What is an executive functioning coach?

An executive functioning coach is a professional who excels at identifying the areas in which a student struggles in school and in life and trains them in the essential skills that lead to future success.

“And actually, it’s not repetition that creates habits. It’s emotions that creates habits.”

— Rangan Chatterjee

  • Most schools are not equipped to help students with executive dysfunction. The few, but growing number of schools that value direct instruction in EF often fall short on time and resources. The modern school system expects students to be able to sustain attention through boring tasks and lectures, organize and plan across multiple platforms, and manage time at home while competing with endless distractions. For the types of students who don’t acquire these skills through “osmosis”, school can be extremely challenging.

  • Executive function coaching with Chris is rooted in 16 years of experience in Special Education in private, public, and international schools. Chris has helped 1000s of students grow in their understanding of themselves as learners. He has a depth of knowledge in middle and high school subject area content and knows how to help struggling students grasp complex topics. Chris has a wide array of tested success strategies, tips, tools, and techniques that students can apply across multiple subject areas and in setting up the routines and habits for a successful life.

    Chris has a Masters Degree in Special Education. He has a passion for coaching soccer and has won the All-Brooklyn Soccer Coach of the Year for Varsity Boys Soccer. Chris enjoys studying Japanese, reading self-improvement, and running on the boardwalk.

EF coaches understand how the brain works and develops differently in each individual. They have knowledge and training in the different areas of executive functioning and understand how students with ADHD, ASD, or other learning impairments may fall behind due to weaknesses in one or more of these domains. 

Executive Functioning Coaches must be able to interpret IEPs, 504s, and neuropsychological evaluations and use the information to develop an approach that is individualized and appropriate for the student.   

EF coaches play a crucial role in helping individuals develop executive functioning skills to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Executive Functioning Coaches are not tutors and their job is not to teach subject area content. EF coaches are trained to collaborate with their students to create effective resources, routines, strategies, and systems and to hold the students accountable for maintaining them. Many EF coaches do have content knowledge, especially if their background is in education. This may be useful for instances when executive skills are taught through relevant subject specific content.   

Great EF Coaches aim to develop positive, professional relationships with their clients. A crucial aspect of the coach - student relationship is trust. In coaching sessions the coach will often ask the student to do things that they simply don’t want to do or have been resistant to doing in the past. Without trust and rapport, a coach will likely have a difficult time suggesting critical steps that may be uncomfortable at first but yield positive results in the long run.

Effective Executive Functioning Coaches partner with families, teachers, counselors, and therapists. The support cannot be limited to a once a week session. Good EF Coaches are available beyond the scheduled time blocks and reach out to help parents follow through on the weekly action steps, provide follow up support and check-ins with the student as needed, and be available for parent-teacher, 504, or IEP meetings as necessary.    

Because each student has a unique learning profile, executive function coaches spend a significant amount of time preparing individualized lessons with tailored resources and tools that address weaknesses in specific executive skills and facilitate the flow of the meetings. 

“Everything will be ok in the end. If it’s not ok it’s not the end”

  • John Lennon