Executive Functioning & School Success Presented by Helma Wardenaar Behavior and learning specialist Case Manager and Spec. ed teacher Educational Consultant helmaw@yahoo.com hwardenaar@agcchicago.org

Important message Executive functioning is not only a ‘special education’ thing. Every person deals with executive functioning Our discussion today is about CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Today’s plan Introduction story Group activity Group discussion Explanation of Executive functioning

activity You will receive 5 minutes to respond to the question in the next slide. After 5 minutes you will be asked to stand up, talk to other participants and determine whether their organization is more or less detailed. If it is less detailed, please stand on the left of this participant. If it is more detailed, please stand on the right of this participant. Goal: we will eventually have a line of more to less organization

Opening Activity You are having a dinner party in your home for 18 people. You have one week to prepare. What steps will you take? “There is paper/pencils at each table. What is your plan?” “What were the various steps that went into the preparation for your dinner party?” What skills are required to host a dinner party that you have done yourself? Develop a plan for the meal, entertainment, cleaning schedule Organize materials you will need Prioritize your steps Manage your time efficiently (especially with certain recipes, and/or multiple recipes) Self-Monitor (Ask yourself necessary questions while cooking, “too much salt, more garlic” etc. Draw upon previous experience, Last time I made this, I overcooked…”) Sustained Attention - attending to the task of cooking, cleaning, getting ready, etc. Self-question drives

Discussion Let’s think in groups of 4 about; - Your feelings when you were asked to execute this task. - Your train of thought to approach this task. - What happened during the task? -Did you feel overwhelmed? Why? Why not? -Was one of your group members very successful? -would you reflect and do things differently? The person with the longest name starts (get to know your partners’ name!)

What Correlates Best to School Success? Have a guess! PARCC scores? Academic skills? Hope? Athletics? Executive Functioning skills

So… what is Executive functioning?! Executive function is… An umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive processes, including organization, emotional control, working memory, self-regulation, reasoning, task flexibility, task initiation, and problem solving as well as planning and execution. In more understandable words… Executive functioning is like the brain having an air traffic control system at a busy airport to manage the arrivals and departures of dozens of planes on multiple airways.

So… what is Executive functioning?! EF is not… - cleaning out your locker - color-coding your folders - using an assignment notebook - using a big binder - using a sign-off sheet (Although these are very helpful strategies to stay organized!)

Why is EF so important? Because the work force requires us to have the ability to engage in purposeful, organized, strategic, self-regulated, and goal-directed behavior. A person with strong executive functioning skills tends to be more successful in schools.

The Prefrontal Cortex

What does the Prefrontal do? Dorsolateral (relates to) - planning - strategizing - sustained attention - flexibility - self-monitoring Orbital (relating to patterns) - Impulse Control (behavioral inhibition) - Emotional Modulation

School Success – partner discussion What are the characteristics of a successful student ? What are the characteristics of a struggling student? How does this relate to that busy airport? What can we do as a team of adults to assist the children in developing executive functioning skills? Write responses on Butcher Block paper.

Struggling Student Profile: Meta Activities Perceived as classic underachievers Difficulty regulating emotions Difficulty getting started on tasks Lose papers/assignments Forget to bring materials home and hand in homework Rush through work and makes careless mistakes Not knowing where to begin on long-term assignments Misjudge time needed and begin an assignment at the last second Lack of a system for keeping track of materials Minimal routines – tracking materials, planning HW, monitoring… Difficulty problem-solving when an obstacle presents itself

Cognitive Processes Attention: activation, arousal, and effort (getting started, paying attention, finishing work) Emotional Regulation: tolerating frustration, thinking before acting/speaking Working Memory: holding facts in mind while manipulating info. and accessing facts stored in long-term memory Internalizing Language: “self-talk” to guide behavior Whole-to-Part Analysis: taking issues apart, analyzing the pieces, and generating novel higher-level solutions (Dendy, 2002)

Self-Regulation This drives the whole EF process If a child/adult is not self-regulated, then he/she cannot be expected to “step back”, plan, reflect, and delay gratification.

Self-Talk: Limited Internal Speech Leads To LIMITED… (Singer & Bashir, 1999) Working Memory Sustained Attention Planning Time Management Self-Monitoring

Good News! Executive functioning skills are one of the last cognitive functions to develop. We need to teach them early though! EFs begin maturing in middle school (but we start teaching them early!) Continue through early adulthood

Physical Organization 1-Binder system “When I leave school, I know…” “When I come to school, I know…” Increases predictability, decreases anxiety, increases sense of self Whole-to-part, questioning, routine, self-monitoring.

Physical Materials

Homework Planning Multi-Step Routine Same time, same place every day Reflection stage Increases predictability, decreases anxiety, increases sense of self More is less Whole-to-part, questioning, routine, self-monitoring

HW planning

References Understanding Executive Function Asplund, Christopher, Jay Todd, Andy Snyder & Rene Marois. “A central role for the lateral prefrontal cortex in goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention” Nature Neuroscience. March, 2010 Anderson, P. “Assessment and development of executive function (EF) during childhood.” Child Neuropsychol. 2002 Jun;8(2):71-82 Dendy, Chris A. “Executive function…What is this anyway?” Retrieved from http://www.chrisdendy.com/executive.htm Kable, Joseph. Just a Little (Lateral Prefrontal) Patience. Nature Neuroscience, May, 2010. McClosky, George. “The role of executive functions in childhood learning and behavior.” 2006. Richards, Gail. The Source for Development of Executive Function. Linguisystems, 2005. Executive Function Fact Sheet by National Center for Learning Disabilities (2005) available at: www.ldonline.org/article/24880

References Reading Comprehension and Executive Function Bashir, A.S. & Singer, B.D. “What are executive functions and self- regulation and what do they have to do with language-learning disorders?” Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, July 1999, 30, 265-273. Borella, Erika, and Santiago Pelegrina. “The Specific Role of Inhibition in Reading Comprehension in Good and Poor Readers.” Journal of Learning Disabilities, November/December, 2010. Laurie E. Cutting, April Materek, Carolyn A. S. Cole, Terry M. Levine,1 and E. Mark Mahone “ Effects of fluency, oral language, and executive function on reading comprehension performance.” Annals of Dyslexia, June 2009 Locasio,G. Mahone, EM. Eason, SH. Cutting, LE. “Executive dysfunction among children with reading comprehension deficits.. 2010 Sep-Oct;43(5):441-54. Willingham, D.T. What will improve a student’s memory? American Educator, Winter 2008-2009

References ADHD and Executive Function Nyman, Anna; Taskinen, Taina; Gronroos, Matti, et. Al. “Elements of Working Memory as Predictors of Goal-Setting Skills in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.” Journal of Learning Disabilities, November/December, 2010.

References Written Expression and Executive Function Blohm, P.J. , & Benton, S.L. “The effective of prewriting interventions on production of elaboration in informative writing.” Journal of Research and Development, 24, 28-32 Kellogg, R.T. “ A model of working memory in writing. In C.M. Levy & Ransdell (Eds.) The Science of Writing: Theories, Methods, Individual Differences, and Applications. Erlbaum, 1996. Phye, G.D. (Ed.) Handbook of academic learning. Academic Press, 1997. United States Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (n.d.). 2007 Writing Assessments. Retrieved May 6, 2008, from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde