They also are more likely to receive special education services, be retained for a grade and drop out before graduation. Improving academic achievement is important for children with ADHD because compared to their peers, children with ADHD exhibit more off-task classroom behavior, receive lower grades, and obtain lower scores on tests. For example, medication helped children increase on average 1.7 percentage points out of 100 on science and social studies tests. Additionally, consistent with previous studies, researchers found that medication slightly helped to improve test scores when medication is taken on the day of a test, but not enough to boost most children’s grades. When taking medication, children completed 37 percent more arithmetic problems per minute and committed 53 percent fewer classroom rule violations per hour. While medication did not improve learning, the study showed that medication helped children complete more seatwork and improve their classroom behavior, as expected. Contrary to expectations, researchers found that children learned the same amount of science, social studies, and vocabulary content whether they were taking the medication or the placebo. Each child was randomized to be medicated with a sustained-release stimulant medication during either the first or second of the instructional phases, receiving a placebo during the other. Certified teachers and aides taught the material to groups of 10-14 children in a classroom setting. The instruction provided to each student during the three-week phases was at their determined grade level. Children completed two consecutive phases of daily, 25-minute instruction in vocabulary and subject-area content in science and social studies. “Unfortunately, we found that medication had no impact on learning of actual curriculum content.” Researchers evaluated 173 children between the ages of 7 and 12 with ADHD participating in the center’s Summer Treatment Program, a comprehensive eight-week summer camp program for children with ADHD and related behavioral, emotional and learning challenges. Pelham, Jr., senior author of the study and director at the Center for Children and Families. “Physicians and educators have held the belief that medication helps children with ADHD learn because they complete more seatwork and spend more time on-task when medicated,” said William E. are diagnosed with ADHD and more than 90 percent of them are prescribed stimulant medication as the main form of treatment in school settings because most physicians believe that medication will result in better academic achievement. Approximately 10 percent of children in the U.S.
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