Can Personal Goal Setting Tap the Potential of the Gifted Underachiever?

Although underachieving gifted students have been largely ignored in empirical research, there has been a modest surge of interest in describing and "treating" this population in recent years. It is estimated that nearly half of gifted youth achieve significantly below their potential. In the realm of school psychology, gifted children have special needs that must be addressed. In this article, gifted underachievement is briefly reviewed, and personal goal setting is explored as a possible intervention. Goal setting's applicability is reviewed in light of recent expressive writing, neuropsychology, and goal-theory literature. Although personal goal-setting exercises are often reserved for young adults, the reported heightened metacognitive capabilities of gifted children indicate that they might benefit from this type of focus much earlier.