School Psychologists' Assessment Practices of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Two million school-age children are believed to manifest symptoms of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In recent years, educators have increasingly been called upon to provide services to children with ADHD either through special education or through Section 504. Much has been written describing "best practices" for the assessment of children with ADHD. Little is known, however, about what roles school psychology practitioners are taking with regard to ADHD. The purpose of this research was to determine common ADHD assessment practices of school psychologists and how they relate to practices recommended in the literature. A survey was developed and sent to a randomly selected national sample of 400 school psychology practitioners. The results of the research indicate that, in general, school psychologists are using a multi-method approach that includes appropriate assessment techniques. Based on the results of the survey, it is concluded that an increased emphasis, however, is needed on assessment methods such as interviews, rating scales, and systematic observations. The results also indicate that school psychologists should rely less on methods such as behavior during standardized testing, projectives, and pattern analysis. With regard to interventions, more monitoring of the behavioral effects of medication needs to be done and more systematic interventions should be implemented.