Observing teachers' displays and scaffolding of executive functioning in the classroom context

This study introduces the Teachers' Displays and Scaffolding of Executive Function (T-DASEF) Protocol, an observational measure designed to capture how teachers display EF-related behaviors and scaffold students' EFs in elementary school classrooms. We describe the process for developing the T-DASEF protocol and evaluating the reliability and predictive validity of components derived from the protocol in a diverse sample of 813 students (ages 8-12) and 33 teachers. We found that components from the T-DASEF protocol reliably capture teachers' EF-related difficulties and scaffolding practices. Multi-level path analysis revealed that the composite of teachers' displays of impulsivity, distraction, poor working memory or disorganization uniquely predicted direct assessment of students' fall EFs. Teachers' planning/organization scaffolding and cognitive flexibility scaffolding practices predicted spring students' EFs. This study highlights the feasibility and relevance of using an observational measure to understand how teachers' typically occurring EF-related behaviors and scaffolding practices relate to students' EF-skills in middle childhood.