Currently, most students do not receive explicit instruction in executive function skills. Indeed, students struggling with these skills are often advised to try harder, pay attention, and behave. The students may try to do better, but without the right interventions, they do not know how to improve these skills. As time goes on, the difficulty they experience with executive functioning keeps dragging them into a downward spiral, and they become more and more reluctant to try.
Some students may begin a downward spiral as early as preschool. If this spiral is not stopped, it may result in retention, or worse—dropping out. While there are usually multiple reasons for poor student outcomes, there is often a similar pattern for students with executive function weaknesses. These students may
not understand all the demands made upon them,
find it difficult to pay attention,
have troubling remembering what they have been taught,
not always follow the rules,
find it difficult to get along with others, or
not begin work in a timely manner.
When we and parents fail to recognize these characteristics as pointing to executive function deficits, we sometimes wrongly assume that the student is simply not trying and is not well behaved. This in turn may lead to the student feeling that
we do not care for him or her.
the demands being made upon him or her are too hard, too easy, stupid, confusing, not meant for him/her, for example.
he or she can do better and will try harder.
he or she does not want to attend school any longer.
he or she might as well not try, because success is not possible.
As time goes on, the downward spiral continues (see figures 1.2 and 1.3). While the school may implement academic interventions, these are often inadequate because the issue of executive function is not specifically addressed. Meltzer (2007) suggests you pay attention to a student’s difficulties in executive function skills as early as preschool.
FIGURE 1.2 What Does the Downward Spiral Look Like?
FIGURE 1.3 How to Stop the Downward Spiral—Reframing One’s Thinking
Executive Function Skills Training
Although there is evidence of a genetic predisposition to executive function deficits, timely targeted intervention can minimize the impact on students’ academic and lifelong success. Students cannot demonstrate skills they do not have. However, through explicit training that is targeted to a student’s individual strengths and weaknesses, executive function skills can be developed and enhanced. Our book provides a 7-Step Model for executive function skills training that incorporates Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the use of metacognition. With this approach to explicit strategy instruction, the selected strategy is taught in a manner that is compatible with how the student learns best. As well, our book offers potentially evidenced-based strategies for students who have common executive function skill deficits. Later in this chapter we outline various approaches you might use to fit executive functioning skills training into your already full school day.
What Is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?
In the 1980s, the movement for using technology—everything from high technology, including computers, to low technology, such as highlighters—to break learning barriers and level the playing field for students with disabilities brought enlightenment to educators of all types of learners. Thus, the onset of digital texts, digital speech, and other technologies created a positive shift in instructional delivery and learning goals not only for students with disabilities, but gradually for all learners. No longer was the traditional one-size-fits-all model for instruction deemed productive in supporting learning.
The emergence of new ways to instruct students led to the development in the 1990s of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on neuroscientific findings (Center for Applied Special Technology [CAST], 2011). UDL is founded on two premises. The first premise is that people learn via three types of networks categorized as affective, recognition, and strategic. Affective networks address the “why” of learning in terms of the student’s feelings, values, or emotions that influence learning. Recognition networks speak to the “what” of learning and how the student identifies and processes information. Finally, strategic networks attend to the “how” of learning, including how the student plans, executes, and monitors both mental and motor tasks (Meyer, Rose & Gordon, 2014, p. 51).
The second premise consists of three principles: Multiple Means of Representation, Multiple Means of Action and Expression, and Multiple Means of Engagement. Multiple Means of Representation addresses “what” the student needs to learn and how this information will be presented. Multiple Means of Action and Expression refers to “how” the student will gain this knowledge and demonstrate the knowledge. Multiple Means of Engagement employs “why” the student wants to do this. Engagement is necessary for learning that is meaningful (Meyer et al., 2014, p. 59).
The onset of the UDL model focuses on designing instruction to meet the learning needs and strengths of the student. This created a paradigm shift in instructional delivery; using this model, you teach in the manner best suited to the students’ diverse learning needs rather than teaching with the traditional one-size-fits-all approach. With that in mind, we have incorporated the UDL guidelines and added UDL considerations as an important component of our 7-Step Model. Figure 1.4 illustrates this incorporation.
FIGURE 1.4 UDL Guidelines Consideration
TABLE 1.2 Classes Without and Classes With UDL Considerations
The implementation of UDL decreases learning barriers for all students due to the emphasis on learner variability. In providing a flexible approach to instructional design and delivery, the teacher promotes learner engagement, which is essential for learning to take place. A flexible approach to demonstrating skill fluency and mastery promotes learner participation through the following: receiving purposeful content, being motivated to learn, being resourceful and knowledgeable throughout the learning process, setting appropriate goals, and implementing strategies that support the acquisition of these goals. After over two decades of using the UDL model, there is solid evidence that this instructional delivery model is best for all students, not just those students with disabilities (Meyer et al., 2014).
Executive function training provides strategies for the teacher and student to use that help compensate for the student’s areas of executive function weakness. Teaching students these strategies while incorporating UDL provides a vehicle for instructional delivery that supports the individual learning needs of each student. It is a practice that benefits all students in today’s diverse classrooms.
