Stepping in to assist underachievers before a pattern of failure becomes
engrained can lead to improved student success in school. Educators learn to identify the
prototypical causes of underachievement—including fear of failure, low self-esteem, negative
peer pressure, and lack of motivation—and then to locate the underachievers in their classrooms,
including gifted students and those eventually identified for special education. Educators then
learn to select specific research-based interventions to target those students, using the threetier
Response to Intervention (RTI) system to reverse a pattern of underachievement. Through
the combined efforts of both differentiated instruction (DI) and RTI, educators become flexible
planners who supply their students with plentiful choices and frequently monitor their students’
progress, to help them exploit their strengths and become lifelong learners. Educators explore
the crucial role of flexible groupings as an essential strategy for assisting underachievers improve
academic results. For classrooms with students below, at, and above grade level, educators
study compacting, scaffolding, and tiering strategies. For classrooms with a range of learning
preferences, educators learn techniques to accommodate them and then how to monitor
students’ progress within and beyond those preferences. This course prepares teachers to
intervene for underachievers, helping them to experience success in the classroom and the world
beyond. Less