Abstract
Executive functions (EF) such as self-monitoring, planning, and organizing are known to develop through childhood and adolescence. They are of potential importance for learning and school performance. Earlier research into the relation between EF and school performance did not provide clear results possibly because confounding factors such as educational track, boy-girl differences, and parental education were not taken into account. The present study therefore investigated the relation between executive function tests and school performance in a highly controlled sample of 173 healthy adolescents aged 12–18. Only students in the pre-university educational track were used and the performance of boys was compared to that of girls. Results showed that there was no relation between the report marks obtained and the performance on executive function tests, notably the Sorting Test and the Tower Test of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functions System (D-KEFS). Likewise, no relation was found between the report marks and the scores on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function—Self-Report Version (BRIEF-SR) after these were controlled for grade, sex, and level of parental education. The findings indicate that executive functioning as measured with widely used instruments such as the BRIEF-SR does not predict school performance of adolescents in preuniversity education any better than a student's grade, sex, and level of parental education.
Highlights
At school, adolescents often get complex assignments and have to do homework for various courses simultaneously
The current study investigated whether executive functions predicted report marks in healthy adolescents aged 12–18 who were www.frontiersin.org secondary school students in the pre-university educational track
Results showed that performance on the Sorting Test and the Tower Test did not predict report marks for Dutch, English, and mathematics
Summary
Adolescents often get complex assignments and have to do homework for various courses simultaneously. The adolescent student needs to develop higher cognitive skills, such as self-monitoring, planning and organizing, in order to perform well. It is unclear, whether the development of these functions predicts adolescents’ school performance. Insight into the cognitive predictors of school performance is relevant for school (neuro) psychologists and other professionals who work with adolescents. They often have to estimate how scores on intelligence tests and neuropsychological tests are related to task performance in adolescents’ daily life, for example to performance at school
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