Giving Compass' Take:

• A new study is trying to make the case that low executive function in kindergarten students is a contributing factor to their academic problems. 

• Are there already programs in place for helping struggling students such as these? Or do teachers take it upon themselves to help? 

• Learn that just by talking and making conversation with your child will be helpful for the child's brain development. 

Executive function — a sort of air traffic controller of the brain — has been one of the hottest topics in education circles over the past 15 years. et experts disagree over what it is exactly, to what extent it really causes academic problems and whether anything can be done to improve one’s executive functioning.

Now a new large study makes a compelling case that certain executive functioning difficulties can emerge as early as kindergarten and they dramatically increase the likelihood of serious academic problems in the first half of elementary school.

Troubles with executive function can put these children on a low and sluggish learning curve that they are unlikely to break out of.

The study by six researchers at Penn State and the University of California, Irvine, “Executive Functions Deficits in Kindergarten Predict Repeated Academic Difficulties Across Elementary School,” was presented earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York.

Regardless of race, income and early childhood academic abilities, the researchers found that kids who had executive function problems were more likely to struggle academically in subsequent years. This study saw stronger causal links between executive function and academic performance than other studies had.

“This study helps us identify which children seem to be especially likely to experience repeated academic struggles,” said Morgan. “These things start to happen early. We want to try and direct our intervention efforts to early time periods, when those efforts will be more effective, and before these kids start to internalize more negative feelings about themselves academically, avoid reading practice, and engage in more problematic behaviors.”

This research raises two follow-up issues. Should 5-year-olds be screened for executive function problems? And how best to help them?

Read the full article about executive function in kindergartners by Jill Barshay at The Hechinger Report