CHARACTERISTICS, ENROLLMENT PATTERNS, GRADUATION RATES AND SERVICE USE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH ADHD/LD
Theresa L. Maitland, PhD The Learning Center’s ADHD/LD Services UNC Chapel Hill IRB Approved Study #07 -1097
[email protected]
BACKGROUND Brief history IRB reviewed study
Did not constitute human subject research Master set of ADHD/LD students with disability data Obtained high school and UNC records from Office of Research Created de-identified data set
Two private funds supported Erica Richman, Ph.D to serve as research coordinator Many thanks to our collaborators & contributors:
Research Coordinator: Erica Richman Ph.D. Database designer: Steve Robbillard Database consultants: Billie Shambley, Angela Coley and Geeta Menon Leon Hamlet, Registrar’s Office Dr. Lynn Williford, Assistant Provost; Weiguo Jiang, Data Analyst from the Office of Institutional Research: and Dr. Lawrence Rosenfeld from the IRB office were instrumental in the study’s completion.
VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH ADHD/LD LD/ADHD College Students May have increased rates of academic probation (Heiligenstein et al., 1999)
May have lower GPAs-nearly 1 .0 lower ( Blasé
et al., 2009; Frazier et al., 2007)
May have higher graduation rates (and persistence rates) (Cantor et al., 2005;Huber, 2009; Vogel & Adelman 1992)
May have lower overall retention & graduation rates: 11% -50% lower Horn et al., 1999; Greg, 2009; Greenbaum et al., 1995; Murray et al., 2000 )
May have the same graduation rates by may take longer to graduate (Vogel & Adelman 1990, 1992; Jorgeson et al., 2003, Wessel et al., )
REFERENCES G r e e n b a um , B . , G r a h a m , S . , & S c a l e s , W. ( 1 9 9 5 ). A d u l t s w i t h l e a r n i n g d i s a bi l i t ie s : E d u c a t io n a l a n d s o c i a l ex p e r ie n c e s d u r i n g c o l le g e . E xc e p t i o n a l C h i l d r e n , 61 ( 5 ) , 4 6 0 - 471 . G r e g g , N . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . A d o l e s c e n t s a n d a d u l t s w i t h l e a r n i n g d i s a b i li t i es a n d A D H D : A s s e s s m e n t a n d a c c o m mo d a t i o n . N ew Yo r k , N Y: G u i l for d H o r n , L . , B e r k to l d , J . , & B o b b i t t , L . ( 1 9 9 9 ) . S t u d e n t s w i t h d i s a b i l it i e s i n p o s t s e c o n da r y e d u c a t io n : a p r o fi l e o f p r e p a r a t i o n , p a r t i c i p a t io n a n d o u t c o m e s. P o s t s e c o n d a r y E d u c a t i o n D e s c r i p t i ve A n a l ys i s R e p o r t s. U . S . D e p a r t m en t o f E d u c a t io n : N a t i o n a l C e n te r f o r E d u c a t io n S t a t i s t i cs . H e i l i g e n s te i n , E . , G u e n t h e r, G . , L ev y, A . , S av i n o , F. , & Fu l w il e r, J . ( 1 9 9 9 ) . P s yc h o l o g ic al a n d a c a d e m i c f u n c t io n i n g i n c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s w i t h a t te n t i o n d e f i c it hy p e r a c t iv i t y d i s o r d e r. J o u r n a l o f A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e H e a l t h , 47 ( 4 ) , 1 81 - 1 8 5 . d o i :10 .10 8 0 / 074 4 8 4 8 9 9 0 9 5 9 5 6 4 4 H u g e r, M a r i a n n e , ( 2 0 0 9 ). T h e Rete n t i o n o f C o l l eg e S t u d e n t s w i t h L e a r n i n g D i s a b il i t ie s . A D i s s e r t a t i o n S u b m i t te d to T h e Fa c ul t y o f T h e G r a d ua te S c h o o l o f E d u c a t io n a n d H u m a n D ev e l o p me n t o f T h e G e o r g e Wa s h i n g to n U n i v e r s i t y n p a r t i a l f u l fil l me n t o f t h e r e q u i r em e n t s f o r t h e d e g r e e o f D o c to r o f E d u c a t i o n J o r g e n s e n , S . , F i c h te n , C . S . , H av e l , A . , L a m b , D . , J a m e s , C . , & B a r i l e , M . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . S t u d e n t s w i t h a n d w i t h o ut d i s a b i li t i e s a t D aw s o n C o l l e g e g r a d ua te a t t h e s a m e r a te . J o u r n a l f o r Vo c a t i o n a l S p e c i a l N e e d s E d u c a t i o n , 2 5 ( 2 - 3 ) , 4 4 - 4 6 .
Blasé, S. L., Gilber t, A . N., Anastopoulos, A . D., Costello, E., Hoyle, R. H., Swar tzwelder, H., & Rabiner, D. L. (2009). Self -Repor ted ADHD and adjustment in college: Cross -sectional and longitudinal findings. Journal of Attention Disorders, 13 (3), 297-309. doi:10.1177/1087054709334446 Frazier, T. W., Youngstrom, E. A ., Glutting, J. J., & Watkins, M. W. (2007). ADHD and achievement: Meta -analysis of the child, adolescent, and adult literatures and a concomitant study with college students. Journal of Learning Disabilities , 40, 49-65. doi:10.1177/00222194070400010401 Murray, C., Goldstein, D. E., Nourse, S., & Edgar, E. (2000). The postsecondar y school attendance and completion rates of high school graduates with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 15 (3), 119-1 27 Wessel, R., D., Jones, J. A ., Markle, L., Westfall, C. (2009). Retention and graduation of students with disabilities: Facilitating student success. Journal of Postsecondar y Education and Disability, 21(3), 116 1 24.
OUR VARIABLES Disability Related Diagnosis (LD, ADHD, Both) Amount of ser vice Use
Demographics
Back ground (Ethnicity, race and countr y of origin) Gender Member of a subpopulati on (1 st generation, Covenant Scholar, Athlete) 1 st time Freshmen/Transfer
High School Variables SAT Scores, GPA , Percentile
UNC Variables Sub-populati ons (1 st generation, Covenant Scholar, Athlete) Major at Graduation: STEM ver sus Humanities/Social Sciences Cumulative GPA Semester s Enrolled Enrollment Patterns (# of withdrawals, ineligibilities, semester s on probation, academic underloads) Graduated/Not Graduated
ADHD/LD SAMPLE Sample size: n=1938 (1953-2010) n=921 (2002-2010; for comparison analyses) Sample sizes may also vary based on particular analysis Undergraduates All cleared for services 1976-Sept. 2010 (median of 2001) Gender: 42% (n=808) female 58% (n=1,118) male (missing 12 students)
ADHD/LD SAMPLE: DIAGNOSES Missing 5% N=91
Both 26%
ADHD 37%
N=508
N=722
LD 32% Total n=1938
N=617
RESEARCH QUESTIONS Research Question 1 : Do students in the ADHD/LD Sample have different enrollment patterns than students in the Random Sample Research Question 2: Do the grade point averages of the students in the ADHD/LD sample differ from students in the Random Sample? Research Question 3: Are there differences in the graduation rates between students in the ADHD/LD sample and students in the Random Sample? Research Question 4: Within the ADHD/LD Sample does diagnosis of ADHD, LD or both ADHD/LD impact graduation rate? Research Question 5: Do graduation rates of students with ADHD/LD differ based on the frequency of sessions with a Learning Specialist?
RANDOM SAMPLE N=8994 All Undergraduate Students ADHD/LD removed 2002-2010 Cohorts
Gender 59% (n=5338) females 41% (n=3656) males
STATISTICAL ANALYSES
All descriptive and comparative analyses were performed using StataIC 12 (StataCorp, 2011). Descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency, cross-tabulations, and chi-squares were used to compare means and characterize the sample with respect to student demographics, high school, and academic success variables. Linear regression, logistic regression, and multi -nomial logistic regression models were employed to examine the relationships among service use, student characteristics, diagnosis, and academic success
COMPARISONS: DEMOGRAPHICS & CHARACTERISTICS
GENDER COMPARISONS:2002-2010 70% 59%
60%
50%
56% 44%
41%
40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
n=400
n=509
n=5338
ADHD/LD
n=3656
RS
Females
Males
BACKGROUND COMPARISONS: 2002-2010 ADHD/LD
