SEND visiting speaker seminar - Achievement in the Classroom: Towards a Better Understanding of Academically ‘Typical’ and ‘At-risk’ (ADHD) Students

Following social-cognitive theory (SCT), the first part of this presentation outlines a large-scale study that investigated the role of self-efficacy, control, and relational support in the achievement (literacy, numeracy) of academically ‘typical’ students and their academically ‘at-risk’ peers (with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ADHD) located in the same classrooms and schools. A sample of N=4658 ‘typical’ students and N=164 ‘at-risk’ students diagnosed with ADHD participated in this study. Findings showed a distinct pattern of relationships between the three SCT factors and achievement outcomes for the students with ADHD. The second part of the presentation reports on another classroom-based study, presenting preliminary findings from a population-based study of over 50,000 students with or without ADHD. The study examined classroom-level effects of psycho-stimulant medication on long-term achievement outcomes. Taken together, results outlined in this presentation hold implications for theory, research, and practice identifying factors and processes important to develop and maintain positive outcomes for the diversity of ‘typical’ and ‘at-risk’ students who reside in today’s classroom.

Biographical note: Andrew Martin, PhD, is Scientia Professor, Professor of Educational Psychology, and Co-Chair of the Educational Psychology Research Group in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales, Australia specializing in motivation, engagement, achievement, and quantitative research methods. He is also Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, Honorary Professor in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and President of the International Association of Applied Psychology’s Division 5 Educational and School Psychology. Based on sole and first authorships, Andrew placed 1^st in the most recent International Rankings of the Most Published Educational Psychologists (Source: Table 2, Greenbaum et al., Educational Psychology Review, 2016; and 8^th in absolute output, Table 1). He is Associate Editor of British Journal of Educational Psychology, Associate Editor of School Psychology International, Consulting Editor for Educational Psychology, and serves on numerous international and national Editorial Boards (Journal of Educational Psychology; Educational Psychologist; Contemporary Educational Psychology; Learning and Individual Differences; Educational and Developmental Psychologist; Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools).