Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom

Lynn Meltzer, PhD, is President and Co-Founder of the Research Institute for Learning and Development (ResearchILD) in Lexington, Massachusetts. Since the 1980s, her clinical work, research, publications, and presentations have focused on understanding the complexity of learning and attention differences. Dr. Meltzer is founder and Program Chair of the annual Executive Function and Learning Differences Conference, which she established in 1984. A Fellow and past president of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, she served for 30 years as an Associate in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Child Development at Tufts University. Dr. Meltzer has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences, and has received many awards, including the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Council for Learning Disabilities and the Innovative Program of the Year Award from Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). Together with her ResearchILD colleagues, she has developed SMARTS, an evidence-based executive function curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students that is used bv schools in 48 states across the United States and in 38 countries worldwide (www.smarts-ef.org).

• I. Understanding Executive Function: The Challenge for 21st-Century Teachers 1. Understanding, Assessing, and Teaching Executive Function Processes: The Why, What, and How, Lynn Meltzer2. Creating a Classroomwide Executive Function Culture That Fosters Strategy Use, Motivation, and Resilience, Lynn Meltzer and Surina BashoII. Scaffolding Executive Function Processes into the Curriculum Content3. Goal Setting, Planning, and Prioritizing: The Foundations of Effective Learning, Kalyani Krishnan, Melissa J. Feller, and Melissa Orkin4. Organizing: The Heart of Efficient and Successful Learning, Kalyani Krishnan and Melissa J. Feller5. Remembering: Teaching Students How to Retain and Mentally Manipulate Information, Donna M. Kincaid and Nancy Trautman6. Shifting and Flexible Problem Solving: The Anchors for Academic and Life Success, Lynn Meltzer and Jennifer Sage Bagnato7. Self-Monitoring and Self-Checking: The Cornerstones of Independent Learning, Jennifer Sage Bagnato and Lynn Meltzer8. Emotional Self-Regulation: A Critical Component of Executive Function, Judith A. SteinIII. Case Studies: Addressing Executive Function Weaknesses across the Grades, Lena Hannus-Suksi, Laura Sales Pollica, Wendy Stacey, Melissa J. Feller, and Jason BendezuAppendix: Reproducibles for the Classroom

"This very readable book enables teachers to explicitly teach implicit learning skills. It balances research and practice in reminding educators that students can't master the material they need to know if we don't teach them how to do it. Meltzer shares tested strategies and abundant classroom examples. She provides necessary tools for supporting academic growth in a wide range of students, and for helping students experience the critical truth that informed effort is the key to success. This book really gets the job done!"--Carol Ann Tomlinson, EdD, William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor and Chair, Department of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy, University of Virginia "This book succeeds very well in its goal of providing usable information for teachers and other school professionals. The chapters are well written, informative, clear, and practical. The case studies and numerous case examples are excellent. These human touches help to illustrate the many areas of executive functioning that can be supported and enhanced for children with disabilities as well as typically developing children. This book will be an invaluable reference for any school or clinical personnel."--Margaret Semrud-Clikeman, PhD, ABPdN, Division Director, Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Minnesota Medical School "An excellent, detailed overview of how executive functions can be integrated into classroom instruction for all grade levels. The book is very teacher friendly, including many examples and useable forms and techniques. A major appeal of the book is its focus on creating a classroom culture that fosters executive function for all students, rather than just presenting remediation techniques for those having difficulties. The strategies for screening and ongoing assessment mean that the book can easily be used as part of a schoolwide response-to-intervention or positive behavioral support system. Each chapter follows the same format, explaining first why the area is important, and then how to implement instruction at elementary, middle, and high school levels."--Catherine A. Fiorello, PhD, School Psychology Program, Temple University "Teachers will find this book enormously useful, easy to understand, and easy to implement. Each chapter includes a remarkable array of rubrics, templates, checklists, and examples. The book looks strategically at the role of executive function (EF) in teaching and learning, showing how EF deficits can be impediments to academic, personal, and social success. By creating a culture of EF, teachers and administrators can support the growth of self-aware, resilient, problem-solving students who are ready to take on the challenges of learning, in school and beyond."--Lou Salza, MEd, Headmaster, Lawrence School, Broadview Heights, Ohio -