:: June 2009

Welcome to our Monthly Online Newsletter!

We will start adding selections with the Oct-Novust edition.

Attention Problems in Kindergarten Could Spell Long-Term Academic Trouble “Compared with other childhood psychiatric problems, including depression, anxiety and disruptive behavior, Breslau and his team found that attention problems -- including symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) -- had the strongest impact on a child's future academic success. Signs of ADHD often begin showing up in kindergarten, a child's first school experience that demands a higher level of learning and cognitive skills. "Ultimately, students who do poorly may lose motivation to invest in academic work, become more open to competing interests, including substance abuse, and more likely to drop out of school," the study authors wrote in the article, published in the June issue of Pediatrics. As a child progresses through school, the level of failure from ADHD can snowball and lead to emotional problems, substance abuse and academic decline in later grades and difficulties after graduation, said Dr. David W. Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and director of the Adult Attention-Deficit Disorder Center of Maryland. "For kids, it's about academic achievement. But later in life, it's about ADHD's impact on family, occupation and social life," he said. The study stopped short of making specific recommendations, but suggested that school officials need to focus more resources on identifying and helping young children who are struggling with attention problems.”

IDENTIFYING AND IMPLEMENTING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES SUPPORTED BY RIGOROUS EVIDENCE: A USER FRIENDLY GUIDE

Featured site

The National Library of Education (NLE)

Bullying and Your Child

Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported By Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide (html)

Motivation Resources

NIH – School Health

Safe to Learn: Embedding Anti-Bullying Work in Schools (UK)

Teaching Methods

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (UK)

ADD - ADHD

ADD - ADHD

Attention deficit and learning disabilities (ADHD/LD) among high school pupils in Holon (Israel). (Patient Educ Couns. 2005) "Five hundred forty-three students participated in the study. The prevalence of ADHD according to criteria of DSM-4 among them was 15.2%, including three subgroups: ADHD (inattentive)- 9.7%, combined- 4.5%, and ADHD-hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI)- 1%. The prevalence of learning disability (LD) was 17.6%. The gender ratio in both groups (ADHD and LD) was equal. These pupils had lower academic achievements with lower marks."

ADD - ADHD

[Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder comorbidity in a school sample of children.] (Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2005) "OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency of conduct disorder (CD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)."