Executive Function Webcast Series

Executive function (EF) skills are used by every person every day. These skills enable people to plan, focus attention, remember and carry out instructions, juggle multiple tasks successfully, regulate behavior and delay immediate demands in favor of long-term goals. People with disabilities may have challenges with executive function skills.

This series will show:

How everyone uses EF skills every day to plan and then to execute those plans
Define EF and go into specifics about the various executive functions and how they manifest
Talk about who can be impacted by EF and what we can expect at different ages
Give information about assessing executive function and what to do with that assessment information

Webcast 1 Why Executive Function? Let's Go on a Vacation!
Discover how people use executive function skills in their everyday lives.

Webcast 2 What is Executive Function?
Learn what executive function is, what skills are involved, and how those executive skills manifest so we can identify and understand them.

Webcast 3 Executive Function: Who May Be Impacted? When Does It Happen?
Gather facts about who might be impacted by executive function (EF) challenges, when we can expect EF skills to develop, and what factors can influence EF skills. This information helps us know if our expectations match the brain development of people we support.

Webcast 4 Executive Function: How Do We Know What to Do?
Gain information about executive function assessment tools that can guide us toward an objective perspective of the individual's challenges.

Webcast 5 Looking at Executive Function: Tier 1 Core Instructional Level
Examine the whole classroom approach to planning for instruction of executive function skills. Learn the benefits of tier 1 core instruction.

Webcast 6 How to Address Executive Function Skills at the Tier 1 Core Instruction Level
Gain knowledge about how to manage executive function skills at the whole classroom level by modifying the environment, changing the nature of the task, and changing the way adults interact with students, especially by providing cues and incentives.

Webcast 7 Teaching Classroom Routines to Support Executive Function Skills
Consider how routines can support executive function skills. Develop or review classroom routines using the Routine Development Tool.

For further information please contact Denise Sawan Caruso, OCALI Regional Consultant at denise_sawan_caruso@ocali.org.

Citations and References

Center on the Developing Child Harvard University. (2017). Executive Function and Self Regulation Guide. Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/print/
Center on the Developing Child Harvard University. (2012). InBrief: Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning video. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efCq_vHUMqs
Dawson, P. & Guare, R. (2009). Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary Executive Skills Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential. New York: Guilford Press.
Dawson, P. & Guare, R. (2018). Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention. New York: Guilford Press.
Gierach, J., Obukowicz, M., Rozanski, D. & Stindt, K. (2009). Assessing Students' Needs for Assistive Technology: Chapter 9 Assistive Technology for Organization. WI: Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative, http://www.wati.org/.
Marzano, R.J. (2009). The Art and Science of Teaching / When Students Track Their Progress. Health and Learning Volume 67 Number 4 pp. 86-87. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec09/vol67/num04/When-Students-Track-Their-Progress.aspx
McCloskey, G. & Perkins, L. (2013). Essentials of Executive Functions Assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.