Exploring Parent Acculturation and Student Characteristics that are Related to Teacher Academic Ratings Among Latino Students with Symptoms of ADHD

Abstract

Given that children who have academic and/or mental health issues exhibit underachievement, measures completed by teachers become a primary source of information for school psychologists (DuPaul & Stoner, 2003; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006; Sherman, Rasmussen, & Baydala, 2008). However, teacher measures have been called into question because of the discrepancies between teacher academic ratings and student scores on direct (Feinberg & Shapiro, 2009; Hamilton & Shinn, 2003) and norm referenced measures (Eaves et al., 1994). The objective of this study was to examine the validity of the Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES; DiPerna & Elliott, 1999), a teacher academic measure, used on a Latino population referred for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Further, the current study explored whether teachers' ratings of their Latino students' academic competence were related to the parents' acculturation and/or students' characteristics, such as language proficiency, grade retenti