The Stigma of ADHD: Teacher Ratings of Labeled Students

• In Event: 1121 - Disability Matters: The Role of Disability in Educational Inequalities

Abstract

Most classrooms include at least one student diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. Despite the increasing prevalence of ADHD, little sociological research has focused on effects of diagnosis in schools. This paper relies on three waves of ECLS-K:2011 data to determine if teachers evaluate the academic performance of ADHD students as less promising than non-diagnosed peers. Results indicate that teachers are more likely to rate ADHD students as performing below grade level and are less likely to acknowledge these students as performing above grade level—regardless of demonstrated ability on subject-specific tests. The latter finding is, in part, a function of real and/or perceived behaviors in the classroom that bleed into grade level performance ratings. We argue that diagnosis might be a double-edged sword for children and their families, as it can provide access to special resources in the school, but may activate teachers’ negative stereotypes about diagnosed students.

Authors

• Ashley Noel Metzger, University of California, Merced

• Laura Theresa Hamilton, University of California, Merced