What is the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS)? https://youtu.be/zj7S_yT0cg8 The MEFS App is the only digital app that has been proven to accurately measure Executive Function (EF) by peer-reviewed, published scientific research. MEFS measures EF in children as young as 2 years old. MEFS helps teachers understand and meet the needs of their students through…
Comparing and Selecting an Executive Function Assessment
Executive Function (EF) is the set of foundational skills that help prepare children for success in school, college, and beyond. They have been termed “essential skills for life” because of their effect on adult life (including relationships, career, finances, etc.). Children are not born with Executive Function skills, but they are born with the potential…
Surprising Results from the Marshmallow Test
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis recently posted their recording of their Fall Education Conference featuring Dr. Stephanie Carlson‘s surprising research on children’s ability to delay gratification and the Marshmallow Test. In her presentation, Dr. Carlson discusses the long-term outcomes associated with the ability to delay gratification in the early years as well as the…
Achievement Gap & Child-Parent Centers
Four-year-old Lola lives with her mother and three siblings in an impoverished, high-crime neighborhood, where even walking to school can be dangerous. Lola’s mother works two jobs, but as a single parent, she barely earns enough to pay for childcare and living expenses. Lola’s mother notices that Lola has trouble managing her emotions and following…
Does the Batman Effect help some children more than others?
The tennis ball hits the net for the fifth time in a row. You are discouraged and want to give up. But then you picture Serena Williams serving the ball flawlessly over the net. You picture her form, her swing, the racket’s contact with the ball, and her follow through. Thinking about how Serena would…
Preschool Promise Measures Executive Function
The Preschool Promise program, a nonprofit serving Dayton, OH area preschoolers and their families, is closing the achievement gap through school readiness, equity, and resources. The program concentrates on a prominent issue experienced not only in the Dayton community but across a number of US communities: that far too many African-American and Appalachian preschoolers do…
Childhood Brain Rhythm + Executive Function
Research agrees that there are prominent changes in brain rhythm (repeated patterns of brain wave activity across different areas of the scalp) from early to middle childhood. Currently, researchers are investigating if – and how – these changes are related to key developmental outcomes such as Executive Function (EF). EF is an umbrella term that…
Routines and Executive Function
The hustle and bustle of everyday routines may seem like a lot to keep track of. Whether you are shuttling your child from soccer practice to music lesson or coordinating the daily task of getting the family ready for dinner, our lives are filled with routines and activities. Although some research has suggested that too…
Cohort Effects on Delay of Gratification
The Marshmallow Test is conceivably one of the most prominent developmental research studies on delay of gratification. In the late 1960s to early 70s, American Psychologist and Stanford University Professor, Dr. Walter Mischel, and his team sat children down at a table and placed a marshmallow (or other treat chosen by the child) in front of…
National Effort: Improve Student Outcomes
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) are teaming up in a national effort: improve student outcomes through research and development. Yesterday (May 8, 2018), the two nonprofits announced that they are extending a public Request for Information (RFI) about innovative ways to facilitate, accelerate, and improve the academic and non-academic outcomes that…