Explicit Instruction: Does Teaching Executive Functioning Skills Change the Behavior of Students with ADHD?

This project was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of adding targeted instruction using a social skills training curriculum to already existing behavioral supports for students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This intervention was implemented in a mild to moderate district-run special day class, and two students with ADHD were the target students for this study due to their ongoing externalizing behaviors. Their behaviors were initially collected using ABA methodology to determine and define the most prominent issues in the classroom. From there, skills were selected that would support the decrease of the behavior. Data collection included ongoing frequency counts of targeted behavior, analysis of existing classroom behavior contract, and surveys given to the students before and after the intervention. This intervention resulted in the improvement of the targeted behavior, a noted increase of independence and decrease of prompt-dependent behavior, and student insight into their actions in the classroom.