The Impact of Parent Training on Student Executive Functioning Skill Use

Author

Nicole Tapia, Lynn University

Date of Award

6-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Granting Institution

Lynn University

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EDD)

Degree Program

Educational Leadership

Department

College of Education

First Advisor

Brittany E. Kiser

Second Advisor

Jennifer J. Lesh

Third Advisor

Gregg Good

Abstract

This study implemented three parental training sessions in a private pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade school to educate parents of pre-kindergarten through first grade students regarding executive functioning skills in order to determine if teacher's observations of children's classroom behavior and executive functioning skill use and parent's knowledge of executive functioning skills were impacted. Executive functioning skills allow children to plan and achieve goals and have been shown to improve literacy and math proficiency. Executive functioning skills, working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, used simultaneously, allow children to complete complex mental tasks such as critical thinking (Cortes et al., 2019; Centers for Disease Control, 2015; Harvard University, n.d.; Parr, 2018; Samuels et al., 2019; The Understood Team, n.d.; Willoughby et al., 2019). Studies exist that explore the relationship between a parent's executive functioning and child's executive functioning, but little research evaluates the impact of parental education on a child's executive functioning (Distefano et al., 2018; Gross & Wilson, 2018; Sosic-Vasic et al., 2017). Teachers and parents of the prekindergarten through first grade students were surveyed before and after program implementation; the survey data was coded on a numerical scale and evaluated for percentage changes and changes in descriptive statistics before and after program implementation. There were no extraordinary findings, however, data suggests that educating parents improved their understanding of executive functioning skills and their development and contributed to improved student classroom behavior. The researcher will continue to modify the programming to implement in other elementary schools so that parents of elementary school aged children have equitable opportunities to learn about executive functioning skills and their impact on academic success.

Recommended Citation

Tapia, N. (2023). The impact of parent training on student executive functioning skill use [Doctoral dissertation, Lynn University]. SPIRAL. https://spiral.lynn.edu/etds/401