Optimizing Learning for Students with ODD - Evidence-Based Approaches to Address Learning Difficulties

Why Create Academic Programs Specially Designed for Students with ODD?

As shown on the definitions page, students with ODD can lose their temper, argue with teachers, become angry, and actively defy to follow requests or instructions. Clearly all of these behaviours can make students with ODD Learning difficulties to teach. But is there any evidence which actually shows that students with ODD have poorer academic outcomes? Whilst more research is needed on this subject, there is some significant evidence which shows that students with ODD suffer from poorer academic outcomes, meaning that something needs to be changed to improve academic outcomes for students with ODD. That is why I have created academic programs catered to the strengths, needs, and interests of ODD students so students with ODD can achieve better academic results. I believe that focused specialisation and differentiation can achieve better results.

Evidence of Poorer Academic Outcomes in Students with ODD:

A study looking at the prevalence of ODD in a sample of Spanish children aged 6-16 found that students with ODD had significantly poorer academic outcomes than those who do not, particularly in reading, maths, and writing. Unsurprisingly, students with ODD were also found to have worse classroom behaviour, poorer organisational skills, and less positive relationships with their peers.
A study on increasing academic performance among ODD students using the implicit theory effect (2010) found that children with ODD suffered from significantly lower academic grades than typically developing children.
In 2015 the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry found that among boys, oppositional/defiant behaviours are independently associated with worse academic outcomes.
The same study found that disruptive behavioural disorders, which includes ODD, were associated with a 19-point reduction in GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education in the United Kingdom) scores, and a 1.83 increased likelihood of not achieving five good GCSE scores.
The University of Oulu recently published their findings from a long-term study examining the effects of ODD vs ADHD symptoms on academic performance at age 16, and then again the effects of either disorder on educational attainment at the age of 32. Over 9000 Finnish people all born in 1986 were included in this study. The study found that ODD symptoms predicted poorer academic outcomes in both males and females, whilst those who had both ADHD & ODD had, on average, even lower educational attainment and achievement.
A Taiwanese school-based national study reported that children with ODD felt that they had problems in academic performance, attitude, and behaviour at school.
Highly regarded and heavily experienced clinical psychologist Dr Ross Greene found that children with ODD are more likely to be placed in special classes at school than children who have other psychiatric disorders.

References

1. José Antonio López-Villalobos, Llano, A., López-Sánchez, V., Rodríguez-Molinero, L., Garrido-Redondo, M., María Teresa Martínez-Rivera, & Ana María Sacristán-Martín. (2015). Prevalence of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in a sample of Spanish children between six and sixteen years: teacher’s report. PubMed, 43(6), 213–220.

2. Da Fonseca, D., Cury, F., Santos, A., Sarrazin, P., Poinso, F., & Deruelle, C. (2010). How to increase academic performance in children with oppositional defiant disorder? An implicit theory effect. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41(3), 234–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2010.01.008

3. Sayal, K., Washbrook, E., & Propper, C. (2015). Childhood Behavior Problems and Academic Outcomes in Adolescence: Longitudinal Population-Based Study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(5), 360-368.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2015.02.007

4. Seppa, S., Halt, A., Nordström, T., & Hurtig, T. (2023). Effects of Symptoms of Attention‑Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) on Academic Performance and Educational Attainment [Review of Effects of Symptoms of Attention‑Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) on Academic Performance and Educational Attainment]. Child Psychiatry and HumanDevelopment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01598-7