Executive Functioning Could Be Missing Piece in Student Achievement

Photo courtesy of Nurturing Wisdom: Amanda Vogel teaches a class at Vine Academy in Hinsdale, where she is the Director of the school.

As first quarter grades roll in, some parents struggle to understand why their bright students aren’t meeting expectations. The answer might be lie in the skill set known as executive functioning.

Executive functioning and self regulation skills “are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully,” according to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.

Amanda Vogel, vice president of Nurturing Wisdom Tutoring and director of Vine Academy in Hinsdale, explained that executive function is a category of skills, not a single set, that can be systematically learned.

Nurturing Wisdom uses four categories of skills in executive functioning tutoring:

• Physical organization
• Distraction and time management
• Study skills
• Working smarter, not harder

She pointed out that when adults talk about work productivity and output, they’re also talking about executive function.

“The body of research about executive functioning became stronger recently,” Vogel said. “It’s not a buzzword or a trend, but a missing piece for a kid who’s bright but not achieving.”

Some parents seek tutoring with an emphasis on executive functioning, and some parents haven’t heard the term before.

Nurturing Wisdom hosted its first executive functioning workshop for parents and students earlier this month, and Vogel said parents learned how to facilitate executive functioning skills independently. Parents and children organized binders, made time plans and participated in hands-on activities.

One interesting trend that Vogel noted is that gifted children often need help with executive functioning.

“These are kids where school comes easy for them for many years, then they hit a new level of school and they find they’re in a hard class for the first time,” Vogel said. “They never knew how to study, and they’re bright enough to learn these strategies, they just haven’t learned them yet.”

She said executive functioning skills are best learned between the 5th and 8th grades, before schoolwork gets more difficult at the high school level.

“This is something we’re really passionate about,” Vogel said. “This is a missing piece for so many kids, but they can develop these skills so it doesn’t have to be constant battle with school.”

The next Nurturing Wisdom Executive Functioning Workshop for Families will take place Dec. 9 at the Vine Academy in Hinsdale.