Supporting Student Executive Functions: Insights and Strategies for Educators

In Supporting Student Executive Functions, two clinical and classroom experts deliver an insightful and accessible guide to executive functioning skills. Lisa Carey, Ed.D., and Alexis Reid, M.A., explain how these skills develop, how executive functioning challenges show up in the classroom, and how, if unaddressed, those challenges interfere with student learning.

Part I builds an understanding of the science of executive functioning and how it develops during the K–12 years. Part II offers a practical, example-rich approach to help educators develop and support students’ executive functions with tips, suggestions, and action steps.

Building on the research-backed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines, the authors pay special attention to the Guideline “Provide options for Executive Functions” to show which types of supports are most meaningful at different stages of a student’s K–12 journey.

Educators—but also medical professionals, caregivers and parents, and students themselves—will gain a deeper understanding of the latest science on executive functioning as well as valuable, easy-to-implement strategies to use in the classroom today.