Middle schoolers often struggle to transition from structured elementary schools to more independent secondary learning. Unlock their success with practical, research-backed strategies that help them not just survive, but thrive and become expert learners!

In Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades, seasoned educator and curriculum development expert Susanne Croasdaile, PhD, provides the essential roadmap to middle school success based on the powerful Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. This book is a vital resource for every middle school teacher, instructional coach, and administrator seeking authentic, tested strategies.

This book is a timely intervention for educators in the middle grades, focusing on the core competencies that predict student success: executive function (the ability to self-monitor and execute plans) and sustained student motivation.

Following an easy-to-implement 8-step process, Croasdaile demonstrates how to support student growth using the UDL Guidelines to plan goals, methods, materials, and assessments. Throughout the book, she shares numerous strategies and real-life examples to illustrate instructional moves that scaffold students to focus themselves, sustain effort, and persist through tasks, even when frustrated or bored.

This book is a practical toolkit that empowers every middle school educator to elevate instruction and transform students into independent, resilient expert learners. It is a must-have resource for improving middle school outcomes.

Learn more by downloading a PDF of the Introduction from the book.

Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades is available in print (144 pages, ISBN: 9781943085002) and accessible EPUB (ISBN: 9781943085019) wherever books are sold!

Table of Contents

• Preface
• INTRODUCTION (View as PDF)
  • A little about UDL
  • A little about research-based practices
  • The importance of checklists for instructional models
  • Barriers and obstacles to student success
  • Use a checklist to address obstacles and develop expert learners
• PART 1: Scaffolding Executive Function
  • Scenario
  • What is executive function?
  • Step 1. Always scaffold working memory
  • Step 2. Decide on critical routines to use across the year
  • Step 3. Plan and teach the First 20 Days routines
  • Step 4. Progress monitor and scaffold/reteach the routines
  • Planning steps to scaffold executive function
• Part 2: Scaffolding Motivation
  • Scenario
  • Building internalized motivation in students
  • Supporting students’ perceived feelings of autonomy, mastery, and purpose
  • Step 5. Offer multiple entry points to critical activities
  • Step 6. Scaffold collaborative interactions
  • Step 7. Plan for mastery-oriented feedback
• Part 3: Pulling It All Together
  • Step 8: Set up and use an instructional calendar
• Final Note
• Acknowledgements
• Appendix: The First 20 Days of School
• About the Author
• References
• Index