
comes, and negatively with the average student achievement of the school or
class in which the student belongs (Pečjak and Košir, 2002).
Study results also reveal that achievement in international comparative
assessment studies and students’ school grades are not in complete agree-
ment. They indicate that in addition to assessing students’ acquired knowl-
edge and skills, teachers often also assess other students’ characteristics. Ac-
cordingly, analyses of additional questionnaires, used in PISA (2009), indicate
teachers often better assess girls and students from socially and economically
privileged backgrounds, although they do not demonstrate better knowledge
or skills than boys or students from socially and economically less privileged
backgrounds (OECD, 2013).
Some researchers have focused their studies on identifying students who
could potentially become underachievers. This was done by analysing the fac-
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
