Abstract
This project was developed to support general education and special education teachers in their ability to provide strategies, supports, and interventions for students who are still developing executive functions skills. The professional development workshop was informed by a needs assessment survey, which gathered information from staff at two elementary schools in a large, suburban northern California school district. The findings from the needs assessment survey showed that most teachers were aware of executive functions and how these skills are needed by students to be successful in the classroom setting. However, the results also highlighted the teachers’ need for strategies, supports and accommodations to help support these skills for their students in the classroom. The workshop was then developed and implemented during a 45-minute presentation to 20 staff members at the two elementary schools. The workshop had three main objectives: 1) To provide an overview of executive functions and how they present in students with learning differences; 2) To provide evidence-based strategies to support the development of executive functions skills; and 3) To discuss ways in which educators can scaffold these strategies into their daily teaching practices. A post-workshop evaluation survey was distributed to participants at the conclusion of the workshop presentation, and found that participants noted the strategies and supports listed in the presentation to be helpful. However, participants also noted that modeling of the strategies or opportunities for practicing these strategies would have been beneficial to the workshop participants. The current author recommends that future iterations of this workshop presentation be continuously updated as new research on executive functions in the academic setting become available. Recommendations for future practice include a formal evaluation to see if workshop participants began to utilize strategies presented and to determine if there has been any impact on the executive functioning skills of their students.