School-based language, math, and reading interventions for executive functions in children and adolescents: A systematic review

Executive functions are a set of cognitive skills and processes used when directing behaviour towards the attainment of a certain goal. A large literature has documented positive associations between executive functions and a variety of desirable outcomes throughout life, including academic achievement. However, training executive functions appears to have limited effects on academic achievement, and the nature of this association remains unclear. We use a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine if preschool and school-based interventions training language, literacy, and/or mathematical skills improve children’s and adolescents’ executive functions. We include 51 studies in the data synthesis (47 are randomised controlled trials). Using inverse-variance weighted random-effects models, we find a statistically significant weighted average effect size on pre-validated measures of executive functions (0.17, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.27]). The effect is robustly positive in all sensitivity analyses, including tests of publication bias. We also find substantial heterogeneity, which persists in moderator analyses. This means we cannot identify specific types of interventions that are more effective than others in improving executive functions. Our results support theories that emphasise the unidirectional effects from academic skills to executive functions or a bidirectional relation. Further research is needed to identify the mechanisms through which academic skills training affect executive functions.