1. History of academic performance that is below the expected level, given the client’s measured intelligence or performance on standardized achievement tests.
2. Repeated failure to complete homework assignments on time.
3. Poor organization or study skills.
4. Frequent tendency to postpone doing homework assignments in favor of engaging in recreational and leisure activities.
5. Positive family history of members having academic problems, failures, or disinterest.
6. Feelings of depression, insecurity, and low self-esteem that interfere with learning and academic progress.
7. Recurrent pattern of engaging in acting-out, disruptive, and negative attention-seeking behaviors when encountering frustration in learning.
8. Heightened anxiety that interferes with performance during tests.
9. Parents place excessive or unrealistic pressure on the client to such a degree that it negatively affects the client’s academic performance.
Decline in academic performance that occurs in response to environmental stress (e.g., parents’ divorce, death of loved one, relocation move).
