1. Successful/Independent Learner Characteristics What is Executive Function?

2. What are Executive Functions? Brain functions used to manage attention, emotions, and pursuit of goals. Emerge during preschool years and don’t fully mature until early adulthood. More predictive of school success than IQ. Cognitive Control abilities that depend on the prefrontal cortex.

3. Executive Functions Cognitive control functions involved in goal-oriented behaviors. Different from automatic, reactive behaviors

4. Executive Functions Core Executive Functions Inhibitory Control (self control) Working Memory Cognitive Flexibility Higher Order Executive Functions: Problem solving Reasoning Planning

5. Inhibitory Control/Self Control/Effortful Control The ability to resist a strong inclination to do one thing, and instead do what is most appropriate or needed. –Resisting acting on impulse –Staying focused on what is important-selective or focused attention. –Self control- the ability to think before you act, resist temptation, avoid jumping to conclusions.

6. Inhibitory Control: Focus Test Your Focus http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/06/07/technology/20100607- distraction-filtering-demo.html?_r=0

7. Effortful Control Basis for self regulation. Match demands of the situation-sometimes inhibiting, sometimes motivating- Stop and Go functions.

8. Inhibitory Control: Discipline Having the discipline to stay on task Persistence: Seeing a task through to completion even when it is tedious or difficult. Begin able to stay focused despite distractions. Continuing to work although the reward may be a long time coming.

9. Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over twice as much variance in final grades as does IQ, even in college. (Duckworth and Seligman, 2005)

10. Inhibitory Control Being able to: 1.Stay Focused despite distraction 2.Stay on task and complete the task, even in the face of temptation or frustration 3.Exercise self control by considering a response before acting—controlling behavior, responses, and language (not putting your foot in your mouth)

11. Working Memory Holding Information in mind while mentally working with it or while working on something else. –Follow a conversation while formulating what you want to say in response. –Remembering where something was hidden despite a delay and distractions before you get back to it. –Holding in mind what happened earlier and relating it to what is happening now. –Relating one idea to another. –Relating what you read earlier to what you are learning now. –Understanding cause and effect.

12. Working Memory Critical to ability to see connections between seemingly unconnected things. Critical to Creativity-ability to take apart and re-assemble elements or thoughts in new ways.

13. Cognitive Flexibility: Creativity The ability to easily and quickly switch perspectives of the focus of attention, flexibly adjusting to changed demands or priorities—being able to Think Creatively! Thinking about ways to solve problems that no one else has considered before…

14. Cognitive Flexibility Ability to change course when what you are doing isn’t working. Ability to adapt to change easily. Ability to take advantage and seize opportunities when they arise, even if it means changing course.

15. Why Are Executive Functions Important? Executive Function Skills important for: School readiness more than are IQ or entry-level reading or math. (Blair, 2002, 2003, Blair and Razza, 2007, Normandeau and Guay, 1998) School Success: Working Memory and inhibitory control each independently predict both math and reading competence throughout the school years. (Adele Diamond, 2012) Job Success: Poor EF Skills lead to poor productivity and difficulty finding and keeping a job. Executive Function skills are critical for cognitive, social and psychological development.

16. EF’s and Poverty Children in poverty are susceptible to cumulative risk, an accumulation of risk factors such as more negative life stress, poor access to health care, more mental health and substance abuse problems in the home, perhaps less than ideal residential situations. These factors have lasting impact into adulthood. They disrupt neurobiological systems, especially self- regulation systems. ECLKC/NCQTL/Front Porch Series

17. Executive Functions and Poverty Children in lower-income families evidence lower levels of effortful control. Parental behaviors that would support the development of effortful control are observed less often in lower-income families.

18. EF’s and Mental Health Increase in addictions, ADHD, depression, conduct disorder, and schizophrenia are associated with impaired executive functions. Children with less self-control (more impulsive, less persistent, poor attention regulation) have worse health, earn less and commit more crimes as adults 30 years later (Terri Moffitt et all, 2011, National Academy of Sciences)

19. Executive Functions and Early Childhood 46% of kindergarten teachers, in a survey by Robert Pianta and others from UVA, reported that at least half of the children in their classrooms have problems following directions. Head Start teachers, in another study, reported that more than a quarter of their students exhibited serious self-control-related negative behaviors.

20. Effortful Control and Attention Focusing attention Shifting attention Inhibitory Control Examples: –A student is engaged in one project, and it’s time to start something else. –A student has a task to do-such as set the table as the helper, but cannot stay attentive to the task because every time she sees a toy she likes, she is distracted. –A student who is accidentally bumped by another child automatically responds by hitting or pushing back.

21. Day Night Exercise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPmMNbgz3Es

22. School Readiness Effortful control represents learning readiness, not just content readiness, so it predicts kindergarten gains in multiple areas. Effortful control can predict academic competence in addition to and over and above IQ and verbal skills. It also predicts school readiness in areas such as social-emotional competence, school engagement, and positive teacher-child relationship.

23. EF Gains in Children Children with the poorest EF’s gain the most from strategies that support development of Executive Functions. EF training helps level the playing field and reduce the achievement gap between more and less advantaged children.

24. Disorders with Executive Dysfunction The presence of executive deficits can appear in a variety of disorders and conditions. –Chronic illness (e.g., diabetes, chronic kidney disease) –Pediatric neurological conditions (e.g., traumatic brain injury, stroke) –Psychiatric disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, substance abuse) –Developmental disabilities (e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorder, learning disabilities, ADHD) –Childhood maltreatment (e.g., abuse, neglect)

25. Autism Spectrum Disorder Individuals with Autism—both low and high functioning—appear to manifest significant impairments when compared to various comparison groups. These deficits included: –Planning and organization –Set-Shifting and perseverative tendencies –Abstract thinking

26. Traumatic Brain Injury Empirical studies have documented the presence of impairments in: –Planning and problem solving –Abstract thinking and analogical reasoning –Set-shifting and cognitive flexibility –Inhibitory control –Metacognitive capabilities –Processing speed –Working memory

27. Traumatic Brain Injury Additionally, children sustaining a TBI have evidenced problems in: –Identifying emotions –Labeling emotions –Extracting meaning from non-literal social communication –Evaluating problem solving outcomes Higher-order language impairments also have been reported such that both expressive and receptive language pragmatic skills (e.g., understanding proverbs, figurative sayings).

28. Written Language Disorder A number of studies have begun to document the importance of executive functions to the writing process. The coworking memory, is important to written expression because it involves the active maintenance of multiple ideas, the retrieval of grammatical rules from long-term memory, and the recursive self-monitoring that is required during the act of writing.

29. Assessment Most psycho-educational measures do not assess executive functions. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Test of Problem Solving Skills-Revised HRNB Category Test (Booklet version) Tower Tasks (Hanoi, London, Montreal) Fluency tasks (verbal and nonverbal) WJ-III Processing Speed Cluster WJ-III Fluid Reasoning Cluster Working Memory Battery for Children Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome for Children

30. Strategies that Support EF’s Engaging in a project that includes planning a specific scenario with roles and props. The teacher continually brings the students back to the scenario by asking questions about what they want to do and what they will do next.

31. Executive Function Must Be Developed “Reinforcing a skill that isn’t there, reinforces that the skill isn’t there”

32. Don’t assume a student has EF skills and is not using them (lazy) Slowly decrease your role as the “frontal lobe”. Teach the skills. Keep supports in place until there is mastery.

34. Effortful Control Simon Says… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RewIoHJ9RdM

35. Interactions that Support Higher Order EF’s Higher Order Executive Function Skills Problem solving Reasoning Planning Measured by CLASS Instructional Support Domain Concept Development- Analysis and Reasoning –Why and how questions –Problem Solving –Prediction/experimentation. Creating: –Brainstorming –Planning –Producing

37. Effortful Control and Flexibility

41. Management Strategies Problem Solving Develop a guide to help student through the stages of problem solving –Identifying the problem –Acquire relevant information –Generate several possible solutions –List pros and cons for each solution –Identify best solution –Create a plan of action –Evaluate the effectiveness of the plan –Encourage generalization

42. Management Strategies Problem Solving Raise questions about alternatives and consequences (Can they predict outcomes?) Allow the student to bring up relevant real-life problems that are appropriate for group discussions, and promote brainstorming Introduce roadblocks and complications to encourage flexibility Provide ongoing, non-judgmental feedback

48. Management Strategies Organizational Processes Limit the number of steps in a task Provide part of a sequence and have the student finish it Give cues such as, “Correct, but what do you think will happen next? Structure thinking processes graphically (e.g., time lines, outlines, flow charts, graphs, etc.)

49. Management Strategies Organizational Processes Use categories to focus on one topic at a time Identify the main idea and supporting details, categorize them, and encourage student to do the same Have the student practice organizational skills in other settings

50. Management Strategies Speed of Information Processing Recognize as the student fatigues, speed of processing declines Recognize speed of processing can be negatively affected by some medications Eliminate timed measures to assess learning Reduce the amount of work required

51. Management Strategies Speed of Information Processing Provide a reader for text materials and tests Permit the student the use of an aide or peer tutor to take notes for them, or a computer for written language Lower difficulty level until speed of processing improves

52. Management Strategies Speed of Information Processing Allow extra time for the completion of tests and assignments Frequent breaks allow the student to “recharge” When necessary, allow the student extra time to travel between classes

53. Planning and Impulse Control Marshmallow Test

57. Management Strategies Reduce maladaptive behaviors and increase on- task efforts: –Analysis and restructuring of the individual’s daily routine. Negotiating the sequence of routines. –Liberal use of visual cues to facilitate the sequencing –Liberal rehearsal prior to each component, accompanied by a performance review

58. Management Strategies Math Curriculum: Solve It! A research-based instructional program in which teachers explicitly teach the processes and strategies that underlie mathematical problem solving. It incorporates the cognitive processes critical to mathematical problem solving, with a particular focus on strategies: –Reading the problem and developing math vocabulary –Paraphrasing –Visualizing –Hypothesizing about problem solutions and their order –Estimating and predicting the answer –Computing via procedures and calculations –Checking the problem Students also learn a metacognitive strategy that they apply at each step: –Say aloud or to themselves what the problem is asking them to do –Ask themselves if they understand the problem –Check their progress

60. Tips For Success Focus on developing habits and routines that eventually become automatic. Teach students to think about tasks and how to approach them. Structure and guidance can assist the process of skill remediation when efficient and practical strategies are taught to students. (Second Step Curriculum, Good Planning). –Fill out your daily planner. –Put it in your bag with your supplies. –Check it when you get home. –Do your homework. –Make sure you put your homework back in your bag.

61. Tips Continued Research shows that sleep is key. Lack of sleep can cause kids to be less alert and less productive (Around 9 hours). Create Lists Color-Coded Binders Recopying Notes Calendars Timers and alarms Limit Distractions Scaffolding Build Routines