Category: Executive Function

Strategies vs. Skills: What’s the Difference?

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date March 21, 2023
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When supporting students’ executive function, many educators use the terms “skill” and “strategy” interchangeably. In the SMARTS Executive Function curriculum, we believe it is important to underscore the difference between such seemingly similar terms.

Skills refer to abilities that an individual enacts without much thought.
Strategies, on the other hand, are intentionally employed to accomplish a specific task, such as reading a book or studying for an exam. Students can use strategies to avoid executive function overload (aka a “clogged funnel”) and manage the demands placed on them in school and in extracurricular activities.

When it comes to teaching executive function, it is important to promote a strategies-based approach for many reasons.

Strategy instruction is a strengths-based approach

This approach focuses on students achieving personally meaningful goals, supported by teachers’ explicit teaching and modeling of strategy use. Students who struggle may internalize their failures and come to believe that their efforts will not lead to success. However, when armed with strategies, students have options for how they can respond to an academic or organizational challenge, opening multiple pathways to success.

Strategy instruction promotes self-understanding

Using strategies is an intentional and deliberate process; students become active learners who engage in self-reflection about which strategies were most successful in specific situations. This metacognitive process is an important part of teaching students to understand how they learn most effectively. When students feel valued and involved in their learning, they are more likely to be motivated.

Strategy instruction is beneficial for all learners

All students benefit from having a larger set of strategies to pull from when they face academic challenges.

The SMARTS Executive Function curriculum helps students understand their areas of strength and challenge and explicitly teaches executive function strategies. Learn more about the three key tenets at the heart of the SMARTS program.

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

Cognitive Flexibility Executive Function Social-Emotional Learning

The Making of a Good President: EF and SEL Strengths

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date February 21, 2023
No Comments on The Making of a Good President: EF and SEL Strengths

Last year on the SMARTS blog, we explored what it takes to be a successful president. For decades, historians have examined the actions, speeches, and personalities of US presidents to determine what qualities and characteristics lead to a prosperous tenure in office. It comes as no surprise that a well-developed sense of self-understanding and executive function strengths are key!

In addition to a vision for the future and the ability to see situations from multiple perspectives, it turns out that there are a number of social and emotional strengths that contribute to a successful presidency. Doris Kearns Goodwin, a historian who has spent 50 years researching, analyzing, and writing on American politics and the US presidency, described these qualities in an interview with the Aspen Institute(link opens in new tab/window)↗:

“The most important leadership qualities are empathy, resilience, listening skills, humility, and self-reflection.”

But it’s not just presidents who need to develop these strengths. These qualities are important for all students no matter what career path they choose.

Empathy

When it comes to empathy, it’s never too early to start teaching students to consider others’ perspectives. The SMARTS Elementary Curriculum has a number of lessons about stepping into peers’ shoes and understanding why they see something a certain way (e.g., Lesson 3.2. I’m Wearing Your Shoes).

The ability to be flexible and shift perspectives can contribute to positive interpersonal relationships. As described in the CASEL Framework on relationship skills, having a greater capacity for empathy means being able to “communicate clearly, listen actively…work collaboratively to problem solve, and negotiate conflict constructively…”

Self-reflection

Self-reflection is essential for students to think metacognitively, understand their strengths and challenges, and begin to plan their future strategy use. When teaching executive function strategies through the SMARTS curriculum, it is important that students keep strategies all in one place. For elementary students, the SMARTS Elementary Workbook allows students to quickly and easily access all the handouts and strategy reflection sheets they’ll need. Older students can use strategy notebooks or a digital resource to collect handouts and reflections from each lesson.

Resilience

Another tool to develop students’ self-reflection is the MetaCOG Surveys & Toolkit, an interactive executive function survey system that features the STRATUS (Strategy Use Survey) and ME (Motivation and Effort Survey). The MetaCOG Surveys & Toolkit also dives into the topics of motivation, effort, and resilience, and students are asked to reflect on what helps them push through and what makes them feel like giving up. They can see over time how they are growing as resilient and strategic learners.

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

Build Your Executive Function Toolkit in 2023
Are you interested in building your Executive Function Toolkit? Join us in February and March to hear from EF experts on topics such as executive function and social-emotional learning, organizing time and materials, UDL, and goal setting. Learn more and register today.

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

Executive Function Metacognition SMARTS Stories SMARTS strategies

Classroom Research: A SMARTS Pilot Study

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date February 1, 2023
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When it comes to teaching executive function strategies, research has demonstrated that explicit, systematic, structured, and scaffolded approaches yield the greatest results. It is also important to consider that each teaching environment presents its own factors that influence learning.

Action Research: In the Classroom

Two teachers in Slovakia took matters into their own hands and carried out a review of their students’ metacognitive abilities pre- and post-SMARTS intervention. We’ll highlight their major findings in this post, and we encourage you to read their full report.

The authors of the article, Iveta Kovalčíková and Ivana Martinková, completed SMARTS training before embarking on this pilot study. The question that guided their research was: What is the impact of intervention through the metacognitive program SMARTS on selected metacognitive abilities (organizing and prioritizing) of examined pupils?

Research Overview

Kovalčíková and Martinková applied a number of SMARTS curriculum lessons (adapted to the Slovak curricular context) to stimulate their students’ abilities to organize and prioritize information:

Purposeful Highlighting—highlighting to identify multiple perspectives when reading and taking notes
Triple-Note-Tote—a three-column strategy for note-taking
BOTEC—a strategy to help students organize and sort ideas (Brainstorming, Organizing, Topic sentences, Evidence and Conclusion)

Interventions lasting forty-five to sixty minutes were carried out in 25 sessions twice a week. The authors highlight case studies of two students, Emil and Vanda, who develop metacognitive skills and personalized strategies throughout the intervention.

Outcomes

Based on the outcomes obtained by observation and interviews, the impact of the intervention on the pupils’ metacognitive abilities can be assessed as positive.

We thank Iveta Kovalčíková and Ivana Martinková for sharing their study with us. SMARTS empowers students by helping them understand their strengths and weaknesses and teaching them critically important executive function strategies.

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

Executive Function News ResearchILD

SMARTS: 2022 in Review

Providing students with the strategies and tools they need for academic and life success is at the heart of our mission.

The SMARTS curriculum was developed by ResearchILD, and our impact over this past year reflects teachers’ increased understanding that executive function strategies are critical for helping students to navigate the academic and social challenges of school.

By the numbers

226,875 students have received executive function strategy instruction via SMARTS.

14,025 educators have attended our conferences, trainings, and workshops.

6,075 teachers have used the SMARTS curriculum in their classrooms.

2,082 schools in 47 states and 28 countries have participated in our programs.

82% growth in SMARTS licenses from 2021 to 2022.

Educators in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and 28 countries have implemented SMARTS and/or participated in our conferences and workshops.

2022 Accomplishments

Addressing executive function needs through an equity lens
In 2022, the EF and Equity Fellowship brought together educators to explore how schools are addressing students’ executive function needs through an equity lens. Each month we examined how educators can use executive function as a transformative tool for building differentiated, inclusive instruction and developing community-based practices. Areas of focus for the current academic year include implicit bias and social-emotional learning.
MetaCOG Surveys & Toolkit
After launching the Strategy Use Survey in January, we began developing the online version of the Motivation and Effort (ME) Survey. In numerous pilots, educators shared feedback to shape the final version. 2022 marked the second year of the SMARTS Student Ambassador Program, a student focus group designed to ensure our materials accurately reflect students’ lives. The ME Survey is targeted for release in January 2023 as part of the MetaCOG Surveys & Toolkit.
Conferences and trainings reach a worldwide audience
Our 37th annual Executive Function Conference explored the intersection between executive function and social-emotional learning. The conference brought together 20+ experts in the fields of executive function, ADHD, social-emotional learning, and education with a virtual audience from 7 countries and 28 states across the US. We also offered free webinars that introduced educators to the fundamentals of executive function, and in-depth training that took educators on a deeper dive into executive function.

Get ready for 2023!

We are looking forward to 2023 and are excited about implementing our new initiatives and transforming the lives of more students so that they can learn how to learn. Read the full impact report here.

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

Build Your Executive Function Toolkit in 2023

Are you interested in building your Executive Function Toolkit? Join us in February and March to hear from EF experts on topics such as executive function and social-emotional learning, organizing time and materials, UDL, and goal setting. Learn more and register today.

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

College Executive Function Learning Differences

Interviewing an EF Expert, Part 2

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date November 30, 2022
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Shelly’s interview is a rich resource on executive function, and we will be diving into pieces of it here over the next few weeks (read all posts).

How does executive function impact learning?

Shelly’s response: Executive function processes are essential for academic success, and we use them every day. Starting from elementary school on, executive function processes affect many academic areas. They are critically important for reading comprehension, written language, math problem solving, long-term projects, studying, and taking tests. In other words, everything we expect our teenagers to do every day in school.

The role of metacognition

The ability to engage with these executive function processes relies on students’ metacognition (also known as self-understanding). Metacognition is a topic we cover frequently here on the SMARTS blog. It’s impossible to define executive function without also considering metacognition.

Metacognitive awareness refers to students’ understanding and beliefs of how they think and learn as well as the strategies they can use to complete specific tasks. When students do not have executive function strategies, they lack an understanding of the way they learn best, their belief in their ability to succeed suffers, and they are unmotivated to put forth effort. When students know what strategies they need to be successful, they learn more about their personal strengths and challenges, which improves their belief in their abilities and motivates them to put in more effort, particularly for challenging tasks.

How can you promote metacognition for your students?

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

*Shelly Levy is the Director of SMARTS Training and an Educational Specialist at The Research Institute for Learning and Development in Lexington, MA. She has been in the field of special education for over 30 years.

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

ADHD EF Conference Executive Function

Understanding Executive Function and ADHD

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date November 29, 2022
No Comments on Understanding Executive Function and ADHD

This post is part of a series that highlights themes and takeaways from ResearchILD’s 37th Annual Executive Function Conference: Executive Function & Social-Emotional Learning: Promoting Resilience, Stress Management, and Academic Success.

ResearchILD’s 37th Annual Executive Function Conference provided a space for important discussions about using executive function strategies to reduce stress and promote social-emotional learning. One subject that was discussed by multiple speakers was ADHD — how it relates to executive function and how to understand it through a strength-based approach.

Smart but Stuck

On day one of the conference, Dr. Thomas E. Brown(link opens in new tab/window) shared insights into ADHD and how executive function impairments affect the ability of people with ADHD to do certain activities. Dr. Brown is a clinical professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside and was a past clinical faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.

Drawing from his years working with and talking to people who have ADHD, Dr. Brown emphasized that every single person with ADHD has activities that they are able to focus on as well as other activities on which they aren’t able to focus at all.

Dr. Brown also stressed the role that emotions play in ADHD. Each person has different emotions that they are particularly vulnerable to. He compared emotions to chocolate chip cookies – they are often blended, layered, or mixed. Context is important, whether it is where you are or who you are with. Sometimes emotions take up too much space, and such intensity can lead to a reduction in sensitivity to other information.

How to Win Races with a Runaway Brain

On the second day of the conference, Dr. Edward Hallowell (link opens in new tab/window) pushed for a new way of thinking and talking about ADHD. “Depending on how you manage it, it can be either an asset or a liability in your life… it can also make your life.”

As the founder of the Hallowell ADHD Centers and past faculty member of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Hallowell has 40+ years of clinical experience working with people with ADHD. He stressed the importance of connection in learning. The beauty of connection is that it is fun, free, and in infinite supply.

Through his talk, Dr. Hallowell shared ways that parents of students with ADHD can help their children. For example, people with ADHD crave stimulation and cannot tolerate boredom because contentment is too bland. Dr. Hallowell thus encourages students to find a creative outlet. For him, it was writing. Through his lived experiences as someone who grew up with ADHD and has family members who have ADHD, Dr. Hallowell emphasized that anyone with ADHD can live a fulfilling life; it is all about the perspective and how you approach it.

Andrea Foo, SMARTS Intern

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

Executive Function Recommendations ResearchILD

Interviewing an EF Expert, Part 1

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date November 16, 2022
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Top Tier Admissions (link opens in new tab/window), a company devoted to empowering students from around the world in the college and graduate school admissions process, recently interviewed ResearchILD’s very own Shelly Levy*, M.Ed., M.S., who is a leader in the field of learning development. Shelly’s interview is a rich resource on executive function, and we will be diving into pieces of it here on the SMARTS blog over the next few weeks.

What is executive function and how does it impact learning?

Shelly’s response: If you Google the term “executive function,” you might notice that EF is a hot topic. There are a lot of resources and definitions out there, with doctors, neuroscientists, researchers, psychologists, teachers, and parents all claiming that they have the official definition of EF and the best approach. Some researchers claim that there is only one executive function process while others say there are up to 39 executive function processes!

It can be quite difficult to define executive function (EF), and this has a considerable impact on students who struggle with executive function, and especially those who learn differently.

The concept of executive function is interdisciplinary in nature; it is influenced by neuroscience, psychology, and education, and each field has interpreted and explained executive function differently. In addition, various components of executive function often overlap, and this confusion is reflected in the varying definitions of executive function offered by leading researchers in these fields.

Defining executive function the SMARTS way

When it comes to supporting the success of all students, it’s important to use approaches to EF that are clear to everyone. The definition we use as the core of the SMARTS curriculum is based on the work and research of Dr. Lynn Meltzer, who stresses the importance of translating theory and research in a way that is easy to access for practitioners.

Dr. Meltzer defines executive function as a broad term used to describe the complex cognitive processes that are the foundation for flexible, goal-directed behaviors.

Key executive function processes include:

Shifting flexibly (cognitive flexibility)
Goal setting
Organizing and prioritizing
Accessing working memory
Self-monitoring and self-checking.

Each of these executive function processes plays a crucial role in success, whether in school or in life. When teachers and their students can easily see how these processes are involved in learning, they can create strategies to address them.

Where do you see these processes arise for your students?

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

*Shelly Levy is the Director of SMARTS Training & an Educational Specialist at The Research Institute for Learning and Development in Lexington, MA. She has been in the field of Special Education for over 30 years.

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

Cognitive Flexibility EF Conference Executive Function

Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Classroom

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date September 21, 2022
No Comments on Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Classroom

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently face challenges in school↗(link opens in new tab/window), often due to unmet sensory, social, and developmental needs. With the prevalence of students diagnosed with ASD steadily increasing↗(link opens in new tab/window), it is more important than ever to understand current, research-based fundamentals of supporting individuals with ASD.

Supporting Students with ASD: from Research to Practice

ResearchILD is thrilled to host Dot Lucci, M.Ed., C.A.G.S., at our 37th Annual Executive Function Conference, where she will present “Creating Classroom Environments that Help ASD Students Thrive – Not Just Survive.”

Dot’s presentation will focus on:

The diagnostic criteria and characteristics of ASD
How the incorporation of self-awareness, stress-management, and social-emotional intelligence into classrooms can support diverse learners
How topics such as positive psychology, explanatory style, and stress management can be applied in classrooms to support students with ASD
Concrete tools and strategies for supporting students with ASD

Dot brings over 30 years of experience in education, psychology, and academia pertaining to inclusion of students with special needs, particularly ASD, across settings. In addition, she has extensive experience translating her many publications on ASD into practice as a board member of Autism Asperger’s Network (AANE), program director and director of consultation at Aspire/Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-author of the Think Smart Feel Good curriculum.

Learn More

Interested in learning more about best practices for supporting students with autism spectrum disorder? We invite you to attend our 37th Annual Executive Function Conference on November 3 and 4, 2022, to hear from Dot and other experts in the fields of executive function, social-emotional learning, and education.

Taylor McKenna, M.A., M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

Executive Function Metacognition Webinar

Free Webinar: Executive Function Strategies as a Blueprint for Academic Success

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date September 20, 2022
No Comments on Free Webinar: Executive Function Strategies as a Blueprint for Academic Success

Success in our fast-paced, high-stakes schools is dependent on executive function processes. Why do so many students seem to struggle with executive function? How can teachers and parents support students to handle the executive function demands of academic and everyday life?

Join staff members from ResearchILD for an in-depth explanation of executive function and the SMARTS curriculum in our free webinar on Tuesday, October 11, at 3:30 p.m. EST (link opens in new tab/window).

Why Is Executive Function Important?

Executive function is a hot topic in education these days, but what does it mean and why do so many students struggle with it? In our 21st-century schools, a large gap still separates the strategies that are taught from the skills needed for success in school and in the workplace. Classroom instruction often focuses on the content, or what, of learning rather than the process, or how, of learning. Furthermore, students are not taught to understand how they think and how they learn, a process known as “metacognitive awareness.”

Nevertheless, academic performance depends on students’ self-understanding as well as their ability to plan their time, organize and prioritize ideas, think flexibly, monitor their progress, and self-regulate.

These executive function processes have become increasingly important from the elementary grades onwards as students complete complex reading and writing assignments as well as online research for long-term projects.

Webinar Topics

SMARTS is an executive function curriculum that empowers all students by helping them understand their strengths and challenges and teaching them executive function strategies for academic and life success.

In our free, one-hour webinar, staff members from the Research Institute for Learning and Development will explore:

How understanding executive function and providing strategies at school and at home can support students across grades and content areas
The history and research behind the SMARTS Curriculum
Different ways schools use SMARTS
The structure and format of SMARTS, how to create a unique scope and sequence, and how to measure student strategy use

Learn More and Register

You can learn more about executive function and the SMARTS curriculum in our free webinar on Tuesday, October 11, at 3:30 p.m. EST (link opens in new tab/window). We look forward to seeing you!

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org

Cognitive Flexibility Executive Function Working Memory

EF in the Dog Days of Summer

Post author By Elizabeth Ross
Post date July 11, 2022
No Comments on EF in the Dog Days of Summer

Long days, peak temperatures, and high humidity…we are officially in the dog days of summer! During this time, humans and their canine companions in the Northern Hemisphere will do their best to rest and avoid extended exposure to the sun and heat.

Over the summer you might have more time to observe your dog’s daily patterns. Have you ever wondered what your dog is thinking and how they learn? This is the perfect time to explore new research around the similarities in cognition among humans and dogs.

Executive Function and Dogs

According to a recent study from La Trobe University (link opens in new tab/window), dogs and humans regulate their behavior in similar ways. Researchers focused on a few executive function processes: the ability to follow instructions, control physical impulses, and use working memory.

Over thousands of years of domestication, the survival of dogs has depended on their ability to obtain sufficient food and care by regulating their behavior to suit the human environment. Just as considering the context is crucial when examining executive function processes in humans, the same concept applies when observing dogs and their processes.

Working dogs, such as farm dogs or assistance dogs, have demonstrated highly developed executive function processes. For example, seeing-eye dogs have the ability to inhibit urges to chase other animals and closely follow sequences of instructions.

Developing EF Strategies

Research in humans has shown that a structured, systematic, and explicit approach to teaching executive function strategies (the foundation of the SMARTS curriculum) fosters self-understanding and empowers students to learn how to learn. Training, it turns out, is the key factor in dogs’ development of executive function processes. Next time you want to teach your dog a new trick, consider using a SMARTS strategy!

Looking to build your executive function toolkit? Join us for the Executive Function Summer Summit (July 26, July 28, August 2, and August 4) and the SMARTS Executive Function Summer Workshop (August 9, August 11). All summer professional development opportunities are available online via Zoom and through recorded sessions.

Caitlin Vanderberg, M.Ed., SMARTS Associate

SMARTS Executive Function Curriculum: smarts-ef.org

Research Institute for Learning and Development: researchild.org

The Institute for Learning and Development: ildlex.org