Cognitive control skills important for success in school and life are amenable to improvement in atrisk preschoolers without costly interventions.Executive functions (EFs), also called cognitive control, are critical for success in school and life. Although EF skills are rarely taught, they can be. The Tools of the Mind (Tools) curriculum improves EFs in preschoolers in regular classrooms with regular teachers at minimal expense. Core EF skills are (i) inhibitory control (resisting habits, temptations, or distractions), (ii) working memory (mentally holding and using information), and (iii) cognitive flexibility (adjusting to change) (1,2).

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Early educational intervention has been proposed to partially offset the impacts of poverty and inadequate learning environments on child development and school success. A broad range of early educational interventions are found to produce meaningful, lasting effects on cognitive, social, and schooling outcomes. However, all interventions are not equally effective. Two major U.S. programs perform relatively poorly. Research provides some guidance regarding the features of highly effective programs, but much remains to be learned. New experimental studies of key program features would have a high payoff.

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