Academic motivation is an important determinant of success for many areas in a student's life, including task persistence, academic performance, and college choices (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Academic motivation is also specifically significant for gifted students, as it is the strongest predictor for academic achievement of gifted students after accounting for socioeconomic differences (Clemons, 2008). McCall, Evahn, and Kratzer (1992) found that high school students' academic achievement was more closely correlated with students' college and career success than ability. Even though academic motivation and achievement are critical for future success, not all gifted students are motivated to achieve in school. Controversy persists in the field over the proportion of underachieving gifted students; estimates range from 10% (Matthews & McBee, 2007) to 50% (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). What is clear is that many gifted students are underachieving. This underachievement has negative effects on both the individual and society (Peterson & Colangelo, 1996;Trostel, 2007); therefore, it is important to understand what motivates gifted students to do well in school.McCoach and Siegle ( 2003) investigated the differences between gifted achievers and nonachievers, and from their study, they developed the Achievement Orientation Model (see Figure 1), which posits that students are engaged and motivated to do well in school when they believe they have the necessary skills to perform the task (self-efficacy), they find the task meaningful (goal/task valuation), and they see their environment as supportive (environmental perception). When these factors are present, they ultimately regulate themselves to complete the task (self-regulation; Siegle, 2013;Siegle & McCoach, 2005). This model served as a theoretical foundation to this study by suggesting variables that lead to academic motivation. Teachers can influence the components of the Achievement Orientation Model by encouraging students and recognizing growth (building selfefficacy), making the content relevant for the students (creating task valuation), and shaping the students' environment (fostering a positive environmental perception). Understanding how teachers can affect academic motivation 513496G CQXXX10.

Although there are several explanations for why one succeeds or fails, effort and ability are the major causes that students report. The purpose of the present study was to measure the perceptions of 149 college freshmen enrolled in a university honors program about their skills in 15 talent areas. In addition, this study explored the relationship of interests and ability and effort attributions with self-efficacy and investigated gender differences in these perceptions. There was a positive relationship between students’ interest in a talent area and their assessment of their skill in that area. The strongest relationships tended to be in nonacademic areas. For some talents, males placed stronger attributions on the role that natural ability played, whereas females indicated that personal effort contributed to high levels of performance. Participants’ implicit theory of intelligence did not appear to influence their perceptions of the importance of ability in academic performance. Putting the Research to Use Educators and parents must recognize the important role interest plays in student achievement. Interest is one of the single best predictors of high performance in a variety of talent areas. For gifted students to sustain the effort necessary to reach high levels of academic rigor, they must either be interested in the topic or find the task meaningful. Educators may need to modify their instruction and curriculum to capitalize on student interests. Gifted students appear to be aware of their high ability and view it as contributing to their success. Although some researchers have cautioned against recognizing student ability at the peril of diminishing the importance of effort, educators and parents should not be fearful of discussing the role ability plays in gifted students’ performances, while also emphasizing the importance of hard work and perseverance.

Parents are instrumental in the development of their children. Parental involvement and support are foundational to schools' ability to promote student achievement, motivation,

Much has been written about the relationship of giftedness and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as the relationship between ADHD and underachievement. The present study examined whether students who were identified as gifted underachievers were more likely to manifest symptoms of ADHD, as measured by the ADHD-IV. Over half of the gifted underachievers met the screening criteria for ADHD based on teacher reports, and almost 30% of the gifted underachievers met the screening criteria for ADHD based on parent reports. Most of these students had elevated scores on the inattention scale. The prevalence of inattention was over 2 times as high as the prevalence in the norming sample using the teacher rating scales and over 5 times as high as the prevalence in the norming sample using the parent rating scales. Although parents and teachers rated students similarly on the hyperactivity scale, teachers rated students as more inattentive than parents did. However, elevated parent ratings of inattention negatively predicted students’ self-regulation, goal valuation, and self-efficacy. Self-regulation was most strongly related to inattention. We cannot know whether the gifted underachievers with high inattention scores have undiagnosed ADHD. However, our results suggest that a substantial percentage of gifted underachievers exhibit attentional problems at home, and that these attentional problems are severe enough to merit further examination.