The Effects of Computerized Instruction on the Academic Performance of Students Identified with ADHD

Reference:
Clarfield, J & Stoner, G. (2005). The Effects of Computerized Instruction on the Academic Performance of Students Identified with ADHD. School Psychology Review, 2005, Vol 34 (2), p.246-254.

Headsprout is a computer program used as an intervention tool for beginning reading instruction, and in this experiment, tested three Caucasian, ADHD males, all in either kindergarten or first-grade, on the effectiveness on oral reading fluency and task engagement.
According to the author’s overview of ADHD statistics gathered from the American Psychiatric Association, 80% of ADHD children exhibit academic performance problems. This makes the likelihood of a supplemental teaching technique like the computer program, Headsprout, an important tool to consider scientifically.

Several criteria were used in assessment procedures. Parent and teacher rating scales is used to diagnose behavioral and emotional disorders. A teacher form of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV is another diagnostic tool. Parents were interviewed as another procedure and included questions on oppositional defiant disorder, depression, and behavior problems. Finally, prior diagnosis by a pediatrician was considered.

This study was a multi-baseline experiment used to find the effects of CAI, or computer-assisted-instruction, on reading performance and attention of students.
Results showed that CAI intervention helped oral reading fluency considerably, increasing baseline to intervention 6-18. Of task behavior, each participant was observed to be highly engaged, and intervention resulted in immediate improvement in keeping on-task. The results for baseline were between 24% and 49 %, while the intervention range was from 3%-6%.

Decreases in off-task behavior for all three participants is important to the teaching process, and especially among ADHD students, the CAI technique seems a good prospect as a teaching tactic.
The results may be accurate, but the amount of tested subjects makes this a shoddy experiment. Even the author admits that these positive results cannot be seen as direct evidence that the Headsprout program is effective.