THE SCIENCE
ExQ helps students improve their
Executive Function skills so they are
ready for college, careers, and life.
ExQ begins with an Executive Function Benchmark Assessment:
Through patented technology, ExQ offers measurable, scientific data that helps educators quantify and validate students’ Execution Function strengths and challenges in nine areas of Executive Function in three ways:
Builds a Student Portrait through a self-assessment of nine Executive Function skill areas, learner habits and grade predictions
Determines students’ individualized strengths and challenges in the areas of learning, strategizing, and self-awareness through Test Games, which helps craft personalized learning goals
Creates a vision-board of students’ ‘Future-Self’ to introduce the idea of intentional self-improvement and mental time-travel
ExQ’s benchmark assessment reveals students’ top three areas of Executive Function challenge
ExQ’s M-E-T-A Composite Index summarizes the Learning How to Learn results for teachers and students
At the end of each year, ExQ offers the M-E-T-A Composite Index (MCI) that helps educators show the growth for students as they build Executive Function skills and apply these skills with new behaviors in the classroom and in their lives.
In this example, the goal of ExQ training was to build students’ self-knowledge to move students to >70% MCI score with a gap between self-awareness/strategic thinking score to be <+/-10 points. ExQ training yielded an average 10% gain in every measured domain.
In addition to the initial Executive Function Benchmark Assessment and the M-E-T-A Composite Index, ExQ monitors progress in nine areas of Executive Function throughout the year to help students understand their pace of learning and level of personal change as they progress. ExQ also provides data linked to evidence-based teaching strategies to help educators with classroom instruction linking the Executive Function skills students learn with ExQ to other classes, subject areas and classroom behaviors.
Throughout the training, ExQ shares progress data with students and teachers showing growth and changes in nine areas of Executive Function:
Self-Awareness
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Self-Awareness
Self-Awareness is the brain’s ability to accurately appraise one’s own strengths and challenges, understand personal motivations, monitor actions, and guide oneself to get results that benefit the future-self.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Self-Awareness
After training with ExQ, students improved their Self-Awareness skills improving their behaviors in multiple areas including:
A community of learners who have mastered their SELF-AWARENESS, create a more humble, empathic and inclusive environment where all can thrive.
Strategic Thinking
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Strategic Thinking
Strategic Thinking is the brain’s ability to develop an approach or invent a new way to efficiently attain everyday goals by intensifying focus, interest or creativity.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Strategic Thinking
After learning with ExQ, students demonstrated a 9% improvement in growth of Strategic Thinking skills.
A community of learners who have mastered their STRATEGIC THINKING, create innovative pathways by activating plan B and swiftly switching to plan C, if necessary, to persist to achieve goals.
Emotional Resilience
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Emotional Resilience
Emotional Resilience is the brain’s ability to withstand unpleasant feelings during everyday obstacles, reengage with positivity, and respond adaptively to achieve goals. In one school district, the science revealed that 74% of students lacked strong emotional resilience skills at the start of their training.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Emotional Resilience
A community of learners who have mastered their EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE accept unpleasant feelings as a natural human condition and maintain a calm and collected disposition as a skilled response to uncertainty.
Focus
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Focus
Focus is the brain’s ability to sustain mental effort after figuring out what’s important and then paying attention to it.
A community of learners who have mastered their FOCUS, create more enegaged, lively and distraction-free learning environments for themselves and for others.
Working Memory
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Working Memory
Working Memory is The brain’s ability to hold onto multiple details while drawing on past learning and applying it to current circumstances to perform complex tasks.
For one student, Working Memory was the area of most challenge, and after working with ExQ, this student made a 27% improvement in this skill set.
A community of learners who have mastered their WORKING MEMORY, exhibit greater follow through and a more patient learning environment.
Organization & Planning
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Organization and Planning
Organization and planning is the brain’s ability to create a roadmap by categorizing information strategically and sequencing it into manageable steps to reach a goal.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Organization and Planning
In one metro-Atlanta area school, students demonstrated an opportunity to improve their Organizational and Planning skills.
At the end of the ExQ class, the data revealed that the impact of the training resulted in a 34% improvement, from an initial Benchmark Assessment score of 40% to a final score of 74%.
A community of learners who have mastered their ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING systematize information and create structure and cohesion to manage workload and relieve personal stress.
Prospective Memory
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Prospective Memory
Prospective Memory is the brain’s ability to remember to remind yourself to follow up with goals in the future.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Prospective Memory
34% of Middle and High School students who completed their ExQ Benchmark Assessment were identified to have Prospective Memory as their strongest area of Executive Function.
After training with ExQ Lessons, students’ Prospective Memory scores improved from a starting score of 61% to 68%, a 7% gain!
A community of learners who have mastered their PROSPECTIVE MEMORY effectively manage focus and actions, switch between immediate and future goals, use planning tools to rehearse information, and transition tasks while maintaining the big picture.
Problem-Solving
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Problem-Solving
Problem-Solving is the brain’s ability to get to the bottom of a challenging problem and break it down to reach an effective solution to move ahead in a new and useful way.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Problem-Solving
18% of Middle and High School students who completed their ExQ Benchmark Assessment were identified to have Problem-Solving as their strongest area of Executive Function.
After training with ExQ Lessons, students’ Problem-Solving scores improved from a starting score of 63% to 75%, a 12% gain!
This also reached the 75% threshold, indicating a shift in students’ thinking skills.
A community of learners who have mastered their PROBLEM-SOLVING apply logical frameworks to analyze, generate alternatives, and overcome obstacles while implementing solutions.
Mental Flexibility
ExQ data shows students benefit
from building Mental Flexibility
Mental Flexibility is the brain’s ability to shift perspectives to see what others see and to adaptively change approaches while dealing with the unexpected to reach a resolution.
Results of Benchmark Executive Function
Assessment Level of Mental Flexibility
In one metro-Atlanta suburban school system, 50% of the students reflected Mental Flexibility as their strength area.
ExQ’s training not only worked on promoting students’ challenge area, but it offered training to further accentuate their strengths. At the end of year-long training, we saw 6% growth in Mental Flexibility!
A community of learners who have mastered their MENTAL FLEXIBILITY create socially agile and connection-friendly environments that reduce conflicts while increasing cooperation.
Ready to learn more about Executive Function and how ExQ can help? Please visit our resources page to view, download and share our publications and presentations.