EFP1 Task 2
A.1. One distinct diverse group of students in the U.S. population today is students that have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These are students with a neurological disorder that find themselves struggling to be still and focus on tasks along with problems with organization and remember to complete things. Over 6.4 million children between ages 4 and 17 are estimated to be diagnosed with ADHD. This disorder is diagnosed in all races and genders. It is diagnosed more often in boys than girls and they tend to show different outward symptoms.(Holland,2018)
A second distinct diverse group of students is the students from economically disadvantaged situations. In 2017, approximately 12.9 million children under age 18 were in families living in poverty. (NCES,2019) Among this group, you find students that studies have shown are more likely to have to repeat a grade, have poor test scores, and even fail to complete high school. Black and Hispanic students have a higher incidence of poverty than their Asian and Caucasian counterparts, but that's not to say that Asians and Caucasians don't makeup part of the group of the economically disadvantaged group as well.
A.2. Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and students from economically disadvantaged situations face many hurdles that can impede their academic success. Students with ADHD constantly struggle to be able to pay attention to what needs to be done at school. Underachievement in children with ADHD is a persistent problem that begins in the preschool years and endures throughout childhood and adolescence. (Rogers,2011) Students that are in economically disadvantaged situations lack access to important resources that their non-economically disadvantaged peers are able to use to improve their school performance. There is a pattern that has emerged for students in poverty. They come from parents who grew up in poverty and many of those parents didn't finish school and even less are college education. They in turn don't have the knowledge or financial resources to get their children the assistance they need, such as tutors, to help them understand things they're struggling on. These students in turn have a lower graduation rate and end up living in poverty as adults as well.
A.3. Students with ADHD could be supported by educators that implement chunking. While this strategy can be used to break down large reading tasks for typical students it is also helpful for students with ADHD that may feel like there is no end in sight to the school work each day. The student is given clearly outlined broken-up tasks to complete and allowed to take a small break after and then the student moves on to the next chunk of their assignments. This can be recorded with a checklist or put on little pieces of paper that the student can throw away as they accomplish each task. It is suggested that teachers give directions to one assignment...
