[pfarnsworth]

A lot of this is due to self-esteem. Once they've internalized that they are "dumb", they don't even bother trying because they don't think trying will affect the outcome. It's really sad to see. They need to learn to derive some sort of self-esteem from studying, regardless of the outcome, so that's why praising effort and getting these students to acquire self-esteem from effort instead of results is so very important for success. Once they get the self-esteem from trying, then the results will naturally follow and it turns into a virtuous circle.