SL-CN: Contributions of Executive Function Subdomains to Math and Reading Cognition in the Classroom

了解学生的大脑如何学习新信息，并在现实环境中灵活地应用这些信息，对于指导改善美国教育体系的努力至关重要。学生如何学习从根本上与认知的核心方面有关，称为执行功能（EFs）。ef是跨多个内容领域（例如，数学和阅读）的学术成就的已知预测指标；然而，关于脑电波是如何影响学习成绩的，以及弱脑电波是否可以通过认知训练来增强，仍有许多未解之谜。重要的是要准确地了解这些能力是如何在儿童时期发展的，以及如何提高这些能力，以便为教育工作者提供精确的工具和见解，了解学生是否、何时以及如何干预。近年来，关于情感活动如何促进学业成就的研究进展迅速，但通常不包括对儿童中期情感活动的调查。由于儿童中期是神经可塑性较高的时期，因此在脑电波较弱时进行干预的机会很大。该研究项目开发了一种创新的方法，改进了诊断和干预方法，用于检测和纠正教育环境中的EF弱点。该计划利用一种新颖、精确的EF评估工具，以便快速评估和纵向跟踪儿童EF的多维概况。关键的进步是评估工具的适应性，随着学习者的进步，难度也会增加。随着时间的推移，这种适应性允许进行多次精确的评估，从而使人们能够前所未有地了解不同的EF档案是如何在儿童中期发展的，更重要的是，这些档案如何有助于数学和阅读成绩。此外，通过利用一种新颖的干预措施，利用每个学生的多维EF档案，在体能训练中有选择地挑战EF的子域，研究将告诉我们个性化的多因素EF训练是否能提高数学和阅读成绩。具体而言，该研究将：(1)填补关于EF档案与儿童早期以外的学术技能之间关系的现有知识空白；(2)描述这些关系如何随着年龄的变化而演变；(3)确定EF是否对某些内容领域（数学和阅读的子领域）更重要；(4)推进该领域对个性化EF干预的可行性和时间表的理解。重要的是，这项研究将为未来的学习科学研究奠定一个明确的基础。特别是，对典型的心智发展的研究将有助于理解发育障碍，如多动症和自闭症。最后，ef评估工具将向公众开放，以促进对不同学生学习者的ef进行广泛调查。当学生在学业上挣扎时，通过指导干预的努力，准确地理解ef的多维特征如何促进学业成就，将带来巨大的社会影响。

Understanding how the brain of a student learns new information and flexibly applies that information in real-world settings is critical for guiding efforts to improve the U.S. education system. How a student learns is fundamentally related to core aspects of cognition, termed executive functions (EFs). EFs are known predictors of academic achievement across multiple content areas (e.g., math and reading); however, there remain many unanswered questions regarding exactly how EFs contribute to academic performance and whether weak EFs can be enhanced with cognitive training. It is important to build a precise understanding of how these abilities develop over childhood and how they can be improved in order to supply educators with precise tools and insights about whether, when, and how to intervene when a student is struggling.The study of how EFs contribute to academic achievement has advanced rapidly in recent years, but has not typically included the investigation of EFs in middle childhood. Because middle childhood is a period of high neural plasticity, it promises great opportunity to intervene when EFs are weak. This research program develops an innovative approach that improves both diagnostic and intervention methodology for detecting and remediating EF weaknesses in educational settings. The program leverages a novel, precision EF assessment tool in order to rapidly assess and longitudinally track the multidimensional profile of EFs in children over time. The critical advancement is the adaptive nature of the assessment tool, which increases in difficulty as the learner improves. This adaptivity allows multiple, precise assessments over time and thus enables unprecedented understanding of how different EF profiles develop across middle childhood and, critically, how these profiles contribute to math and reading achievement. Additionally, by utilizing a novel intervention that uses each student's multidimensional EF profile to selectively challenge subdomains of EF during physical fitness training, the research will inform us if personalized, multi-factor EF training can improve math and reading outcomes. Specifically, the research will: (1) fill gaps in existing knowledge about the relationship between EF profiles and academic skills beyond early childhood, (2) characterize how these relationships evolve across age, (3) determine whether EFs are more critical to certain content areas (subdomains of math and reading), and (4) advance the field's understanding of the feasibility and timeline of personalized EF interventions. Importantly, this research will serve to lay a definitive foundation for future science of learning research to build upon. In particular, the proposed investigations of the typically developing mind will inform efforts to understand disorders of development such as ADHD and autism. Finally, the EFs assessment tool will be made publicly available, to promote widescale investigations of EFs across the diverse range of student learners. A precise understanding of how the multidimensional profile of EFs contributes to academic achievement promises tremendous societal impact by guiding efforts to intervene when students are struggling academically.