Common Misconceptions: Executive Function Interventions Will Improve Math Outcomes

MISCONCEPTION

Interventions designed to improve executive functioning will increase mathematics performance. Many people believe that improving executive functioning through direct training (e.g., working memory, cognitive training programs) will improve mathematics achievement.

TRUTH

Most evidence suggests there is a small to negligible relationship between measures of executive function and student response to intervention.1 In the few studies examining the causal link between executive function interventions and academic outcomes, researchers only found improvements on measures of executive function but no improvements on academic achievement.2

What Does the Evidence Support?

 

Executive function are the cognitive processes that allow us to plan, focus attention, think flexibly, and remember. These skills are typically correlated with scores on measures of academic achievement. Thus, students struggling in math also may have difficulties with attention, motivation, self- regulation, and working memory.3,4 Yet, intervening only on executive functioning does not create improvements in academic achievement.

Academic interventions are required if the goal is to produce improvements in academic performance. Interventions should be tailored and intensified according to students’ needs using direct assessment of students’ math skills to make low-inference decisions about intervention tactics.

Effective use of evidence-based instructional approaches negates the potential influence of executive function difficulties, specifically incremental rehearsal effectively improved multiplication performance and the performance gains were not associated with measures of working memory in contrast with standard flashcard practice which also produced gains but gains that were associated with measures of working memory.5

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

 
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Interventions should:6,7,8

  1. Include self-regulation and reinforcement strategies;

  2. Minimize cognitive load on working memory through explicit instruction and breaking down problems into smaller, more manageable parts;

  3. Minimize language load by using visual representations;

  4. Include fluency-building practice.

Citation: Advocates for the Science of Math (2021). Common misconceptions: Executive function interventions will improve math outcomes. Authors.

(1) Burns, M. K. (2016). Effects of cognitive processing outcomes and interventions on academic outcomes: Can 200 studies be wrong? Communique, 44(5), 1, 26–29.

(2) Jacob R., & Parkinson, J. (2015). The potential for school-based interventions that target executive function to improve academic achievement: A review. Review of educational research, 85(4), 512-552.https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314561338

(3) Compton, D. L., Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Lambert, W., & Hamlett, C. (2012). The cognitive and academic profiles of reading and mathematics learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 45(1), 79–95. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21444929/

(4) Montague, M. (2007). Self-regulation and mathematics instruction. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 22 (1), 75-83 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2007.00232.x

(5) Burns, M. K., Aguilar, L. N., Young, H., Preast, J. L., Taylor, C. N., & Walsh, A. D. (2019). Comparing the effects of incremental rehearsal and traditional drill on retention of mathematics facts and predicting the effects with memory. School Psychology, 34(5), 521–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000312

(6) Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., & Malone, A. S. (2018). The taxonomy of intervention intensity. Teaching Exceptional Children, 50(4), 194–202. doi:10.1177/0040059918758166

(7) Powell, S. R., & Fuchs, L. S. (2015). Intensive intervention in mathematics. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice (Wiley-Blackwell), 30(4), 182–192. doi:10.1111/ldrp.12087

(8) Fuchs, L.S., Newman-Gonchar, R., Schumacher, R., Dougherty, B., Bucka, N., Karp, K.S., Woodward, J., Clarke, B., Jordan, N. C., Gersten, R., Jayanthi, M., Keating, B., and Morgan, S. (2021). Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades (WWC 2021006). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://whatworks.ed.gov/.