  urlLink New Perspectives on Counseling Underachievers.  ERIC Digest.  This ERIC Digest is by Bleuer,  Jeanne C.  and Walz,  Garry R.
 It deals with ways counselors can help those low achieving students who can do better.  From the ERIC Digest:  Too often parents,  teachers,  and even counselors,  assume that underachievers are students who can,
 but simply don't ( or won't)  achieve.  Mandel and Marcus ( 1995,  p.
 4)  identified six types of underachievers:  1)  Coasters,  those who are the ultimate procrastinators -  easy-
going and unmotivated;  2)  Anxious Underachievers,  those who want to do better but are too tense and uptight to work effectively;  3)  Identity-
Searchers,  those who are so wrapped up in figuring out who they are that they become distracted from schoolwork;  4)  Wheeler- Dealers,  those who are impulsive,
 manipulative,  and so intent on instant gratification that they see no point in doing well in school;  5)  Sad Underachievers,  those who lack the energy needed for schoolwork because of their depression and low self- esteem;
 and 6)  Defiant Underachievers,  those who underachieve as an act of rebellion.  Of these,  only the " coasters"
 and the " defiant underachievers"  clearly fit the stereotype.  The priorities of the " identity- searchers"
 and " wheeler dealers"  make it difficult for them to focus on achievement;  and the situation of the " anxious underachievers"  and the "
sad underachievers"  could almost be described as,  " They can,  but they can't.
