Academic Assessment

Academic demands are central to the lives of children living in the information age and in industrial societies. Schools are the workplaces of children and are the gateways into adult work for most adolescents. Historically, academic concerns are the most common reason that children are referred for special education services within schools and are central to many requests for outpatient services (Lloyd, Kauffman, Landrum, & Roe, 1991). The synergy between children's academic and social/emotional functioning creates a complex interrelationship in which mental health problems can adversely affect children's educational attainment and academic success affects mental health (Johnson, McGue, & Iacono, 2006). Children who suffer from depression, anxiety, or Attention-Deficit/Hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD) are at an apparent disadvantage in attending to, completing, and profiting from instruction. Similarly, children who are at risk for or exhibit conduct problems are at increased risk for poor academic achievement that may result from the interaction of diverse factors (Montague, Enders, & Castro, 2005). The synergy also exists when examined from the opposite perspective. Children who repeatedly fail at school are more likely to exhibit anxiety, depression, negative self-esteem, and conduct problems (Jimerson, Carlson, Rotert, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1997).

When phenomena co-occur, the question of causation naturally arises. Are the client's academic difficulties the result of psychopathology such as a depressive disorder, is the depressive disorder the result of frustration and chronic failure at school, or are both concerns the result of a third factor? The limitations of correlational and epidemiological research likely preclude a strong determination of a causal connection between psychopathology and academic performance. Additionally, the ways psychopathology and academic attainment interact may be substantively idiographic. For some children, psychopathology may create substantive barriers to academic achievement; for others, psychopathological symptoms may be largely the result of chronic negative environmental events resulting from academic failure that are nearly inescapable due to mandatory school attendance. Although parents and teachers may view psychopathology as causing academic concerns, for some children academic concerns may be an important stressor contributing to psychopathology (Jimerson et al., 1997; Kelley, Reitman, & Noell, 2002).