The value of developing executive function skills in young children and early learners is discussed by Phil Zelazo, Nancy M. and John E. Lindahl Professor, and Stephanie Carlson, professor and Director of Research, both at the Institute of Child Development, and Megan M. McClelland,  Katherine E. Smith Healthy Children and Families Professor at Oregon State University in the Huffington Post of September 7. In The Blog column by Ellen Galinsky, The Science of a Strong Start, Zelazo, Carlson and McClelland talk about what their research has shown as the importance of encouraging and developing executive function skills in young children in order to make their transition to formal schooling in kindergarten successful. This early experience has been shown to contribute  to a more successful school experience overall and to greater academic achievement in later life.

The researchers say, “The scientific link between executive function and school success couldn’t be clearer, but the real opportunity lies in taking that science out of the lab and putting it into practice inside the homes and classrooms of our youngest learners.”

Carlson and Zelazo’s work is also profiled in Startup tests children’s early learning skills, which appeared recently in Inquiry, the blog from the Office of the Vice President for Research.