NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers
Issue the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers if a teacher sets up an appointment with you to discuss the possibility of ADHD in one of their students. This should help assess the child and lead to diagnosis and treatment.
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What is the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale (Teacher Informant)?
In 2002, the National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ for short) developed its famous . This scale was created to assess children to check if they possibly have ADHD and to help determine if they should be diagnosed with it.
What the assessment scale will attempt to pinpoint is if ADHD is affecting a child's academic performance as well as their general behavior. The scale has a questionnaire with items related to possible anxiety, depression, impatience, defiance, and more.
It comes in two versions, one for teachers and one for parents. We'll focus on the version for teachers for this guide, a forty-three-item questionnaire.
Printable NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers
Download this NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers to assess ADHD in students.
How to use the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale
Check if the teacher has been nominated to report on a certain child.
Given that the form we're discussing is for the Teacher Informant, you have to make sure that the teacher, for whatever reason, has gained the permission and nomination of the parents to report on the possible ADHD of their child based on the child's behavior when they're doing their daily activities in school. The teacher is not the parent nor the guardian, after all.
Have the teacher answer the questionnaire
Once you've confirmed their permission to report the child for possible ADHD, issue this assessment scale to them. They can answer it on the spot, take it home, and submit it during the next appointment. Or, they can send it to you online.
What they need to do is simply rate their student with the following:
- Items 1-35 must be rated on a scale of 0-3 (Never to Very Often)
- Items 36-43 must be rated on a scale of 1-5 (Excellent to Problematic)
All their ratings must be considered in the context of what is appropriate for their student's age.
Record the scores
Once the teacher has given you a fully-accomplished assessment scale, it's time for you to take note of the following:
- The total number of questions scored 2 or 3 in questions 1–9
- The total number of questions scored 2 or 3 in questions 10–18
- Total Symptom Score for questions 1–18
- The total number of questions scored 2 or 3 in questions 19–28
- The total number of questions scored 2 or 3 in questions 29–35
- The total number of questions scored 4 or 5 in questions 36–43
- Average Performance Score
Before making a diagnosis, you must also take note of the following designations:
Predominantly inattentive subtype
- Must score a 2 or 3 on 6 out of 9 items on questions 1–9 AND
- Score a 4 or 5 on any of the Performance questions 36–43
Predominantly hyperactive/impulsive subtype
- Must score a 2 or 3 on 6 out of 9 items on questions 10–18 AND
- core a 4 or 5 on any of the Performance questions 36–43
ADHD combined inattention/hyperactivity
- Requires the above criteria on both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity
In order to meet the criteria for diagnosis, they must have at least six positive responses to either the inattentive 9 or hyperactive 9 core symptoms, or both! Do remember that a positive response is a 2 or 3.
The first part of the scale also has symptom screens of the following:
Oppositional-Defiant/Conduct Disorder Screen
- Must score a 2 or 3 on 3 out of 10 items on questions 19–28 AND
- Score a 4 or 5 on any of the Performance questions 36–43
Anxiety/Depression Screen
- Must score a 2 or 3 on 3 out of 7 items on questions 29–35 AND
- Score a 4 or 5 on any of the Performance questions 36–43
These are screened by the number of positive responses in each of the segments separated by the “squares.”
The second part of the scale, the Performance Set (Items 36-43), has a different rating range. To meet the criteria for ADHD diagnosis, at least one item from this set must score a 4 or 5. You can record the scores for that. There's even an Average Performance Score, calculated by adding the scores up and dividing them by the number of Performance Set items that were rated.
Make a diagnosis and create a care plan
The next part is making a diagnosis (or not, depending on the results) and making a care plan. Make sure to tailor-fit the plan to the child you are rating, like if they're a student that makes careless mistakes, have difficulty waiting, have difficulty playing with others, have difficulty organizing tasks, they're easily distracted, lose things easily, if they leave their seat even when remaining seated is expected, etc.
In the event a follow-up is needed, issue the follow-up form to the teacher
You may also reissue this, especially if the student is taking medicine. This is so you can monitor them for improvements and see if your care plan works.
The teacher simply needs to do the same thing, but this time, there are only twenty-six items to rate. They must also indicate if their kid experienced problems like headaches, trouble sleeping, being listless, etc.
Once you receive a fully-accomplished follow-up, make sure to indicate:
- The total Symptom Score for questions 1–18
- Average Performance Score for questions 19–26 (add them up and divide by the number of Performance criteria answered)
NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers example:
Here is a filled-out NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers sample. Download a free printable NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers from Carepatron and use it for your practice!
Download this NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers Example (Sample) here:
When does one typically use the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment?
This is typically issued to teachers when you've confirmed that they have gained permission to report their student to a pediatrician or psychologist to help screen their student for ADHD.
Once the student has been diagnosed and a care plan has been made, the pediatrician or psychologist may reissue this to help monitor the progress, especially if the teacher sets up another appointment to discuss their student's ADHD.
You can have them answer the scale on the spot, or you can have them take it to school if they want to observe their student first to make more informed ratings.
It's best to evaluate the child for several weeks or months so the teacher has enough time to thoroughly observe the child and make ratings that reflect that child's behavior.
Who can use this printable NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale?
The following healthcare practitioners can use the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers for their respective practices:
- Pediatricians
- Psychiatrists
- Psychotherapists
The student's teacher will engage with the scale the most since they will rate their student based on the prompts.
What are the benefits of using the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale for Teachers?
Since the teacher will be filling out this assessment, they will have a chance to properly reflect on their student and observe them well enough to make well-informed ratings per item.
If their answers lead to ADHD diagnosis, they will know what to focus on to help their student and themselves go about their daily school endeavors with the fact that the student has ADHD. Based on the care plan you'll make for them and the answers they gave, they might be able to determine how to adjust the way they educate the student and how they have them mingle with other students, in ways that could prevent ADHD from negatively impacting the student's school life and relationships.
Why use Carepatron as your pediatric software?
Here at Carepatron, we care about helping healthcare practitioners improve productivity and efficiency, especially when streamlining their clinical documentation. By taking advantage of our easy-to-navigate EHR system, you'll gain access to various pediatric assessments, such as the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale.
Using the NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale will help you assess the child and make an informed ADHD diagnosis. It can also be used to monitor the child post-diagnosis!
You can even store this assessment (both the initial and the follow-up versions) in a HIPAA-compliant manner and secure them by setting up who can access these documents besides you.
Not only are our pediatric software and assessments intuitive, but they're also easily accessible! Whether using an office desktop, a laptop, or even just your phone, you can access your depression scale assessments anytime, anywhere!
We have a wide variety of other nifty features, too, and we're confident they're cool and helpful enough for you to consider us your number-one clinical documentation and counseling practice management software.
Convenience. Accessibility. Security. You get all three with Carepatron.
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Commonly asked questions
The NICHQ Vanderbilt Assessment Scale was designed to assess if there is ADHD in children aged 6-12.
Yes. This assessment scale for teachers has two forms. One is for the initial assessment. The other one is for follow-ups. After diagnosis, the follow-up scale will be used. It’s also much shorter than the initial assessment scale.
If a teacher sets up an appointment with you to discuss their student and their suspicions that their student might have ADHD, issue this to them during the discussion. Or after. But make sure that they have received permission from the student’s parents to report the kid’s possible ADHD first.
You may have the teacher answer on the spot, but if they need more time to think about their answers, have them take it home and fully accomplish it before your next appointment with them. The sooner that you can assess and diagnose the kid, the better because you can create a plan that’ll benefit their education and school life in the long run, especially when the kid reaches high school and college.
