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As a general rule, scientists like to define their terms before they commit to anything.

So when I begin a recent interview with the eminent psychology professors聽Angela Duckworth and Ethan Kross by promising to gloss over 鈥渆asy questions about聽the brain鈥檚 executive functions,鈥澛營'm not聽surprised when they want to dig into the fundamentals anyway.

鈥淎ctually, I think we should clarify what we mean,鈥� Duckworth says. 鈥淚 think the term originally comes from neuroscience, from an understanding of how the prefrontal cortex regulates lower-order areas of the brain, and I think there's consensus that it involves working memory and response inhibition鈥攖urning down one part of the brain to turn up another. But the term is a little confusing because sometimes it just means 鈥榞etting your act together.鈥欌��

Kross agrees. 鈥淓ven among neuroscientists, there are probably eight different聽definitions of executive function,鈥� he notes. 鈥淲hen thinking about kids in school, moving up one level to the question of self-control鈥攚hich I define broadly as a person鈥檚 ability to align their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors with their goals鈥攅nds up being a lot more productive.鈥�

While getting distractible teenagers to focus in school sounds great, especially to educators,聽the language of self-control can sound uncomfortably compliance-based. But the skills that make up聽the brain's executive functions聽involve聽both cognitive and behavioral domains聽that are crucial to learning and self-realization鈥攇oal setting and long-term planning, for example鈥攁nd 鈥渢he connotation should really be one of autonomy聽and not compliance," Duckworth contends.

鈥淓veryone struggles with their impulses. Across cultures, and across the lifespan, self-control is usually the lowest or second-lowest self-reported capacity,鈥� she says. 鈥淲ho hasn鈥檛 struggled with the desire to procrastinate, or to eat unhealthy food?鈥�

The problem of self-regulation is especially acute for teenagers, who are dramatically expanding their network of friends just as they鈥檙e besieged by new, complicated school schedules, increased academic demands, and after-school obligations.聽It鈥檚 a lot to keep track of, especially for novices. Still, there are plenty of evidence-based tools that teens and teachers can use to strengthen executive function, according to Kross and Duckworth.

We took some of their best insights, and pored over聽recent research, to find eight powerful, evidence-based strategies.

Talking Ourselves Into It

Talking to ourselves as a form of self-management starts when we鈥檙e toddlers, and remains a fixture of our conscious efforts to exert self-control throughout our lives. 鈥淚nitially, kids learn how to control themselves by repeating what their caretakers say to them out loud,鈥� Kross explains. Eventually, they progress to 鈥渟ilent inner speech鈥� as they confront moral dilemmas, process sticky social situations, or prod themselves to rise to new challenges.

To help students manage stressful experiences like tests or arguments with friends, Kross says, we need to coach them in a variety of self-distancing strategies that allow them to 鈥渟tep outside themselves and broaden their perspectives.鈥� That can mean asking them to reconsider a pressing problem from the perspective of a friend鈥斺�漺hat would your closest friend tell you?鈥濃�攖o helping them reframe and talk through an issue in 鈥渁 more positive, challenge-oriented way.鈥�

Consider these strategies:

Recognize pressure points.聽Social and emotional safety and academic success are tightly linked鈥攁nd at test time, a period of self-reflection might be as crucial to success as studying is. In 2019, for example, that when 9- to 13-year-old students took five minutes before a test and 鈥渟ilently spoke words of encouragement to themselves that were focused on effort,鈥� math scores improved.

Prompting this kind of inner speech shouldn鈥檛 be confined to test-taking. A growing body of research suggests that giving students scheduled time to talk themselves through challenges like study habits, sporting events, or academic projects improves outcomes.

Have kids write about it.聽Writing activities appear to exercise the same muscles as internal monologues. A 2019 study that also focused on a helpful pre-exam activity鈥攖his time an 鈥渆xpressive writing鈥� task鈥� for a mere 10 minutes about an upcoming test, reframing their anxiety as 鈥渁 beneficial and energizing force,鈥� course failure rates plummeted.

Short writing prompts aimed at building social and emotional resilience also appear to benefit teens and tweens. In a , 6th graders took part in a 鈥渂elonging intervention鈥� as they navigated the stressful transition to middle school. They read 鈥渢ypical quotes鈥� from 7th graders who had overcome self-doubt and anxiety in their own middle school careers, then completed brief writing assignments responding to prompts like 鈥渘ame one or two reasons why a 6th grader like you might worry... about whether you fit in or belong at your school.

The results of this simple, highly replicable emotional processing exercise? Sixth graders concluded that there was 鈥渘ot something wrong with them,鈥� the 鈥攑aving the way for better grades, attendance, and behavior.

Empower peer advisors.聽Break students into groups to discuss preparation strategies for an upcoming test or presentation, for example, or ask them to write emails to peers (real or fictional!) about how to manage their schedules. Unexpectedly, it鈥檚 not just the receiver of the advice who benefits: of almost 2,000 high schoolers, for example, concluded that teens who provide written guidance to peers about 鈥渙ptimal study locations and strategies鈥� significantly improved their own grades.

When adults tell teenagers to put their phones on mute and hide them when studying, kids often disregard it. But when you ask teens to give advice to other teens, Duckworth explains, they say things like 鈥減ut your phone on mute and hide it鈥濃�攁nd are themselves convinced.聽The big takeaway: teens who dispense advice are often persuaded by it, probably because, as Kross confirms, 鈥測ou鈥檙e actually wiser when you鈥檙e counseling someone else.鈥�

Learning鈥擠o It On Purpose

鈥淚t is either not possible or extremely difficult to tell a teenager what his or her purpose for learning should be,鈥� including David Yeager and Duckworth in 2014. In fact, they warned, 鈥渄oing this could threaten autonomy, a key concern for adolescents.鈥�

Instead, the study鈥檚 authors asked high school seniors to connect their learning to a higher purpose themselves. Students wrote solutions-oriented essays about an injustice 鈥渢hey found particularly egregious,鈥� then submitted a brief testimonial to future students explaining how learning can make the world a better place. Separately, the same study assembled 9th graders to write about a 鈥渟elf-transcendent purpose鈥� in their future careers, which had some freshmen casting themselves as stewards of the environment or geneticists tasked with increasing the world鈥檚 food supply.

Though it all took less than a single class period, students who connected learning to purpose improved their grades (particularly the low performers), attended and finished college at greater rates, and spent almost twice as much time on 鈥渂oring but important鈥� academic tasks鈥攑resumably because they looked forward to a future payoff.

To link learning and purpose, try these approaches:

Ask about interests and passions.聽It鈥檚 good practice to conduct beginning-of-the-year surveys about student passions, or to engage in activities that might reveal student interests early on. Some educators take 鈥渟tudent inventories鈥� (20 sentences that complete the prompt, 鈥淚 am someone who鈥︹��), or assign 鈥淟aws of Life鈥� essays (about the values and principles that govern a student鈥檚 life).

A teenager鈥檚 passion for music, politics, or the environment are points of leverage, enabling teachers to reframe assignments in ways the student finds compelling.

Pass the torch to the kids.聽Include regular exercises that get kids to connect their own learning to real-world outcomes. A can be found on the Character Lab website鈥攁 nonprofit organization founded聽by Duckworth and two K-12 educators鈥攂ut any approach that gets kids to regularly make connections will have value: journaling, a brief exercise after each unit which connects the learning to life, or researching and identifying interesting careers linked to ongoing schoolwork, for example.

Make time for (rigorous) projects.聽School can feel like a bubble, and teenagers 鈥渘eed better answers than something鈥檚 going to be on a standardized test鈥� to feel engaged, Duckworth asserts. Good project-based learning (PBL) asks kids to articulate a real-world problem they鈥檇 like to solve, often in their own communities, and 鈥渨raps itself around鈥� questions of student passion and agency, she says.聽A , meanwhile, concluded that almost half of high school students in Advanced Placement project-based learning courses passed their culminating tests, outperforming students in traditional classes.

Plan to Practice, Practice to Plan

When I ask Duckworth and Kross whether we should teach kids things like calendaring or making priority lists in the same way we teach traditional subjects, Duckworth nods but quickly adds a disclaimer: 鈥淵es, I absolutely think educators should be teaching students how to make plans and to develop routines, but unless the student perceives that there鈥檚 a real need I don鈥檛 think it works very well.鈥�

That鈥檚 a crucial insight. Self-control, Kross elaborates, actually has two parts: motivation and ability. 鈥淭here are all these tools and hacks out there: self-distancing, perspective-broadening, calendars, other organizers, and that's one piece of the puzzle. But you can have all the tools that exist鈥攊f a student isn't motivated to use the tools they鈥檙e not going to achieve anything.鈥�

The key lies in making things like calendars and long-term planning an integral part of your curriculum鈥攁 habit that鈥檚 indispensable to success鈥擠uckworth asserts, so that the 鈥渟kill or the habit will be rewarded鈥� and students will be more 鈥渞eceptive and eager鈥� to learn the skills.

Keep these tactics top of mind:

Scaffold scheduling, deadlines, and study habits. Model good scheduling and work habits by publishing鈥攁nd regularly referring to鈥攁 master calendar with class assignments, due dates, and upcoming tests. To help students manage busy periods and complex assignments and projects, set up group discussions during which students break down upcoming work into priority lists.

Introduce your tech tools. You can scaffold your tech tools, too, according to high school teacher Ian Kelleher. If you鈥檙e using an LMS like Google Classroom or Schoology, set aside class time for a 鈥渇irst assignment to help students learn the LMS fundamentals: how to view an assignment, how to submit and resubmit assignments, and how to access and use feedback,鈥� he advises鈥攁nd revisit the tools throughout the year.

That鈥檚 a lot of strategies鈥攜ou can't integrate all of them. In the end, though, if we鈥檙e going to teach executive function skills to teens as effectively as we teach聽traditional subject matter, we need to use the same聽fundamental principles of learning: retrieval, spaced practice, and frequent, low-stakes feedback.

Introducing a calendar once or twice during the year is not the same as integrating one into classroom routines, and a great gulf lies between assigning an essay that connects learning and purpose, and asking students to make those connections weekly. To get teens to start 鈥渁ligning goals with behaviors,鈥� in Kross鈥� words, we need to find ways to get them to practice, fail, and practice again.