Overview
- The randomized clinical trial enrolled 255 kindergarten-to-sixth-grade children at Florida International University’s Summer Treatment Program from 2022–2025 and was published Nov. 13, 2026; 235 participants completed the study.
- Researchers tested four widely used accommodations—extended time, frequent breaks, standing desks and low-distraction workspaces—and found none produced significant improvements in classroom behavior or quiz scores, with some linked to lower academic productivity.
- A structured behavioral program using tools such as daily report cards, clear expectations, consistent feedback and rewards cut classroom rule violations by 37% compared with a general classroom setting.
- Stimulant medication produced the largest short-term effect, reducing rule violations by 61% and increasing correctly completed assignments by 22% versus placebo.
- Authors caution the trial took place in a highly structured summer program rather than ordinary school classrooms and call for follow-up studies before schools broadly change IEP or Section 504 practices, noting the work builds on decades of research led by William E. Pelham Jr.