Assessing students' executive functions in the classroom: Validating a scalable group-based procedure Jelena Obradović ⁎, Michael J. Sulik, Jenna E. Finch, Nicole Tirado-Strayer Stanford University, United States abstract article info Article history: Received 8 October 2016 Received in revised form 10 February 2017 Accepted 9 March 2017 Available online xxxx We describe and validate a novel, scalable, group-based assessment of executive functions (EFs) in a classroom setting using tablet computers. Relative to the conventional method of a more controlled, one-on-one individual assessment (IA), the group assessment (GA) can be administered quickly to many students, requires less training for assessors, and measures performance in a naturalistic classroom setting. In a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 269 students in third through fifth grade, we show that IA and GA scores for the same tasks were highly inter-correlated, equally reliable, and showed analogous associations with known EF covariates. IA and GA scores independently predicted teacher-rated self-regulated classroom behavior and standardized test scores. Further, only the GA score emerged as a unique predictor of academic achievement when controlling for prior achievement. We are sharing the tablet apps, source code, and supporting materials for this GA proce- dure at no cost under an open-source license. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Executive function Assessment Academic achievement Classroom behaviors Self-regulation 1. Introduction Executive function (EF) skills have been linked to various education- al outcomes, including specific academic skills, school engagement, and self-regulated classroom behaviors (Diamond, 2013; Obradović, Portilla, & Boyce, 2012). However, the conventional approach to EF as- sessment is to measure children's performance on standard EF tasks in a highly controlled, laboratory-like setting, typically with a ratio of one child to one assessor. This approach lacks the ecological validity of as- sessment in a classroom setting—where children practice and apply EF skills daily—and does not scale well for collecting data from a large num- ber of students. We developed a new procedure to simultaneously as- sess EF skills in all students in a classroom using standard EF tasks administered on tablet computers. The goals of the current study are to validate this new assessment by: (1) examining convergent validity with conventional individual assessment procedures; (2) comparing students' EF performance across group and individual assessment set- tings; (3) comparing associations of EFs with known demographic and educational covariates across the two assessment settings; and (4) investigating the predictive validity of EF skills assessed in group versus individual assessment settings for teachers' reports of students' self- regulated classroom behaviors and their academic achievement on standardized tests. 1.1. Executive functions and educational outcomes EFs are a set of higher-order cognitive skills that enable children to inhibit their impulses, control inappropriate behaviors, ignore distrac- tions, hold and manipulate information in the mind, and shift between competing rules or attentional demands. As such, EF skills are implicat- ed in many aspects of school success. Over the last decade, researchers have linked direct assessments of EF skills to teachers' reports of stu- dents' self-regulated classroom behaviors, such as their ability to follow instructions, stay focused on tasks, and work collaboratively with peers (Ciairano, Visu-Petra, & Settanni, 2007; Diamond, 2013; Obradović et al., 2012; Rimm-Kaufman, Curby, Grimm, Nathanson, & Brock, 2009). How- ever, most of these studies have been conducted in early childhood. Researchers working with this age group often employ a composite of EF tasks tapping into multiple EF components (Fuhs, Farran, & Nesbitt, 2015; Neuenschwander, Röthlisberger, Cimeli, & Roebers, 2012; Sasser, Bierman, & Heinrichs, 2015). However, more research is needed to better understand how similar direct assessments of EFs relate to self- regulated classroom behaviors in middle childhood. In addition to their role in promoting self-regulated behaviors, EF skills also contribute directly to academic performance. For example, solving math problems requires children to flexibly shift attention be- tween different strategies and to manipulate and update information in working memory (Blair, Ursache, Greenberg, Vernon-Feagans, & Family Life Project Investigators, 2015). Although empirical evidence is most robust for the association between working memory and math skills (Bull & Lee, 2014; Jacob & Parkinson, 2015), meta-analytic studies have demonstrated that direct assessments of inhibitory control (Allan, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology xxx (2017) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jelena.obradovic@stanford.edu (J. Obradović). APPDEV-00886; No of Pages 10 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2017.03.003 0193-3973/© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology Please cite this article as: Obradović, J., et al., Assessing students' executive functions in the classroom: Validating a scalable group-based procedure, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2017.03.003