Despite reports of academic difficulties in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little is known about the relationship between performance on tests of academic achievement and measures of attention. The current study assessed intellectual ability, parent-reported inattention, academic achievement, and attention in 45 children (ages 7-15) diagnosed with ADHD. Hierarchical regressions were performed with selective, sustained, and attentional control/switching domains of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children as predictor variables and with performance on the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition as dependent variables. It was hypothesized that sustained attention and attentional control/switching would predict performance on achievement tests. Results demonstrate that attentional control/ switching accounted for a significant amount of variance in all academic areas (reading, math, and spelling), even after accounting for verbal IQ and parent-reported inattention. Sustained attention predicted variance only in math, whereas selective attention did not account for variance in any achievement domain. Therefore, attentional control/switching, which involves components of executive functions, plays an important role in academic performance.

ENY-1000, a 10-page illustrated fact sheet by S. McCann, J. D. Ellis, and M. K. O’Malley, is a general overview of insects, their importance, and their biology. It is designed as a supplemental elementary school curriculum for Grades 1-3, although it can apply to older or younger children as well. Published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, December 2008. ENY-1000/IN758: Insects, Oh Yes!: An Introduction (ufl.edu)

No abstract