Academic underachievement is a national problem according to the U.S. Department of Education (1993) report, National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent. The report states that 40% of the top 5% of high school graduates will not graduate from college. Not only is underachievement a problem among gifted students, it also appears to be a problem at all ability levels. A report by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (1996) indicates that by the fourth grade, the performance of most American children has dropped below grade level; it has also dropped below the performance level of fourth graders from other countries, many of which are our economic competitors.

This article focuses on the learning style preferences of achieving and underachieving gifted middle school students. Learning style was determined through administration of the Learning Style Inventory (LSI). Both groups of participants revealed several learning style preferences that were quite similar. However, examination of LSI profiles revealed some differences between achievers and underachievers in preferences for quiet or sound, flexibility or structure in assignments, and level of need for mobility. Many low achievers showed a strong need for tactile and kinesthetic modalities; intake of food, drinks, or both; sound in the learning environment; informal seating design; and dim lighting. The low achievers did not perceive themselves to be persistent, and scores revealed that they needed structure in assignments. Persistence seemed to be a key to success for the achieving learners in this study since they were able to maintain high academic performance in all content areas. Over half of the low achievers, on the other hand, did not judge themselves to be successful at task completion.

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