Academic developmental patterns of the Korean gifted during the 18 years after identification

Academic developmental patterns of the 63 gifted and their behavioral and affective characteristics were studied with a retrospective approach. They were identified 18 years ago through either a national plan (National Plan Cohort) or a private gifted education center (Private Center Cohort). Growth Modeling for the academic achievement revealed that most of them did not achieve as high as their early promise predicted. Cluster analysis found four patterns: the Full-bloomer, the Good-achiever, the Fade-away, and the Late-bloomer. The four clusters were not significantly different from each other by the level of giftedness, but by their membership in a cohort. They were similar in self-study hours during schooling and affective characteristics, such as self-concept, self-efficacy, beliefs about their individual’s intellectual ability, achievement motivation, and attitude toward school. Compared to other clusters, the salient characteristic of the Full-bloomer was the significantly more number of books they read during their early years. They could have consistently achieved highly because of the accumulation of advantages in spite of their unchallenging school education.