Tools of the Mind. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report
What Works Clearinghouse, US Department of Education · 2008
grade Breviewindependentnot-applicable
Sample
11 studies screened, 4 reviewed, 1 met WWC evidence standards
Population
United States; early childhood education.
Design
The federal review. Note the scoping caveat that matters most - the WWC early-childhood protocol does not include executive function or self-regulation as an outcome domain, so this is a null on ACADEMICS, not a direct null on EF. Note also which study failed - Diamond, Barnett, Thomas and Munro's 2007 Science paper, the single most cited evidence for the programme, did NOT meet WWC evidence standards.
Key findings
Tools of the Mind was found to have no discernible effects on oral language, print knowledge, cognition or mathematics. Improvement indices were oral language +6, print knowledge 0, cognition +2, mathematics +7, none statistically significant or reaching the 0.25 threshold for substantive importance. Extent of evidence rated small in all four domains. No qualifying studies existed for phonological processing or early reading and writing.
Genetic confound
Not applicable - a review of randomised evidence.
Replication notes
Not applicable.
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral language, print knowledge, cognition, mathematics | improvement index | +6, 0, +2, +7; none significant or substantively important | standardized | end of programme | business-as-usual | end-of-treatment | domain-skill |
| Diamond et al. 2007 (Science) under WWC standards | rating | did not meet WWC evidence standards | standardized | not applicable | unclear | not-applicable | near-transfer |
Cited by
- Can executive function be trained, and does it transfer to learning?no effectconf: highgc: low