Executive Function and Emotional Regulation in the Classroom: Practical Strategies for Engaging Students and Promoting Independent Learning

This book presents research-based strategies for helping students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally by harnessing the dynamic interplay of executive function (EF) and emotional regulation. The expert editors and contributors--including EF pioneer Lynn Meltzer--explain how teachers can support EF and emotional regulation in their daily classroom practice with all learners, including neurodiverse students. Chapters describe innovative ways to build students’ ability to set goals, think flexibly, stay on task, and manage their behavior, alongside crucial capacities for reducing anxiety and stress. Case vignettes illustrate how the interventions discussed help to enhance student engagement while fostering resilience and independent learning.

Lynn Meltzer, PhD, is President and Co-Founder of the Research Institute for Learning and Development (ResearchILD) in Lexington, Massachusetts. Since the 1980s, her clinical work, research, publications, and presentations have focused on understanding the complexity of learning and attention differences. Dr. Meltzer is founder and Program Chair of an annual Executive Function and Learning Differences Conference, which she established in 1984. A Fellow and past president of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, she served for 30 years as an Associate in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Child Development at Tufts University. Dr. Meltzer has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences, and has received awards including the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Council for Learning Disabilities and the Innovative Program of the Year Award from Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). Together with her ResearchILD colleagues, she developed SMARTS, an evidence-based executive function curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students (www.smarts-ef.org).

Julie Dunstan, PhD, is a psychologist, author, and consultant. She has conducted policy research in areas including child development, family needs, learning differences, and general education, and has lectured at the undergraduate and graduate levels in psychology, education, and organizational development. Dr. Dunstan has presented internationally at professional conferences and research-based symposiums. She has driven the development of several cutting-edge educational initiatives and programs, including the ICAN Program for children with math-related learning difficulties, the I-PLAY Preschool Program that boosts phonological skills, the Pirates of Pondering Program that builds the early foundation for executive function processes, and the 3C’s for Changemakers program. She is committed to equipping learners with the tools they need to respond adaptively and resiliently to the adversity of today’s complex and ever-changing world. Dr. Dunstan sees herself as a changemaker who strives to transform mindsets and create environments that nurture investigators, innovators, and inspirers. She is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.