Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies

With insight and humor, this motivating guide shows how to bring executive functions (EF) to the forefront in K–8 classrooms--without adopting a new curriculum or scripted program. Ideal for professional development, the book includes flexible, practical, research-based ideas for implementation in a variety of classroom contexts. It shares stories from dozens of expert teachers who are integrating explicit EF support across the school day. Provided is a clear approach for talking about EF barriers and strategies as part of instruction, and working as a class to problem-solve, explore, and apply the strategies that feel right for each student. Several reproducible tools can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

This book is in The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series, edited by Sandra M. Chafouleas.

Laurie Faith, PhD, is Assistant Professor (teaching stream) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada. She teaches courses in special education and executive functions and is Associate Editor of Laidlaw Forum, a research journal for teachers. Dr. Faith is the creator of Activated Learning, a self-regulated learning intervention that she continues to refine alongside a growing community of researchers, trainers, and teachers. She provides professional learning and training for individual teachers and school boards across Ontario, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Faith taught in special and general education classrooms for 17 years. Her website is https://activatedlearning.org.

Carol-Anne Bush, MA, is an executive function coach in San Francisco. Ms. Bush's experience in K–12 education spans three continents and over three decades. After a long teaching career in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, she served in various leadership roles, including multiple assistant headships. Ms. Bush’s expertise includes student, teacher, and parent mentorship; stakeholder communication; curriculum design; and whole-school strategy and steering. She is a certified Level III trainer in the Activated Learning approach, and is an ADHD-Certified Educator through the Professional Education Systems Institute. Her website is www.mulberrycoaching.com.

Peg Dawson, EdD, is a psychologist who provides professional development training on executive skills for schools and organizations nationally and internationally. She was previously on the staff of the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Dawson is a past president of the New Hampshire Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and the International School Psychology Association, and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from NASP. She is coauthor of bestselling books for general readers, including Smart but Scattered, Smart but Scattered Teens, Smart but Scattered--and Stalled with a focus on emerging adults), and The Smart but Scattered Guide to Success (with a focus on adults). Dr. Dawson is also coauthor of The Work-Smart Academic Planner, Revised Edition, and books for professionals including Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, Third Edition.