WWC review of this study

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Special Education Programming for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Using a Daily Report Card

Fabiano, Gregory A.; Vujnovic, Rebecca K.; Pelham, William E.; Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Massetti, Greta M.; Pariseau, Meaghan E.; Naylor, Justin; Yu, Jihnhee; Robins, Melissa; Carnefix, Tarah; Greiner, Andrew R.; Volker, Martin (2010). School Psychology Review, v39 n2 p219-239 2010. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ891850

examining

60

Students

, grades

1-6

Practice Guide

Review Details

Reviewed: February 2026

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness

At least one statistically significant positive finding

Meets WWC standards without reservations

For:

Practice Guide (findings for Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010))

Using:

Research Design:

Randomized Controlled Trial

Rating:

Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.

This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Findings

Alphabetics outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement - Basic Reading Skills (Letter-Word Identification and Word Attack subtests)	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	0 Days	Full sample; 55 students	95.91	94.37	No	--

General Mathematics Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Broad Mathematics cluster subtest	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	0 Days	Full sample; 55 students	97.31	95.63	No	--

School Climate outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	0 Days	Full sample; 58 students	110.54	103.56	No	--

Student Behavior outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Academic Performance Rating Scale (APRS): Academic productivity	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	Full sample; 58 students	44.00	39.38	Yes	21
Disruptive Behavior Disorder - Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	Full sample; 58 students	0.48	0.81	Yes	17
Rule violations	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	Full sample; 60 students	7.60	12.02	Yes	8
Disruptive Behavior Disorder - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder	Daily report card - Fabiano et al. (2010) vs. Other intervention	Full sample; 57 students	1.05	1.23	No	--

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Sample Characteristics

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.

Female: 14%
Male: 86%

Race
Black		13%
Two or more races		8%
White		79%

Ethnicity
Hispanic		6%
Not Hispanic or Latino		94%

Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch
Other or unknown		100%

Study Details

Setting

This study was conducted in first- through sixth-grade classrooms in public elementary schools. The location and number of schools were not reported, but each student had a single teacher that was responsible for working with the student to implement the intervention.

Study sample

The study sample included 60 students (32 intervention and 28 comparison group students) who were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, with an average age of approximately 8 years old at the start of the study. Students were identified as 86% male and 14% female; 79% of the students were identified as White, 13% were identified as Black, and 8% as two or more races; 6% were identified as Hispanic or Latino. About half (46%) of the students in the intervention group and 60% of students in the comparison group were receiving medication for emotional and behavioral concerns. Just over half of students (54%) had a disability diagnosis of other health impairment, 19% had a diagnosis of learning disability, 11% were diagnosed with emotional or behavioral disturbance, 14% were diagnosed with speech and/or language impairments, and 2% had multiple disabilities.

Intervention Group

The daily report card intervention is a behavioral intervention that involves the identification of target behaviors for children exhibiting disruptive behavior in schools. Typically, teachers, parents, and sometimes other specialists work together to describe clearly operationalized behavioral goals. These might include no more than a specific number of interruptions during class time or completing schoolwork during an assigned period. These goals go onto a report card that the teachers use to provide immediate feedback to students throughout the day. At the end of the day, the report card goes home with the child, and children gain or lose access to rewards based on their behavior on that day. In this study, school psychology graduate student consultants were assigned to work with each family and teacher for the entire school year. Consultants and teachers developed a unique daily report card for each student, using the student's IEP goals as a starting point. The daily report card was also discussed at monthly teacher-consultant meetings, and daily report card targets were adjusted, if necessary. On average, teachers completed 73% of daily report cards, and parents returned 64% of daily report cards with a signature.

Comparison Group

School psychology graduate student consultants were assigned to work with each family and teacher for the entire school year. Consultants and teachers developed an individualized target behavior evaluation (ITBE) for each student using the IEP as a starting point. The ITBE was completed each day by the teacher and was modified on the basis of the student's behavior. No daily feedback was given to the student, and the document was not sent home to parents each day. Teachers were not instructed to give their students feedback, but instead were instructed to work with the participating students as they would with their other students with IEPs. Parents were contacted monthly about their child's behavior. On average, teachers completed 77% of ITBEs.

Support for implementation

Teachers attended three meetings with the study staff to develop and refine the DRCs and implementation to discuss the home rewards. Throughout the year, consultants met with teachers monthly to review student performance and adjust DRC goals, as appropriate. Parents also attended three meetings to introduce them to the study, determine a menu and hierarchy of home-based rewards, and help them plan for nightly homework. Careful maintenance procedures were put in place by the study to ensure that consistent implementation occurred throughout the school year.