Research Bytes
ADHD Drop-Out Rates
Having ADHD may make teens less likely to finish high school, says a new University of California, Davis study. According to the study, published in the July issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research, almost a third of students with ADHD do not graduate with their peers. “That’s high compared with the national high-school dropout rate of 15 percent,” says lead author Dr. Joshua Breslau.
People with ADHD may have trouble focusing, controlling impulsive behaviors, and/or are overly active. When looking at the different types of ADHD, the study found all types associated with a high dropout rate.
The study also found students who use alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs are at greater risk for dropping out. “Psychiatric disorders have an adverse effect on education,” Breslau says. “There are really two main disorders, ADHD and conduct disorder, and there is an interlinking of smoking and drop out that is troubling.”
Researchers say parents need to make sure they are working together with their schools so that the pediatrician and the child’s teacher are communicating about the child’s medical health and performance in school. “We need to better integrate school health with what schools do, education,” says Breslau.
Summer Reading Closes Achievement Gap
If you’re that parent who struggled to get your child to crack a book this summer, you’re about to reap the reward for fighting the good fight. According to the National Summer Learning Association, students who don’t engage in reading during the summer months lose the equivalent of two months of reading and spelling skills by the time they return to the classroom in the fall. Those that do read during the off months gain about a month.
Although the summer slide is greatest among low-income children whose exposure to reading materials at home is limited, the antidote for all kids is the same: provide access to books that kids are interested in reading. Researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville recently completed a three-year study comparing students who were given books of their own choosing to take home for the summer with those who were not offered books. Their findings, confirming earlier studies, found that summer reading was definitely beneficial. In fact, this study found that summer reading was just as effective, if not more than attending summer school. Says lead researcher Richard Allenton, “We found our intervention was less expensive and less extensive than either providing summer school or engaging in comprehensive schools reform.”
So make sure that your child spends at least part of the summer break in the library finding, and then reading, books he enjoys. The payoff will be worth it.