Understanding Mental Health Diagnoses and Learning Disorders

The purpose of this research is to build on previous research that showed a significant

relationship between students with socially devalued identities, poor mental health, and lower

academic achievement and suggested tailored and targeted treatments as a possible protective

factor. To develop programs to assist students in achieving higher scores, one must first

determine the impact of comorbid mental health diagnosis and specific learning disorder on

academic achievement. A quantitative causal-comparative study was used to determine if there is

an impact of mental health diagnoses in combination with specific learning disorders for students

with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 plans on standardized test scores. The study

participants were drawn from a convenience sample of 3rd, 8th, and 10th-grade students located

in a rural area of northeast Florida during the 2018-2019 school year diagnosed with a specific

learning disorder. Academic achievement was measured by student score on the Florida Standard

Assessment (FSA). The sample size was 195 to 198 students from each grade level, divided into

two groups depending on the presence or absence of a comorbid mental health diagnosis. The

data was analyzed using three independent sample t tests. The results of the study indicated no

significant difference between the two subgroups on academic achievement as measured by the

FSA scores. The findings of this study showed a need for future studies to include replication of

the study in additional populations and areas using a different scale of measurement and to

compare students with a mental health disorder to mainstream students with no mental health

disorder or specific learning disorder.