Consultation-Based Academic Interventions for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Effects on Reading and Mathematics Outcomes at 1-Year Follow-Up.

Abstract The purpose of this follow-up study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two consultation-based models to enhance the educational functioning of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after 1 year of no treatment. Children (N--167) meeting Diagnostic Statistical Manual (4th ed., text revision; 2000) criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were randomly assigned to one of two consultation groups: traditional data-based academic intervention, which consisted of interventions based on consultant-teacher collaboration, representing "consultation as usual," or intensive data-based academic intervention, which consisted of interventions using a data-based decision-making model involving ongoing feedback to teachers. Teachers implemented academic interventions over 15 months, and all children were assessed 1 year following the suspension of treatment. A variety of academic outcomes were assessed on five occasions (baseline, 3 months, 12 months, 15 months, and 1-year follow-up). Although previously published reports of this sample using hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated comparable significant positive growth for the majority of these dependent variables for both intervention groups, the findings of this follow-up study using hierarchical linear modeling found significant growth trajectories for only 2 of 16 dependent variables. These findings highlight the need for sustained intervention efforts to ameliorate the educational functioning of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ********** Students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) typically exhibit developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity, and motor activity (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). As a function of these symptomatic behaviors, children and adolescents with ADHD are at higher than average risk to experience significant academic difficulties throughout their school years (DuPaul & Stoner, 2003). In fact, the standardized mean difference in achievement between students with and without ADHD is in the moderate to large range (d = 0.71; Frazier, Youngstrom, Glutting, & Watkins, 2007). It is not surprising then that children with ADHD are at significant risk for grade retention and school dropout (Barbaresi, Katusic, Colligan, Weaver, & Jacobson, 2007). Thus, it is critical for school psychologists and other education professionals to develop and implement interventions that are effective in ameliorating these students' academic difficulties. Unfortunately, the most common treatments (i.e., psychostimulant medication and behavior management strategies) for ADHD are limited in their effect on academic performance (Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD [MTA] Cooperative Group, 1999, 2004). Initial support for interventions directly addressing the academic deficits experienced by students with ADHD has come from single-subject and small-sample research design studies examining strategies such as classwide peer tutoring (DuPaul, Ervin, Hook, & Mc-Goey, 1998), computer-assisted instruction (Clarfield & Stoner, 2005), self-regulated strategy for written expression (Reid & Lienemann, 2006), and homework support (Power, Karustis, & Habboushe, 2001). Although findings from these short-term intervention studies have been promising, the need for longitudinal investigation of academic interventions with this population is particularly acute given the chronicity of symptomatic behaviors and academic deficits associated with ADHD. Recently, DuPaul et al. (2006) and Jitendra et al. (2007) reported the results of a longitudinal investigation comparing two different models of school-based consultation on the academic achievement of 167 elementary school children (Grades 1-4) with ADHD who were also experiencing significant difficulties in reading, mathematics, or both. Students were randomly assigned to one of two consultation groups--Intensive Data-Based Academic Intervention (IDAI) and Traditional Data-Based Academic Intervention (TDAI)--and received intervention in reading, mathematics, or both from their classroom teachers. …