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March 23, 2026
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[jetpack_subscription_form title="SUBSCRIBE" subscribe_text="" show_subscribers_total="0"]Are Products to Improve EFD Overpromising?
It stands to reason that for students who have problems with executive functions (attention, self-control, working memory, etc.), improving those skills will improve their academic performance. In fact, a lot of businesses are betting on that. From computer games to special exercise programs, a host of products and services have hit the market promising better student outcomes.
Not so fast, according a new study reported in the Education Week blog, Inside School Research. “While better working memory, attention, and control are associated with higher academic achievement,” writes blogger Sarah D. Sparks, “so far there’s no evidence that improving executive function causes a boost in academics.”
These findings are based on a systematic review of 67 studies that explored the relationship between executive function and achievement among children ages 2 to 18 years old.
Big Business
According to the blog post, one market research firm estimated that the market for “brain-fitness software” is growing, citing a 31% increase in these training programs between 2005 and 2009.
But buyer beware, says Robin T. Jacob, one of the study’s co-authors: “I don’t think the research is there to invest heavily in programs to improve executive function if your primary goal is to improve academic achievement. In fact, there’s some evidence if you intervene in academics, you will get improvements to [executive function] along the way.”
Jackie Stachel
Recently, we’ve had colleagues share some news that, at first glance, appears distressing. The buzz involves a new study that fails to find evidence linking students’ academic achievement to interventions aimed at developing Executive Function (EF) skills (Study: Little Evidence That Executive Function Interventions Boost Student Achievement). At Beyond BookSmart, our coaches have seen firsthand that helping students improve their EF skills through the context of their schoolwork helps them both with their short-term success on the particular project, paper, test or other assignment and with their longer-term skills of becoming a successful, strategic student. How is that success possible given the study’s findings?
If we take a closer look at this study, we can see the flaws that render it inapplicable to the work we do at Beyond BookSmart and that our colleagues at other successful organizations do. While this study does contain some relevant findings for educators, the connection to EF coaching fails once we inspect the subject criteria, the instruction methods for EF skills selected, and most crucially, the methods of assessing achievement.
The researchers’ premise that a causal connection between school-based EF programs and scores on discrete skills such as reading and math must be established before continuing to fund EF programs is illogical. EFs are the skills that help students regulate their emotions, organize their materials and ideas, plan and prioritize their work, manage their time, and persist until the job is done. EFs help a student effectively apply discrete skills such as decoding words and adding double digit numbers. Math and reading skills are the purview of teachers and tutors. Executive Function coaches work with the bigger picture.
The researchers disregarded the very outcomes that are most directly related to executive function skills in students: productivity and thoughtful engagement in learning.