A Literature Review of Understanding and Supporting Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the Classroom

The effects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has on academic performance are evident. This mini-literature review aims to gain insight into which parts of ADHD affects a student’s academic achievement and to provide suggestions to use to assist closing the academic gap between students with ADHD and neurotypical students. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is increasing in diagnosis within children. ADHD affects a child’s academic performance, creating a deficit measured in years, and grows as children continue into their high school careers. ADHD-Inattentive affects academic performance the most out of the three subtypes of ADHD. Medication has shown to have positive impacts on academic performance by increasing a student’s ability to focus and notice details within their schoolwork. Deficits in executive functioning skills, which students with ADHD often portray, contributes to poor academic performance. Areas of executive functioning that affect school accomplishment include working memory, organization and planning, goal setting, and persistence. The paper concludes that supports in these executive functioning deficit areas, implemented at the school level, can improve a student’s schooling success.