Executive Function in Children – Deficits and Academic Difficulties

Are you familiar with the importance of the brain development of executive function in children?  The skills are essential for students to thrive in the school setting.

Are you familiar with the importance of the brain development of executive function in children?  The skills are essential for students to thrive in the school setting. A recent research article did a longitudinal study examining executive function in children who were kindergarten age through third grade with academic difficulties.

Executive Function in Children

Executive function skills include planning, organization, working memory, initiation, task monitoring, self-monitoring, inhibition, emotional control, and shifting/flexibility.

  1. Inhibition – The ability to stop one’s own behavior at the appropriate time.
  2. Shift – The ability to move freely from one situation to another and to think flexibly in order to respond appropriately to the situation.
  3. Emotional Control – The ability to modulate emotional responses by bringing rational thought to bear on feelings.
  4. Initiation – The ability to begin a task or activity and to independently generate ideas, responses, or problem-solving strategies.
  5. Working memory – The capacity to hold information in mind for the purpose of completing a task.
  6. Planning/Organization – The ability to manage current and future- oriented task demands.
  7. Organization of Materials – The ability to impose order on work, play, and storage spaces.
  8. Self-Monitoring – The ability to monitor one’s own performance and to measure it against some standard of what is needed or expected.

Methodology of the Study on Executive Function in Children

The researchers looked at a large (N = 11,010) sample of children participating in the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 2011.  Data analysis was completed using the first- through third-grade achievement growth trajectories in mathematics, reading, and science.  A standardized scale was created to observe an at-risk trajectory class in each academic domain.

Results of the Study on Executive Function Deficits and Academic Difficulties

Data analysis indicated the following:

  • students in the at-risk class initially averaged very low levels of achievement (i.e., about two standard deviations below the mean) in first grade. Their trajectories remained very low or declined further by third grade.
  • trajectories for other classes were also generally flat but started and remained at higher levels of standardized achievement.
  • executive function deficits, particularly in working memory, increased kindergarten children’s risk of experiencing repeated mathematics, reading, and science difficulties across elementary school. This was replicated across three academic domains following statistical control for domain-specific and socio-demographic characteristics.

Conclusion

The researchers concluded that executive function in children who present with deficits, particularly in working memory, increased kindergarten children’s risk for repeated academic difficulties.

Reference: Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., Wang, Y., Hillemeier, M. M., Oh, Y., & Maczuga, S. (2019). Executive function deficits in kindergarten predict repeated academic difficulties across elementary school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly46, 20-32.

More Resources on Executive Function in Children and Working Memory Exercises

Executive Functioning Strategies for Students

Self-Regulation Rubrics

Planning, Time Management, and Organization Skills Bundle

Working Memory, Hemisphere Integration and Attention Building Bundle

Working Memory Exercises

Self Regulation Skills Curriculum – Move Work Breathe

 

Are you familiar with the importance of the brain development of executive function in children?  The skills are essential for students to thrive in the school setting.