The Daily Report Card: Tracking School Progress for Children with ADHD or Learning Disabilities

Use this powerful parent/teacher tool to monitor the academic progress of your child with ADHD or a learning disability like dyslexia.

by ADDitude Editors

For children with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD) and learning disabilities, consistency is key.

In elementary school, a savvy teacher can easily develop routines and strategies that help ADHD children function at their best. But in middle school, consistency goes out the window. With teachers and class routines changing every 50 minutes, the structure our children need is in short supply.

Enter the daily report card (DRC). A DRC allows teachers and parents to take aim at behaviors that interfere with a child's academic achievement. Each day, the teacher monitors and records the student's success in meeting positive behavioral goals, and the child brings the report card home for his parents to sign. If he reaches a predetermined level of success, he is rewarded.

How effective are behavioral tools like the DRC? In a landmark study, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, the combination of medication and behavioral treatments was shown to be more effective than medication alone in treating ADHD.

For some children, behavioral techniques alone are sufficient to produce significant change. Other strategies include a student/teacher contract that specifies goals and rewards, or a token system, in which a child earns points that can be traded in for rewards.

Establishing goals

A DRC should contain three to eight clearly defined behavioral goals, chosen in collaboration with your child's teachers. These may pertain to academic work (completes and returns homework), conduct (follows classroom rules), peer relationships (doesn't boss other children), or other areas in need of improvement.

To ensure that each goal is attainable, make it possible for your child to make a few slips and still receive credit, such as: "Follows directions with three or fewer repetitions." A good criterion is one that your child can meet at least 75 percent of the time.

Setting up a rewards system

There's no getting around it: Your child's efforts to meet her daily report card goals will be driven by the plums you provide. To ensure her interest, let her create the menu of rewards (with your approval) that she can choose from. Rewards should consist of privileges — such as playing a video game — that previously were provided without contingencies. Now she'll have to earn them with good marks on her DRC.

This article comes from the February/March 2006 issue of ADDitude.

To read this issue of ADDitude in full, ORDER IT NOW!
Subscribe to get every issue of ADDitude delivered.

Daily Report Card, Part 2

Try grouping rewards so that the most desirable, or Level 1, prizes are earned by the highest level of performance — achieving 90 to 100 percent of possible "Yes" marks on the DRC. Achieving 75 to 89 percent "Yeses" lets your child choose from Level 2 rewards, while 50 to 74 percent gains her access to Level 3 rewards.

Alternatively, if all the rewards are of equal value, let your child choose three prizes if she achieves the highest level of performance, two prizes if her marks fall in the medium range, and one prize if she scores in the lowest success range.

To acknowledge consistently good behavior, offer a larger, weekly reward as well, based on the average number of positive marks over the course of the week. Use the same three-tier system of performance and reward levels. A weekly rewards menu might include a trip to the movies or having a friend spend the night. It could also feature progress toward a big prize. For example, if the big prize is a new bicycle, cut a picture of a bike into pieces and give your child a chance to earn a piece each week. When he collects all the pieces, take a trip to the bicycle store.

Younger children may need more immediate rewards in addition to the rewards at home. If your child isn't motivated by the after-school prize, arrange for her teacher to offer a choice of school-based rewards when she meets her goals.

Tweaking the targets

As your child responds to the program, he should be able to meet behavior targets more consistently. When that happens, raise the bar. Instead of requiring him to follow class rules with three or fewer violations, for example, make it two or fewer violations.

Eventually, the behavior will become second nature to him, and it can be dropped from the DRC. If he regularly fails to meet a goal, you'll need to make the criterion easier.

Be generous with your praise for good days and good efforts, and offer encouragement when targets are missed. And, since ADDers are known for losing things, help your child find a way to remember to bring the DRC home. A large note posted inside her locker might do the trick.

Adapted with permission from materials developed at the Center for Children and Families, University at Buffalo, State University of New York. To learn more about the DRC, go to the Center for Children and Families' site (browse under "Treatment Materials") or download the DRC Packet.

This article comes from the February/March 2006 issue of ADDitude.

To read this issue of ADDitude in full, ORDER IT NOW!
Subscribe to get every issue of ADDitude delivered.