Teachers Knowledge, Beliefs, and Values about Children with ADHD

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Teachers Knowledge, Beliefs, and Values about
Children with ADHD

• Judy A. Liesveld
• August 16, 2007

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Background for the Study

• ADHD is a complex disorder with neurological and
  genetic factors comprising a sound but still
  unproven explanation for the cause (Anastopoulos
  Shelton, 2001 Biederman Faraone, 2005).
• ADHD has profound effects at the individual,
  family, school, and societal levels (Chan et al.,
  2002 Kendall, 1998 Kendall et al., 2003
  Leibson et al., 2001).

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Why Teachers are Important

• Most elementary school classrooms have at least
  one child with ADHD (Barkley, 1998).
• ADHD viewed as a medicalized phenomenon (Conrad,
  1992).
• Medical gaze (Foucault, 1976) partially
  transferred to teachers

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Why Teachers are Important (Continued)

• A high percentage of children referred for ADHD
  evaluations are first identified by teachers
  (Pilling, 2000).
• Teachers are asked to complete rating scales or
  questionnaires regarding symptoms.
• Teachers are asked to carry out recommended
  treatment regimens or to monitor effectiveness of
  treatment (Tannock Martinussen, 2001).

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The Albuquerque JournalMarch 22, 2007, Page A1
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Purpose of the Study

• The purpose of the study was to sequentially
  determine elementary teachers knowledge
  regarding ADHD and to then explore teachers
  beliefs and values vis-à-vis knowledge
  regarding children with ADHD and treatment
  practices.

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Quantitative Research Questions

• What do teachers know about ADHD?
• How do teachers rate their knowledge about ADHD?
• How does age, gender, ethnicity, number of
  teaching years, past ADHD training, and number of
  children taught with ADHD affect teachers
  knowledge about ADHD?

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Qualitative Research Questions

• What are elementary school teachers beliefs and
  values regarding children with ADHD?
• How do school environments influence teachers
  knowledge, beliefs, and values regarding children
  with ADHD?
• What are their beliefs and values regarding
  treatment practices for children with ADHD?
• How do teachers think that their cultural
  beliefs and values influence their actions taken
  in working with children with ADHD?

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Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Data

• Does knowledge about ADHD influence teachers
  beliefs and values about ADHD and if so, how?

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Methodology
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Data Collection Strategies

• The Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders
  Scale (KADDS)criterion based tool (reliability
  .82 to .90).
• Demographic Questionnaire
• Visual Analog Tool
• Group Interviews and Individual Interviews
• Field Notes

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Setting for the Study

• Gallup McKinley County School District
• (2nd largest geographical school district in US
  in the 3rd poorest county in the US)
• Nine elementary schools participated.

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Demographics of the Sample

• 133 teachers completed the KADDS, demographic
  questions and VAS 4 group interviews with 28
  teachers 5 high KADDS and 3 low KADDS individual
  interviews
• 80 Female. Ages ranged from 22 to 72 (M 44.00,
  SD 12.43).
• 80 White, 8 American Indian, 7 Hispanic, 2
  Asian, 1 African American, 2 Unreported.
• Years taught 1 to 39 (M 12.50, SD 9.47)
• Standard Licensure (82), Alternative (13), and
  (5) unreported.

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Experience with ADHD
Percentages for Categorical Variables Measuring
Experiences with ADHD (N 133)
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Experience with ADHD (cont.)
Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges for
Variables Measuring Experiences with ADHD
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KADDS Results

• KR-20 Results and Descriptive Statistics for the
  Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Scale
  (N133)

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General Descriptions and Thoughts about ADHD

• Hyper as catch-all descriptor
• Negative descriptors
• Gender issues and ADHD
• Challenging for the child
• Negative and positive beliefs about ADHD

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Difficulty Recognizing ADHD Symptoms

• ADHD or ADD?
• Normal development
• Co morbidities/Look Alikes
• Home versus School Symptoms

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Beliefs about Causes of ADHD

• ADHD as a biological condition
• Parenting style and lack of discipline
• Nutrition affecting Behavior
• Technology/Fast Society

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Beliefs about the Diagnosis

• Label of ADHD
• Easy label
• Over diagnosis
• Questioning the diagnosis
• Diagnosis as a relief
• ADHD as a new phenomenon
• ADHD behaviors as a continuum

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Teachers Values about ADHD

• Valuing children
• Valuing individuality
• Valuing knowledge, education, and research about
  ADHD

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Steps to Help a Child with ADHD

• Teachers as gatekeepers (Intentional or
  unintentional)
• Broaching the subject about ADHD with parents

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The School Environment and ADHD
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A Recipe for Disaster

• Process
• Start with one healthy child.
• Add a heightened sense of test anxiety.
• Trim new schools of excess fat (a.k.a. recess).
• Whip into a test frenzy.
• Add one scoop of Ritalin.
• Mash a dash of hyper-parenting.
• Pour in a heaping spoonful of NCLB.
• Bring competitive National Test Scoring to a
  boil.
• Reduce exercise and joyful emotionally nourishing
  play.
• Let simmer until good intensions go away.
• Let sit perfectly still for 6-5 hours a day.

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(No Transcript)
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Treatment Strategies and ADHD
Themes and Sub-themes of Teachers Beliefs About
ADHD and Treatment Practices
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Teachers Cultural Beliefs about ADHD

• Hyperactivity is normal
• Then and Now
• Environment and Culture
• Teachers Characteristics

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The Influence of Knowledge on Beliefs and Values
about ADHD

• Teachers with higher knowledge seemed to have
  more positive general beliefs about children with
  ADHD, had more confidence in the diagnosis, and
  supported a multimodal approach. They also had
  more willingness to support the use of stimulant
  medication in children with ADHD and had
  flexibility in using various teaching strategies.

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Experience Ties Knowledge, Beliefs, and Values
Together

• Teachers with higher ADHD knowledge were
  influenced by experiences with ADHD through
  teaching children with ADHD, through
  workshops/journals/books, through friends or
  relatives.
• Interest and experience fueled the value of
  acquiring more education and knowledge.
• Experience and knowledge had an additive quality
  Experience promoted knowledge and beliefs, and
  in turn, more knowledge stimulated the quest for
  more experience in teaching children with ADHD.

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Creating Niche Valance
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The Importance of Partnerships
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Strengths and Limitations of the Research

• Emic/Etic views
• Mixed Methods pros and cons
• Theory-driven approach pros and cons
• Reliability issues with KADDS subscales
• Sampling issues
• Timing of the research
• Lack of thick description about cultural beliefs

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Implications for Future Research

• Create opportunity for teachers experience with
  children with ADHD.
• Participatory Action Research Collaboration,
  shared ownership, community action
• Use of KADDS and demographic tool with larger
  diversified samples, in other geographic
  locations
• Structural equation modeling to measure
  relationships between theoretical constructs with
  models of emergent themes and subthemes
• More stories to hear and observations to be made

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Questions