Self-monitoring of attention versus self-monitoring of academic performance: Effects among students with ADHD in the general education classroom

A counterbalanced, multiple-baseline, across-subjects design was used to determine if attention and performance monitoring had differential effects on the on-task and spelling study behavior of 6 elementary students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the general education classroom. Both self-monitoring of attention and self-monitoring of performance had positive effects on students' on-task and spelling study behaviors. While improvement in on-task behavior was comparable across the two interventions, self-monitoring of attention produced substantially higher gains in spelling study behavior among 4 of the 6 students. Although this is the first study in which differential effects of these 2 interventions have been investigated among students with ADHD, previous studies with students with learning disabilities (LD) have found that self-monitoring of performance tended to result in higher rates of spelling study than did self-monitoring of attention. Possible reasons for this difference among students with ADHD and those with LD are noted, as are directions for future research and recommendations for teachers regarding the implementation of self-monitoring interventions.