Some students are more prone to exhibit difficulties with executive functions than others, including students with ADHD, dyslexia, processing disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and students on the autism spectrum. However, problems with EFs can also emerge as a result of outside forces like stress, anxiety, trauma, and even stereotype threat.

The excessive levels of stress, trauma, and anxiety that we all experienced as a result of COVID-19 have caused many people (including our students and ourselves) to struggle with things like time-management, focus, organization, prioritizing, and monitoring our own progress. In fact, many people who didn't previously have difficulties with EFs are experiencing EF problems now.

In Supporting Student Executive Functions, two clinical and classroom experts deliver an insightful and accessible guide to executive functioning skills. Lisa Carey, Ed.D., and Alexis Reid, M.A., explain how these skills develop, how executive functioning challenges show up in the classroom, and how, if unaddressed, those challenges interfere with student learning.

Part I builds an understanding of the science of executive functioning and how it develops during the K–12 years. Part II offers a practical, example-rich approach to help educators develop and support students’ executive functions with tips, suggestions, and action steps.

Building on the research-backed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines, the authors pay special attention to the Guideline “Provide options for Executive Functions” to show which types of supports are most meaningful at different stages of a student’s K–12 journey.

Educators—but also medical professionals, caregivers and parents, and students themselves—will gain a deeper understanding of the latest science on executive functioning as well as valuable, easy-to-implement strategies to use in the classroom today.

The UDL Guidelines are a living, dynamic tool that is continuously developed based on new research and feedback from practitioners. After launching our most recent effort to update the UDL Guidelines in 2020, on July 30th, 2024 we are thrilled to release UDL Guidelines 3.0!

This new iteration of the UDL Guidelines responds to a strong call from the field—both practitioners and researchers alike—to address critical barriers rooted in biases and systems of exclusion for learners with and without disabilities.