Executive Skills: Assessment, Interventions and Coaching for Academic and Social Success

Presented by Peg Dawson, Ed.D., NCSP

Thursday, December 11, 2025 – Friday, December 12, 2025  |  Richmond, bc

Date & Location

Executive skills—often referred to as “the hidden curriculum”—are critical cognitive abilities that underpin academic success. These include skills like task initiation, sustained attention, working memory, planning, organization, and goal-directed persistence. While these skills are essential for students to thrive in school, they are rarely explicitly addressed in standard curriculum frameworks.

Research shows that executive skills continue to develop well into early adulthood, and their growth can be influenced by factors such as experience, environment, and direct instruction. It is essential for educators to recognize the role these skills play in learning and to adopt strategies that promote their development in students.

This interactive 2-day workshop offers educators, school psychologists, special education teachers, and other professionals working with children and adolescents, a comprehensive understanding of executive skills and provides practical, evidence-based strategies to support their development. Participants will learn how to embed executive skills into daily routines, create a supportive environment, and design targeted interventions for children, adolescents and young adults who struggle with executive function challenges.

Day 1: Understanding and Assessing Executive Skills

Morning Session: Foundations of Executive Skills

• Overview of Executive Skills: Introduction to the cognitive functions necessary for task management, such as working memory, emotional regulation, task initiation, and impulse control.
• Developmental Progression: Learn how executive skills evolve from infancy through adolescence and the factors that impact this progression, including neurological development and environmental influences.
• Executive Skills and Brain Function: Understand the neuropsychological basis for executive skills and how disruptions in these processes can lead to executive dysfunction.
• Self-Assessment: Participants will complete a personal executive skills self-assessment to identify their strengths and areas for growth.

Key Activities:

• Group discussions on the developmental trajectory of executive skills.
• Case studies to explore how deficits in executive function manifest differently.

Afternoon Session: Assessment and Environmental Modifications

• Assessing Executive Skills: Learn how to identify executive skill deficits through formal assessments, behavior rating scales, and teacher/parent/student interviews.
• Modifying the Environment: Discover strategies for adapting the home and classroom environment to support students with executive dysfunction. This includes environmental changes, task modifications, and adjusting adult interactions to promote success.

Key Activities:

• Brainstorming session to design classroom and home-based environmental modifications that support children, adolescents and young adults with weak executive skills.

Day 2: Interventions and Coaching for Executive Skill Development

Morning Session: Embedding Executive Skills in Daily Routines

• Teaching Through Routine: Learn how to integrate executive skill development into daily activities, such as homework planning, organization, and emotional regulation.
• Classroom Routines: Discover how to design daily classroom routines that foster executive skills, including teaching students how to plan, prioritize, and manage tasks effectively.

Key Activities:

• Group activity to design a home or classroom routine that incorporates one or more executive skills.

Afternoon Session: Designing Student-Centered Interventions

• Tailored Interventions: Learn how to create individualized interventions based on student needs, with a focus on addressing specific executive skill challenges in different contexts.
• Incentives and Motivation: Explore how to use incentives and reward systems to encourage the development and practice of executive skills.

Key Activities:

• Using case studies, participants will practice designing student-centered interventions.
• Discussion of incentives and their role in promoting executive skills practice.

Final Session: Coaching for Success

• Introduction to Coaching: Understand the fundamentals of coaching as a tool for enhancing executive function in students. Learn about the two-stage coaching process and how to coach students to build their executive skills.
• Coaching Techniques: Explore specific coaching strategies for improving task management, impulse control, and social interactions. Review real-world examples and research supporting the effectiveness of coaching.

Key Activities:

• Role-playing exercise to practice coaching techniques in small groups.
• Discussion of coaching methods and their application in different educational settings.

Who Should Attend

Education and Clinical Professionals: K–12 Classroom Teachers, School Counsellors/Psychologists, Learning Assistance/ Resource Teachers, School Administrators, School Paraprofessionals including Special Education Assistants, Classroom Assistants and Childcare Workers. All other professionals who support students including but not limited to: Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, Clinical Counsellors, Family Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Addiction Counsellors, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Probation Officers, and Early Childhood Educators.

Agenda

Day 1: Understanding Executive Skills and Assessment

• 8:30 – 10:30: Overview of Executive Skills & Cognitive Functions
• 10:45 – 12:00: Developmental Progression of Executive Skills
• 1:00 – 2:30: Assessing Executive Skills in Students (Formal and Informal Tools)
• 2:45 – 4:00: Modifying Environments to Support Executive Skills Development

Day 2: Interventions and Coaching Techniques

• 8:30– 10:30: Teaching Executive Skills Through Daily Routines
• 10:45 – 12:00: Embedding Executive Skills into Classroom Content Lessons
• 1:00 – 1:45: Using Incentives to Promote Executive Skills Practice
• 1:45 – 2:30: Designing Classroom or Small Group Curricula for Executive Skills Development
• 2:45 – 4:00: Coaching for Academic and Social Success

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Understand the key cognitive functions involved in executive skill development.
2. Recognize the developmental trajectory of executive skills and their impact on school performance.
3. Assess executive function in students using a variety of formal and informal tools.
4. Design classroom interventions that address specific executive skill challenges, including task initiation, working memory, and impulse control.
5. Implement strategies to integrate executive skills training into daily routines, both in the classroom and at home.
6. Utilize coaching techniques to support children and youth in improving executive skills.

Your Presenter

Peg Dawson, Ed.D., NCSP

Dr. Peg Dawson: In over 40 years of clinical practice, Dr. Peg Dawson has worked with thousands of children who struggle at home and in school. At the center of their struggles are often weak executive skills. Along with her colleague, Dr. Richard Guare, she has written numerous books on this topic for educators, mental health professionals, and parents, among them Smart but Scattered, Smart but Scattered Teens, Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents, and Coaching Students with Executive Skills Deficits. Peg is also a past president of the National Association of School Psychologists, and the International School Psychology Association, and is a recipient of NASP’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Testimonials

“Dr. Dawson is incredibly informative and provided exceptional clarity on executive functioning skills. She was generous with her materials and I left feeling much more confident in how I can approach students that are struggling. This was so useful to me and I would highly recommend this workshop to ANYONE who has questions.”
– Calgary, AB | November 5 – 6, 2019

“This course was very interesting and engaging. Peg was incredibly knowledgeable, shared amazing resources and gave real like examples of how her strategies have worked and been implemented. Would highly recommend her course to other teachers and professionals.”
– Ottawa, ON | October 30 – 31, 2019

“Great presenter with a realistic, positive approach, who drew capable on her experiences. I was certainly glad I attended today’s session!”
-Halifax, NS | June 5, 2014

“Wow! Thank you. I will use what I gained in the classroom and at home – with myself, my students, my colleagues and my family.”
-Jodie K. (Grade 1 Teacher) | Edmonton, AB | June 3, 2014

“Excellent speaker – engaging and funny!”
-Marie (Mental Health Worker, Alberta Health Services) | Lethbridge, AB | April 29, 2014

“Fabulous as always. Wish I could provide feedback that was helpful, but I’m always very happy with all aspects of Dr. Dawson’s presentations – this is the third I’ve attended.”
-Natasha (School Psychologist) | Halifax, NS | June 5, 2014

“I really enjoyed the balance of research and personal anecdotes. Very informative – I definitely recognized many kids on my caseload in the examples and feel like I have some more tools to use to help them. Thank you.”
-Lethbridge, AB | April 29, 2014

“Excellent and most engaging speaker. The information shared was very helpful, practical, and will definitely enhance my practice working with struggling students. Thank you so much.”
-Halifax, NS | June 5, 2014

“Very thorough and professional.”
-Kathryn (Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation) | Edmonton, AB | June 3, 2014

“The workshop content and presenter was absolutely excellent and very insightful! I will definitely attend another workshop by Peg Dawson if I get the opportunity.”
-Halifax, NS | June 5, 2014

Registration & Fees