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Ciarra Willetts

Mrs. Crist

English IV

16 November 2018

ADHD in Schools

Everyone knows that the pre-school years are the building blocks of a child's life. But

what about the children who are academically compromised before they even get the chance to

try? Kids who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, more commonly

known as ADHD, have a hard time acquiring these important skills that help them along their

academic career. The awareness of ADHD is an ever-growing thing in school systems across

America with the help of special education programs and 504 plans in general education

classrooms, but it is still necessary to create more school-wide interventions and to supply

teachers with training for dealing with ADHD students. School-wide interventions can be an

extremely potent presence when they are given consistently and correctly.

Teachers that are willing to work with the students that have ADHD and a school

administration that supports interventions are tremendously important for such interventions to

succeed. Many teachers lack a basic understanding of ADHD and that can be a major hurdle in

the classroom when they try to help their students. Some ways to educate teachers about ADHD

would be district-wide training classes for all teaching personnel and having a psychologist work

with teachers, both general and special education, in a routine fashion to evaluate student needs

and create and execute the interventions (Pfiffner, DuPaul, Barkley pg. 9.)
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Classroom changes are not likely to make impactful differences without a natural

alteration in the educational system as a whole. Potential areas of change would be enhancing the

teaching of the adults at the school, more communication between family, guidance counselors,

doctors and therapists, and better following a child's progress. The best outcomes for kids with

ADHD require good communication between their family, the school, and health care providers.

(Pfiffner et al. pg. 11.)

Medication helps but only with certain symptoms and not with learning and applying

knowledge. In long studies, people are not getting good results even on medication. A lot of

studies do not have a true a non-treatment group so we do not know if they are correct. Since

some people do not follow up, academics do not know if continuing treatment would have been

effective (Pfiffner et al. pg 18.)

Behavioral management strategies is equal or better than medication in improving

relationships with authority figures like parents (Pfiffner et al. pg 15.) The problem with

behavioral interventions is that they do not show the long-term impact on behavior and academic

outcomes. Behavioral parent training, behavioral classroom interventions, positive reinforcement

and response cost contingencies, are effective in reducing core ADHD symptoms. But

medication works better than behavioral things for the core symptoms.

Because ADHD is not something that can be cured and affects multiple parts of a

patient's life, it is not that big of a jump to assume that multiple types of treatment are needed.

Researchers have not looked at how multiple treatments affect long-term academic outcomes,

but what they have studied shows a small and questionable change. When both treatments were

combined behavioral intervention added particular areas of improvement, for example, teacher-
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rated social skills, academics, parent-child relationships, and the top outcomes were

accomplished by combining both types of treatment.

ADHD is not a condition that can be cured and those who have it are still normal, even if

they are not society's normal. Interventions are a tremendous help to the students who have

ADHD, whether they be pharmaceutical or behavioral or both. Training teachers and giving

them adequate resources is crucial to give students with ADHD a support network which will

help them succeed.

Works Cited
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“Chapter 15 Treatment of Adhd in School Settings.” Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,

third ed., The Guilford Press, 2006, pp. 1–19.

Loe, et al. “Academic and Educational Outcomes of Children With ADHD.” OUP Academic,

Oxford Academic, 14 June 2007, academic.oup.com/jpepsy/article/32/6/643/1021192.

Daley, Dave, and James Birchwood. ADHD and Academic Performance: Why Does ADHD

Impact on Academic Performance and What Can Be Done to Support ADHD Children in

the Classroom?c. Blackwell Publishing, 13 Oct. 2009,

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c0ef/bfe63368b0f0ce2b62616a44b4e91c029b54.pdf