The nine other programs are: ACTIVATE, Cogmed Working Memory Training, Fast ForWord, Inner Explorer, Master Mind, Mindfulness in Schools Project, PATH to Reading, SMART and Tools of the Mind.Ī full description of each program is available in the report. In addition to MindUP, the report cites nine other programs that increased student proficiency on state exams and lessened maladaptive behavior. According to BrainFutures, research suggests that stress may trigger high levels of cortisol in a person's system, which may result in memory impairment and problems regulating emotions. They can also limit cognitive and emotional development.įor example, children who have experienced ACEs may have trouble with impulse control and show deficits in attention. These stressors are often referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which research shows can inhibit executive function. Interest in brain training programs has increased as schools seek ways to address the special challenges faced by youth who have experienced trauma and stressors such as poverty, neglect and/or abuse. Brain literacy, which helps students understand how their brains works.Social emotional learning, which includes cultivating empathy for others, seeking to develop and nurture supportive relationships, and making sound and caring decisions.Mindfulness and breathing techniques to center one's attention and help manage emotions.Exercises to strengthen memory and perspective-taking skills.Programs on executive function can involve: Good executive function is needed for people to concentrate, recall instructions, manage impulses and multitask, according to Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child. Department of Education, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and groups including the Council of Chief State School Officers.īrainFutures analyzed 40 programs that claim to help children develop what psychologists call executive function - processes that enable the brain to recalibrate itself and create new neural pathways. The group was aided by school improvement experts at universities, the U.S. The 2019 report was produced by BrainFutures, a not-for-profit research organization that spun off from the Mental Health Association of Maryland in 2015. MindUP is one of 10 programs recommended in a report called Brain Fitness and Executive Function: Evidence-Based Interventions that Improve Student Outcomes. It has given them tools to "acknowledge how they are feeling, why they are feeling that way, and deescalate and center themselves so that we can discuss what happened," she said. MindUP has fostered better behavioral outcomes for students and reduced time out of class, Rodgers said.
"When challenging situations occur, students understand how their brain is reacting and they are able to calm their minds and breathing so that they can better handle the challenge," said Debra Rodgers, principal of Phillips Avenue Elementary School in Riverhead. The program has been used in the Riverhead Central School District on Long Island for about three years.
The Goldie Hawn Foundation has a program called MindUP that helps children develop resilience and improve emotional regulation. You might be familiar with actress and comedian Goldie Hawn from her roles in films such as Private Benjamin (1980) or the 1987 version of Overboard, but over the past two decades she's focused on neuroscience and its applications in education.