Everyday Executive Function Strategies: Improve Student Engagement: Improve Student Engagement, Self-regulation, Behavior, and Learning

Everyday executive function strategies to engage and motivate YOUR students

Without a good foundation in executive function skills, many interventions will not be helpful for students experiencing academic and social-emotional challenges. However, explicitly taught metacognitive strategies provide students with the tools to engage and benefit from classroom instruction through the use of an executive function skillset.

With an impressive collection of 75 grade-appropriate executive function strategies, this practical guide addresses student needs in areas such as planning, working memory, time management, inhibitory behavior, cognitive flexibility, and self-regulation. Inside, you’ll find the metacognitive strategies shown most effective in facilitating students’ readiness and success in learning, plus

• Suggestions for incorporating executive function skills into your daily lesson planning and teaching routine without detracting from instructional time
• A step-by-step manual for explicitly teaching metacognitive skills
• Grade-level appropriate strategies grouped according to elementary, middle, and high school levels
• Guidance for adapting strategies to meet a wide range of individual student needs

Designed to be applicable to and usable by many educators, from teachers and school psychologists to administrators and school counselors, this toolbox of strategies will help you improve student engagement, self-regulation, behavior, and learning.

Valerie Saxton Sharpe currently works as an educational consultant in the areas of cognitive disabilities, executive functioning, and teacher preparation.  Val and Roberta co-founded Project Boost, a program to help students use metacognitive strategies to boost their executive function skills.  They wrote and co-taught a curriculum that provides executive function skill training for students K-12 by building skills through a 7-Step Model. This model, described in The Executive Function Guidebook: Strategies to Help All Students Achieve Success, was co-authored by the pair and published by Corwin in 2019.  The pair has trained teachers (preservice and in service) and administrators throughout the world to use the program. They currently co-direct the Institute on Executive Functioning to provide teachers methods, including the use of metacognitive strategies, to improve their students’ executive function growth. As Co-Directors of the Institute on Executive Functioning, they provide face to face and online trainings, author instructional videos and develop instructional materials to assist in executive function skill training. 

Val’s career path started as a special education teacher for a large Maryland school system teaching students with learning disabilities and cognitive impairments. As an administrator, she chaired the Special Education department in a comprehensive high school setting. Lastly, as an instructional specialist, she supervised and provided teacher training. Following her career in teaching and supervision, Val prepared teachers at both Hood College and Towson University.

While at Hood College, she played an integral role in the development of an assessment system to measure teacher candidate performance used for program review, reform and for accreditation purposes. As program coordinator for Towson University Elementary Education/Special Education at the Universities at Shady Grove she was known for her innovative methodology used in the preparation of teacher candidates to teach ALL students. Val was instrumental in providing teacher candidates opportunities to gain knowledge and skills in universal design, differentiated instruction, and executive function skills. She developed new Professional Development Schools (PDS) partnerships with the local school system, secured grant funding for the design and implementation of unique teacher preparation projects, wrote manuals addressing co-teaching and mentoring, and presented at PDS conferences.

In 2021, Val received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Hood College for her work in the field of Special Education. For her outstanding work at Towson University, Val was awarded the Gloria E. Neubert Excellence in Teaching Award, The Universities at Shady Grove Teaching Award and the Universities at Shady Grove Campus Program Director of the Year Award. She was appointed by the governor of Maryland to serve on the Maryland Professional Standards Teacher Education Board. Val also served as an invited member of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Elementary Education Praxis II test development team.

An advocate for students with disabilities, Val has served as a national and state officer for the Council for Exceptional Children and its Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD). For her work with DADD, she received the Special Recognition Award. Additionally, she has served on the Board of Trustees for Service Coordination of Frederick County that assists individuals with developmental disabilities to obtain services. As a member of this Board, Val supported the implementation of transition and employment services for individuals with disabilities in Maryland.

Dr. Roberta Atha Strosnider, Professor Emerita in Special Education, Towson University, Towson, MD currently works as an educational consultant in the areas of executive functioning, learning disabilities, and teacher preparation.  Roberta and Val co-founded Project Boost, a program to help students use metacognitive strategies to boost their executive function skills.  They wrote and co-taught a curriculum that provides executive function skill training for students K-12 by building skills through a 7-Step Model. This model, described in The Executive Function Guidebook: Strategies to Help All Students Achieve Success, was co-authored by the pair and published by Corwin in 2019.  The pair has trained teachers (preservice and in service) and administrators throughout the world to use the program. They currently co-direct the Institute on Executive Functioning to provide teachers methods, including the use of metacognitive strategies, to improve their students’ executive function growth. As Co-Directors of the Institute on Executive Functioning, they provide face to face and online trainings, author instructional videos and develop instructional materials to assist in executive function skill training. 

 Roberta graduated from Fairmont State University with a major in Secondary Education, and in 2017 she was a recipient of an Alumna of Achievement Award from that institution for her achievements in special education.  She earned her master’s degree in Special Education from West Virginia University and her doctorate in Special Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  While working in P-12 schools, Roberta taught in both general and special education classes and served in administrative roles. She also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in teacher preparation and held leadership roles at Hood College, Fredrick, MD and Towson University, Towson, MD.

While at Hood College, Roberta received a fellowship to study HIV Prevention Education for Students with Disabilities and was chosen as a national trainer for the Co-Teaching HIV Prevention Program sponsored by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).  At Towson University, Roberta directed an off-campus teacher preparation program in special and general education and received the Teacher Education Division (TED) of CEC Nasim Dil Award for her service to Special Education Teacher Preparation. She serves her profession as a reviewer and auditor of special education teacher education program reports for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).  In addition, she has made contributions to the field through publications, presentations, and grants. She also served as a consultant to the Maryland State Department of Education preparing materials and online resources to provide professional development to teachers.

During her career, Roberta has been and continues to be active in advocacy efforts for students with disabilities having served as a board member and advocate for several organizations.  Her leadership with the Frederick County, MD Arc Board was recognized with the STAR Award from the Arc. The Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD) awarded her the Floyd G. Hudson Award for her contributions to the field of learning disabilities, and her high school named her to the Bridgeport High School Hall of Fame for her advocacy for students with disabilities. She currently serves as a representative from CLD to other public policy groups such as the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, a group of organizations committed to the education and welfare of individuals with learning disabilities.