Teachers' Attitudes on How Medication Affects Students' Success

Abstract

A study was conducted to find out if elementary students in inclusive classrooms associated with disabilities and students with problems in learning, processing and communicating information that receive medication are as academically and socially successful as students who do not receive medication. All subjects (N = 34) that participated in the study were students and teachers in a suburban elementary school, grades kindergarten through second. Data was collected using an anonymous, unpublished questionnaire, as well as from published comments on report cards from spring of 2003. All the questions asked addressed teachers' opinions and knowledge about academic and social performance, as well as interventions and medication use for students with disabilities. Three major themes emerged about teachers' perceptions of medication use. First, teachers are not doctors, therefore they should never recommend medication to parents. Secondly, if a variety of modifications were made and the student continued to struggle with schoolwork, medication should be one of the last options. Finally, this study determined that medication could be beneficial for some students. No significant differences were found on two out of the three questions in the questionnaire given to the teachers. A negative significant difference was found in question three, suggesting that teachers in this study agreed with the policy of the school's approach to medication use.