EXECUTIVE FUNCTION INVENTORIES If you need help to identify a student’s strengths and needs, Executive Function (EF) inventories may be a good place to start. None of these inventories are meant to be diagnostic measures. Rather, they are screening tools that can help pinpoint an area or two that you can support or teach some strategies to improve EF.
ELECTRONIC FILE MANAGEMENT It is important to remember that electronic materials also need management. We have all seen (or have) a computer desktop covered in files and folders which highlights the need to find a system to manage electronic files. This is an important skill for students to learn if they are going to be able to utilize electronic material effectively. One way to do this would be by school year, subject and assignment. For example, an English narrative essay from the spring of 2024 could be titled, “2024English_NarrativeEssay.” For more ideas to manage electronic files, Deep Roots Learning system has a video, How to Organize your Google Drive Folders for School, that explains how to organize digital folders. Although the article is specific to Google, the ideas work for any platform. See Table 4 for these ideas and a more extensive list of tools and strategies. For a more accessible version of table 4, refer to this EF Materials Management Resource Document
Dawson and Guare EF Questionnaire (Dawson & Guare, 2009)
Self-report check list where the rater identifies how they think they are doing with certain scenarios; includes a simple intervention guide to identify EF skills to improve and what will be the outcome measure. Can be completed as a self-report or on behalf of someone; answers are not rated on scale; looks at sequential organization, prioritization, temporal organization, spatial organization, categorical organization, and attention. Self-reporting tool about how “true” scenarios are for the rater; scenarios focus on situations involving space, time, objects and people. Gives various scenarios and the ex- pected age-related response to them; identifies the EF age of the person in specific areas.
Organization Problems Inventory (WATI, n.d)
Category
Stgratgegy/Tool
Description
Cognitive Connections 360 Thinking: Questionnaire for EF Skills
Organizers
Video (1:24 mins) from Understood.org
School Tips and Organi- zation: Color-Coding Tips for Organization Organization Tips + Tricks for students 6 Low Cost Organization Tools for Kids by under- stood.org 28 Classroom Organiza- tion Ideas to Make Your Year Easier
EF Age Checklist
Video (3:45 mins) from @ studyquill
Article by Understood. org
CONCLUSION Students who have difficulty with self management, time management, material management, and information management likely have challenges with their executive function (EF) processes. Given that these skills might not come naturally to them, it's imperative to offer appropriate choices, supports, and strategies while also providing opportunities for them to actively apply the skills being taught. When fostering the development of EF skills, it is necessary to consider the students' strengths, preferences, interests, and motivators and allow them the choice of what tools or strategies they can use. Also consider how these resources can be adapted to various settings, age groups, and environments. We all rely on EF processes throughout our lifespan. This underscores the significance of addressing the executive function of students to give them necessary tools in the classroom, as well as essential skills for life. RESOURCES AND FURTHER READINGS CAST: Universal Design for Learning: Providing Options for Executive Function Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence SETC Executive Function Website Fairfax County Public Schools Assistive Technology and Executive Functioning Page
Article by Prodigy listing organization ideas for classroom materials that will help students find materials and put them away which also helps the classroom staff Interactive demo of Class OneNote Website with Tools/Strat- egies and information on Executive Functioning Printable luggage tag checklists for backpacks from Understood.org
MS OneNote Interactive Demo SETC Website Executive Functioning Page: Keeping Task Lists
Checklists
BackPack Checklist
Todoist
App to keep track of tasks and To-Do’s
Managing Electronic Materials
Video (8:34 mins) from Deep Roots Learning The ideas presented here work for Windows and Mac also. Use scanning apps like Microsoft Lens app to scan information into a digital file
How to Organize your Google Drive Folders for School
Scanning Apps to Digitize Info
Microsoft Lens for iOS Microsoft Lens for Android
Table 4 - Executive Function Materials Management Resources.
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