Special topic; research brief

The purpose of this follow-up study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two consultation-based models to enhance the educational functioning of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) after 1 year of no treatment. Children (N = 167) meeting Diagnostic Statistical Manual (4th ed., text revision; 2000) criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were randomly assigned to one of two consultation groups: traditional data-based academic intervention, which consisted of interventions based on consultant-teacher collaboration, representing -consultation as usual,̃ or intensive data-based academic intervention, which consisted of interventions using a data-based decision-making model involving ongoing feedback to teachers. Teachers implemented academic interventions over 15 months, and all children were assessed 1 year following the suspension of treatment. A variety of academic outcomes were assessed on five occasions (baseline, 3 months, 12 months, 15 months, and 1-year follow-up). Although previously published reports of this sample using hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated comparable significant positive growth for the majority of these dependent variables for both intervention groups, the findings of this follow-up study using hierarchical linear modeling found significant growth trajectories for only 2 of 16 dependent variables. These findings highlight the need for sustained intervention efforts to ameliorate the educational functioning of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.