Why are Irish traveller students one of the lowest underachieving ethnic groups? What are the existing barriers causing them to underachieve?

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW1

2.1: INTRODUCTION1

2.2: DISCUSSION1

2.3: Student Underachievement1

2.4: Racism3

2.5: Mobility4

2.6: Teachers Perceptions5

2.7: Role of Family Relations6

2.8: Peer Influence or Peer Pressure7

2.9: Motivation7

2.10: Classroom Environment8

2.11: Gypsy Traveller parents9

2.12: Gender Differences10

2.13: Identity12

2.14 CONCLUSION14

REFERENCES15

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1: Introduction

This chapter of the study intends to inculcate the explanation of different impressions relating to the underachievement of Irish Traveller Students. Moreover, the body of the research will incorporate the notions attached to meet the pretext of the paper. As these notions, will help develop an effective and efficient understanding of the existing barriers due to which the Irish Travller Students fails to achieve the results as per their potential or like the other ethnic groups.

2.2: Discussion

2.3: Student Underachievement

Changing schools affects children both academically and psychologically as highly mobile students are thought to be more educationally at risk than their more stable counterparts. Similarly, schools with high percentages of transient students are found to be disadvantaged when aggregate test scores are used as indicators of school performance. This research was directly related to student achievement in relation to the gypsy students (McCoach & Siegle 2003). The experts tends to render the opinion that in this time of high accountability for schools there was a growing societal focus on academic programs and how children perform both individually and as a group. Previous researches in this regard highlighted mobility as the major factor behind the underachievement of the Irish Traveller students (Winebrenner & Berger 1994, p. 99-103). Thus, before moving further in the context of the paper it is necessary to review the existing literature in order to lay the foundation for highlighting the barriers as well as how to overcome those barriers.

However, the exact impact mobility had on student achievement was unclear. In addition, it was not understood what student mobility was outside of its association with multiple other characteristics (e.g., poverty, military, disaster refugees, etc). Plus, in order to analyze the underachievement of the Irish Traveller students (White Gypsies) it is important to define or cultivate an effective and efficient understanding of the term 'achievement'. Underachievement is not always an easy task because postulating a working definition with so many variables involved in defining underachievement is difficult (Siegle & McCoach 2002, p. 67-73). Whitmore further stated that it is reasonable to assume there exists various ranges of underachievement. For example, he found underachievement to range from mild to severe based on a traveller child potential or IQ scores.

Schneider (2001) and Delisle and Berger (1990) suggested that underachievement is generally measured by discrepancies between IQ and grades, or IQ and achievement test scores. Schneider (2001) went on to say that IQ scores derived from individually administered tests as compared to group test scores make a difference in defining underachievement. Schneider further argued that individual test scores are preferable to group scores because performance potentials of creative students are often higher than IQ scores ...