Reference (in APA format)

purpose

Harris, K., Friedlander, B., Saddler, B., Frizzelle, R., &

Graham, S. (2005). Self-Monitoring of Attention Versus
Self-Monitoring of Academic Performance. The Journal of
Special Education, 39(3), 145-156. Retrieved April 14,
2015, from
http://sed.sagepub.com/content/39/3/145.full.pdf html

To determine if selfmonitoring has an

impact on attention and
performance for
students with ADHD in
general education
classrooms.

Dupaul, G., Ervin, R., Hook, C., & Mcgoey, K. (n.d.). Peer
tutoring for children with attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder: Effects on classroom behavior and academic
performance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 579592.

To investigate the effects

of classwide peer
tutoring on the
classroom behavior and
academic performance
of students with ADHD.

The purpose of this

study was to investigate
the effects of therapy
balls as seating on inseat behavior and legible
word productivity of
Schilling, D. L., Washington, K., Billingsley, F. F., & Deitz, J.
students with attention
(2003). Classroom seating for children with attention
deficit
deficit hyperactivity disorder: Therapy balls versus chairs.
hyperactivity disorder
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57, 534541.
(ADHD). Additionally,
social validity was
assessed to evaluate
teacher and student
opinions regarding the
intervention.

Pfeiffer, B., Henry, A., Miller, S., & Witherell, S. (n.d.).

Effectiveness of Disc 'O' Sit Cushions on Attention to Task
in Second-Grade Students With Attention Difficulties.
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 274-281.

To determine the
effectiveness of a
dynamic seating system,
the Disc O Sit cushion,
on improving attention
to task.

VandenBerg, N. (2001). The Use of a Weighted Vest To

Increase On-Task Behavior in Children With Attention
Difficulties. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy,
55, 621-628.

to determine if weighted
vests on children with
ADHD positively affected
on-task behaviors using
deep-pressure sensory
input.

participants

setting

All participants are from a Title 1 elementary

school in the suburbs of a large city in the Middle
Atlantic States. The study consists of 6 students
in grades 3, 4, and 5 who have been diagnosed
with ADHD. They have been struggling in their
spelling class with paying attention and
succeeding in the content.

There is a diverse group of

students at the school and
services for students with
special needs are provided
through an inclusion model.
Data was collected in a
spelling class.

19 (16 boys and 3 girls) children with ADHD and

10 other comparison students in first through fifth
grade general education classes in two different
school districts in eastern Pennsylvania. The age
of participants with ADHD ranged from 6 to 10
years. They were achieving in the low average
range academically and were mostly form
families in the lower middle socioeconomic class.
The 10 peer comparison students were matched
for gender, from the same classrooms as the
students with ADHD, and nominated by their
teachers as having average behavior and
academic performance. For classwide peer
tutoring (CWPT), the students chosen by the
classroom teacher to tutor their peers with ADHD
were observed to demonstrate a high level of
appropriate behavior and be on grade levelin all
academic subjects.

First through fifth grade

general education classrooms
in one urban and one
suburban
school district in eastern
Pennsylvania.

The participants included students from a 4thgrade classroom in a public school in the state of
Washington. Three children with a diagnosis of
ADHD participated in this study; however, all 24
students in the classroom used the balls and
chairs. The participants, 1 female and 2 males,
were ages 9 years, 11 months; 9 years, 11
months; and 9 years, 8 months. Each had a
diagnosis of ADHD. In addition, one male had a
concomitant diagnosis of oppositional defiant
disorder and the other male a concomitant
diagnosis of severe behavior disorder. All were of
average intelligence or above as defined by a
score equal to 80 or above on the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children (Wechsler, 1991).
Medications, Clonidine, Ritalin, or Adderal,
remained constant throughout the study. Prior to
the study, all participants regularly demonstrated
out-of-seat behavior during the language arts
period and required repeated verbal reminders or
physical prompts or both from the teacher.

The setting for this study was

in a 4th-grade classroom in a
public school in the state of
Washington. The study was
conducted during language
arts period.

Second grade classrooms in six different

elementary schools within the Pocono Mountain
School District in northeastern Pennsylvania.
There were 61 participants, some with attention
difficulties and some without. 29 were in the
treatment group and 32 were in the control
group. There were 45 boys (73.8%) and 16 girls
(26.2%) in the study. A small group of 15
students, without attention difficulties, was used
to create an inclusion score based off of the
students norms.Twenty-three of the students in
the treatment group were in regular education, 5
were in learning support, and 1 was in gifted
classes. Of the students in the control group, 26
were in regular education and 6 were in learning
support classrooms.

Second grade classrooms in

six different elementary
schools within the Pocono
Mountain School District in
northeastern Pennsylvania.

The participants for this study were 4 students

with documented ADHD difficulties. The students
are 2 boys and 2 girls, ranging from five years to
seven years old. All students receive services
from occupational therapist. Only one of the
students receives medication.

The study was conducted at

the beginning of the second
semester when the student
was familiar with the routines.
The student will be
preforming fine motor skill
activities.

outcome variable(s)

Using self-reflection in the

classroom with students who
have ADHD increased their
academic and attentionrelated success.

This intervention was

implemented to help change
the off-task and "fidgety"
behavior of some students
with ADHD into on-task and
engaged behavior. Also, it
was implemented to increase
the academic access of
students with ADHD.

Dependent variables were

inseat behavior and legible
word productivity. Data were
graphed and visually
analyzed for differences
between phases.

AccordingtotheBRIEF,there
wasanincreaseinattention
whilecontinuingtostayfully
involvedandengagedintask
s intheclassroom.Forthe
future,itisrecommendedto
domoreresearchonthe
effectsofthedynamicseatin
gcushions,theDiscOSit
cushion,onalargerpopulatio
nofstudents,notonlyastud
y
basedonsecondgradersin
thisspecificdistrict.

The use of weighted vest

(deep sensory input) to
increase the on-task behavior
of ADHD children.

intervention or procedure
Students were taught the intervention in pairs.They were taught to
self-monitor their attention and their performance. The baseline data
was taken in 15 minute periods. After the intervention was taught,
students reflected if they were paying attention during the spelling
period and mark yes or no. Data was collected Mondays through
Thursdays. It was collected during Spelling class so they could
monitor if the student's succeeded in spelling words correctly. Once
the data collection was over, they looked at the scoring that the
students took and the scoring of their spelling tests on Fridays.

First, the frequency of off-task, on-task, and fidgety behavior of the

students with and without ADHD were recorded through direct
observation then were defined. Academic performance was also
measured. The effects of classwide peer tutoring was observed in 18
classrooms over the course of 2 years. Data was taken for
experimental conditions lasting one to two weeks at a time. For
Baseline 1, data was taken for typical classroom activities. CWPT 1
data was taken when classwide peer tutoring was implemented in
math or spelling. More data on the participants were taken for
Baseline 2 and CWPT 2. Observations were conducted at least three
times a week for at least 15 minutes each in the area targeted for
intervention or the student with ADHDs weakest academic area. For
baseline conditions, teachers conducted class activities in their
typical fashion. For classwide peer tutoring, teachers were given the
CWPT manual, an instructional videotape, and training sessions in
order to be able to implement the intervention correctly. Under CWPT
conditions, peer tutoring pairs worked with each other for 3 or 4 days
per week for 15-20 minutes on a specific academic skill. The tutor
was given what to say, how to respond to a correct or incorrect
response, and how to give points, and the teacher went around
monitoring and awarding bonus points to students. Halfway through
the time period, the students switched who was conducting the peer
tutoring.Data over behavior and academic performance was pieced
together and studied from each experimental condition.

First, all students in the class were fitted for the therapy balls.
Following the fitting and assignment of balls, an introductory session
occurred which included 30 minutes for the students to explore the
movement and balance of the balls. This study used a single subject,
A-B-A-B interrupted time series design (Kazdin, 1982) across three
students with ADHD. During baseline phases (A), participants and all
other members of the class use chairs during language arts for 1
week. During intervention phases (B), participants and all
other members of the class sat on therapy balls during language
arts. The language arts period was chosen because it occurred at the
same time daily (immediately after lunch recess) and it was a time in
the childrens daily schedules when they were regularly involved in
producing written assignments. The total study was 12 weeks in
length; each phase was 3 weeks long

All of the students were screened with a behavioral observation

form. The students that had the score of 15 or above participated in
the study for having potential attention
difficulties. A list of behaviors was made based off of an attention
scale, the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function. A small
group of 15 students, without attention difficulties, was used to
create an inclusion score based off of the students norms.
Observations demonstrated that the
students had poor attention spans and being distracted very easily;
behavior did not improve after up to three verbal cues. Students also
showed inability to sit still without moving. Through this study, the
students participating experimented with a Disc O Sit cushion for a
1 hour period during the week
before the study began. This was done so that the students had time
to understand the proper use of cushion and to help the teachers
know how much air to put in each students cushion. During the first
study, each student was given a Disc O Sit cushion to place on their
regular chairs for 2 hours a day throughout a period of 2 weeks. The
control group sat without a cushion for 2 hours a day throughout a 2week period as well. The time of day that the students participated
depended on each individual school schedule. The participants
worked on the same subjects and did the same work while being part
of the Disc O Sit cushion study. The BRIEF pretest scale was
completed before the period when the study was taking place. The
teachers that completed the pretest answered the scale off of the
observed attention skills over the 2 week period before the study had
started. After the 2-week trial of Disc O Sit cushions for the
treatment group and no treatment for the control group, the teachers
then completed the BRIEF posttest scale.
The intervention phase followed in which observations were also
completed within 15 days. During the interven- tion phase, the 4
students wore a weighted vest and was timed by the other observer
for six 15-min periods as described in the baseline phase. Each
childs vest was put on 5 min before the beginning of the timing and
removed after the completion of the 20-min to 30-min activity in
which they were involved. Informal interviews with the classroom
teachers and aides also were conducted to pro- vide additional
qualitative information regarding the out- comes of using the vest.

results

implication for teachers

After the intervention took place,

the mean of on-task
behavior went from 55% to 92%,
showing that self-monitoring has a
positive impact on students with
ADHD and their attention and
performance.

Teaching students, no matter the

disability, about self-monitoring
their performance and their
attention has a positive impact on
their overall
performance. Once you teach the
intervention, make sure to be
consistent with the students
reflecting after each class period.

Teachers can use peer tutoring as a

component of treatment plans for
students who have ADHD or other
During classwide peer tutoring,
attention and behavioral difficulties.
50% of the students with ADHD
They can use this also to enhance
showed improvements in
academic achievement in their
academic performance in math or classroom. Teachers should directly
spelling. CWPT was shown to
teach the students how to be a
increase active engaged time and peer tutor and use routines for
reduced disruptive off-task
classwide peer tutoring, so the
behavior for students with ADHD. students know exactly what is
Also, teachers and students
expected of them. They can use
reported a high level of
this multiple times a week for
satisfaction with intervention
around 15 minutes like in the study
procedures. From the results, the to get the most out of the
authors concluded that peer
intervention. They can also use this
tutoring is an effective strategy
to maximize peer interaction and
for improving academic and
engagement in the classroom. Peer
behavioral difficulties in students tutoring pairs should be well
with ADHD in general education
thought out by the teacher, so the
classroom settings.
students are being positively
affected by the partner they are
matched up with academically,
behaviorally, and socially.

The data indicates that there were

definite improvements in sitting
behavior for all participants when
using therapy balls for seating. As
for legible word productivity, all 3
participants increased their
percentage when seated on the
therapy balls. All 3 participants
with ADHD preferred balls to
chairs for comfort, writing, and
productivity. This study supports
the use of therapy balls for
students with ADHD as an
alternative classroom seating
option.

Teachers can utilize the use of

therapy balls for students with
ADHD as an alternative classroom
seating option. The use of the
therapy balls helps to improve the
sitting behavior
of the students. The students may
be bouncing on the balls, but they
are more focused on what is being
said. The noise level decreases
while the balls are in use and the
students
seem to be calmer after the use of
the therapy balls. These therapy
balls work for all students and
should be utilized by teachers who
are having difficulties with sitting
behaviors.

After the 2 week period that the

study took place, the pretestprottest gave
preliminary support for using the
Disc O Sit cushion for students
that struggle with staying on task
in a classroom setting. According
to the BRIEF, there was an
increase in attention while
continuing to stay fully involved
and engaged in tasks in the
classroom. For the future, it is
recommended to do more
research on the effects of the
dynamic seating cushions, the
Disc O Sit cushion, on a larger
population of students, not only a
study based on second graders in
this specific district. In the final
data analysis, 29 participants
were in the treatment group and
32 were in the control group. A
post-intervention power analysis
actually identified high levels of
observed power on the attention
measures of the global executive
index (.999), behavioral rating
index (.985), and the
metacognition index (.874).

Teachers can use The Disc O Sit

cushion to improve academic
performance for students that
struggle with staying on task and
keeping their attention on
academics. There are different
reasons that this dynamic seat
cushion would be simple for
teachers to use in the classroom.
The cushions are inexpensive;
therefore there are no limitations
on how many students can use
thecushion if needed. Also, these
cushions are an easy to use
intervention that does not distract
the students during class time.

Teachers can use weighted vests

On-task behavior increased by
for students with ADHD when
18% to 25% in all 4 students while
student begins to show signs of offwearing the weighted vest.
task behavior. As stated in results,
Additionally, 3 of the 4 students
students even asked for the vests.
frequently asked to wear the vest
Teachers should have the weighted
other than during the observation
vests available for students so they
times.
can self-monitor their need for it.