Attention Deficit Disorder-like Behavior and Academic Achievement

Introduction

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a developmental and neurobiological condition is indicated by symptoms such as one being distracted easily, hyperactivity, and also tendency to be impulsive (Gajaria, Yeung & Goodale, 2011). ADD’s effect on how a child performs at school varies with the child’s age, size and basically on his developmental stage. Usually, people suffering from ADD rarely pay attention and will even be easily distracted. This makes persons suffering from ADD perform poorly in class work. However, even there being cases of persons with ADD performing poorly in their academics, there are not many studies linking ADD directly to poor class work results. As such, it cannot be out rightly concluded that ADD is a sure link to failure in academics. No, that is not the case. More, advanced and consistent research that could relate ADD to failure in class work would be very beneficial especially in arresting this problem beforehand.

Persons with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have a brain dysfunction coupled with little activity when compared to their colleagues considered “normal”. Moreover, they have difficulty in grasping details and being attentive, and all in all their learning is mostly shuddered. According to various reports, these kinds of people have experienced social constraints in their latter lives where they have found difficulties relating with other “normal people” (Howell, Huessy & Hassuk, 1985).

This study purposes to look at the presence of a relationship between ADD-like behaviors and class work performance. The driving force is that even the least brain dysfunction is capable of dimming a prospective bright academic future of an individual. A study that had ADD-Like behavior, being the dependant variable, and whether students who dropped out of their high schools, had poor grading in their English classes among the social environments of their classes, as independent variables, had any relation, proved positive.

Method

Participants

Participants were 216 students (54% boys, 46% girls) from one of 18 schools in northwestern Vermont. The schools were chosen in such a way to produce a reasonable cross section of rural schools within 40 miles of Burlington, Vermont. Age at first assessment, family background, racial/ethnic identity and other background variables were not assessed.

Procedure

All participants were part of a larger study conducted by Howell, Huessy and Hassuk (1985). The original study began with 501 children in the second grade and consisted of six stages of data collection: second grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, ninth grade, 12th grade, and three years after graduation. The first three assessments were collected via the child’s current teacher, the second two assessments were collected via school records and the final assessment was an extensive interview. Due to normal attrition, the sample size was reduced to 352 children by the end of the fifth grade. The present study utilizes data collected during all six collection periods and includes only those for whom complete data is available (N = 216).

Measures

Gender: The gender of the child was collected via a questionnaire completed by the child’s second grade teacher.

Grade Repetition: Whether or not the child repeated a grade during high school was assessed via school records at the end of the 12th grade.

English Level: The level of English class the child was enrolled in was assessed via the school record in the ninth grade. The three categories were: remedial, general and college preparatory.

English Grade: The grade the child received in English during the ninth grade was assessed via school records. Grades were: A, B, C, D, or F.

Social Adjustment Problems: Whether or not the child exhibited any social adjustment problems in the ninth grade was assessed via school records. A child was considered to have a social adjustment problem if there were at least two notations in the record of infractions like disruptive classroom behavior, truancy, or setting fires in trash cans.

High School Dropout Status: Whether or not the participant dropped out before completing high school was obtained from the interview conducted approximately three years post high school graduation.

ADD-like Behavior Score: ADD-like behavior score is the average of three scores obtained during the second, fourth and fifth grades. Each child’s current teacher was asked to complete the form. The diagnostic instrument was a 21-item questionnaire that tapped behavioral components commonly associated with ADD. Teachers rated each child on a scale from 1 (low behavior) to 5 (high behavior), where 3 indicated an “average” level of behavior. For each of the three assessments, the 21 items were summed to obtain a total score. The score used in the present study reflect an average of these three assessments. Howell et al. (1985) report high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from .93–.96 across the three assessments), and good validity for the measure.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ): IQ was assessed via a group administered Intelligence Test.

Grade Point Average (GPA): Overall high school GPA was collected from school records at the end of the 12th grade. GPA was calculated using the following scale: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0.

Results

Descriptive Statistics

After conducting an analysis for descriptive statistics, the following findings were recorded: ADD-like behavior mean score was 52.85, SD 10.45.The IQ mean score stood at 102.35, SD 12.58 while the 9th Grade mean GPA was 2.44, SD .85. Variances were as follows: ADD-like behavior scored at 109.25, IQ score at 157.69 while the 9th Grade scored at 7.1. In ranges, ADD-like behavior scored at 52.00, IQ scored had a range of 82 while 9th Grade GPA had a range of 3.75. Of the total 216 students, 53.7 percent (116) were males and the rest 100 students (46.3 percent) were females. One hundred and ninety-six (196) students (90.7%) of the total 216 never repeated a grade unlike their fellow 20 students (9.3%) who repeated in one grade or more. Clearly, 29 students (13.4) qualified for the college prep 9th English level. The 29 qualified students were a comparison to the 154 students (71.3%) who had a general English level at the 9th Grade, and also to the 33 students (15.3%) who had attained the remedial English level of the 9th Grade.

Thirteen (13) percent (28 students) attained A in their 9th Grade English while 38 percent (82 students) had B and 36.1 percent (78 students) had C. Twenty-five (25) students (11.6%) got D, while their fellow 3 students (1.4%) had F in the same English of the 9th Grade. In the social adjustment problem analysis in the 9th Grade, 25 students (11.6%) had a positive response. One hundred and ninety-one (191) students (88.4%) had no social adjustment problem in the 9th

Grade. Only 20 students (9.3%) of the 216 participating in this study had a high school drop-out otherwise, the rest 196 students (90.7%) never dropped out of high school.

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