Executive Skills

Checklist
Below, you will find a list of common school challenges. Please rate
each one on a scale of 1 (not a problem) to 5 (a big problem).
Your answers will help your teachers provide the best tools
and supports possible!

Name: Date:

Response Inhibition

1 2 3 4 5 Rushing through work just to get it done

1 2 3 4 5 Not having the patience to produce quality work

1 2 3 4 5 Giving up on a homework assignment when I encounter an obstacle

1 2 3 4 5 Avoiding or not completing homework when there are more fun things to do

Working Memory

1 2 3 4 5 Writing down instructions without enough detail to understand later

1 2 3 4 5 Forgetting to take home necessary materials or take materials to class

1 2 3 4 5 Forgetting to hand in homework

1 2 3 4 5 Forgetting long-term projects or upcoming tests

1 2 3 4 5 Not paying attention to classroom instructions/task directions

1 2 3 4 5 Trouble remembering multiple directions or multiple problem steps

1 2 3 4 5 Losing materials

1 2 3 4 5 Forgetting to complete assignments

1 2 3 4 5 Forgetting to check agenda/assignment book

1 2 3 4 5 Not recording when an assignment is due

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Emotional Control

1 2 3 4 5 Getting really irritated when a homework assignment is hard or confusing

1 2 3 4 5 Finding it hard to get started on assignments because of perfectionism or fear of

failure

1 2 3 4 5 Freezing when taking tests and doing poorly despite studying long and hard

1 2 3 4 5 Not seeing the point of an assignment and finding it hard to motivate myself to
do it

Task Initiation

Procrastinating/avoiding tasks due to...

1 2 3 4 5 ...not knowing how to get started

1 2 3 4 5 ...believing the task will “take forever”

1 2 3 4 5 ...believing my performance won’t meet expectations

1 2 3 4 5 ...seeing the task as tedious, boring, or irrelevant

1 2 3 4 5 Finding other things to do rather than starting homework

1 2 3 4 5 Difficulty getting back to work after breaks

Sustained Attention

1 2 3 4 5 Taking frequent breaks when working

1 2 3 4 5 Taking breaks that are too long

1 2 3 4 5 Internally distracted—thoughts, states, moods, daydreams. Please specify:

1 2 3 4 5 Externally distracted—sights, sounds, technology such as phone, computer, TV,

video games. Please specify:

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Sustained Attention (Continued)

1 2 3 4 5 Rushing through work—sloppy/mistakes

1 2 3 4 5 Not knowing limits (e.g., how long I can sustain attention) or when the best study
time is

1 2 3 4 5 Not recognizing when I’m off-task

Planning/Prioritization

1 2 3 4 5 Not making a study plan (may not know how)

1 2 3 4 5 Can’t break down long-term projects into smaller tasks and timelines

1 2 3 4 5 Having difficulty taking notes or studying for test because I can’t distinguish
important from non-important

1 2 3 4 5 Not using or not knowing how to use agenda/assignment book

1 2 3 4 5 Spending too much time on less important elements—can’t put the most
important parts or most important assignments first

1 2 3 4 5 Planning unrealistically (e.g., fail to take into account obstacles to the plan)

Flexibility

1 2 3 4 5 Struggling with assignments that require creativity or are open-ended

1 2 3 4 5 Getting stuck on one solution or one way of looking at a problem

1 2 3 4 5 Having trouble coming up with topics or ideas of things to write

about
1 2 3 4 5 Having difficulty coming up with “Plan B” if the first attempt didn’t
work

Organization

1 2 3 4 5 Not using or knowing how to design an organizational system

1 2 3 4 5 Not being able to find things in notebooks or backpacks

1 2 3 4 5 Losing assignments or important papers

1 2 3 4 5 Not having neat study area

1 2 3 4 5 Losing electronic data—forget where work is stored or what name it’s filed under

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Time Management

Can’t estimate how long a task will take—due to...

1 2 3 4 5 ...not knowing how to get started

1 2 3 4 5 ...overestimating how long it will take to do a task (therefore never getting

started)

1 2 3 4 5 ...underestimating how long it will take to do a task (therefore running out

of time)

1 2 3 4 5 Chronically late (for school, tutoring, other appointments, and obligations)

1 2 3 4 5 Difficulty juggling multiple assignments and responsibilities because I can’t

judge time involved

1 2 3 4 5 Overcommitted—juggling too many obligations (and I think I can pull it off!)

1 2 3 4 5 Lacking a sense of time urgency (doesn’t appreciate that deadlines are

important)

1 2 3 4 5 Relying on deadline as activator or motivator

Goal-Directed Persistence

1 2 3 4 5 Not having a long-term goal

1 2 3 4 5 Having a long-term goal but lacking a realistic plan to achieve the goal

1 2 3 4 5 Not seeing how daily actions impact goal attainment

1 2 3 4 5 Not having a long-term goal

1 2 3 4 5 Not seeing studying as important and making minimal effort as a result

1 2 3 4 5 Giving up in the face of an obstacle

1 2 3 4 5 Having a “good enough” mentality that gets in the way of producing quality work

1 2 3 4 5 “Not on the radar”— seeing work as not relevant or not important enough to
do

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Metacognition

1 2 3 4 5 Can’t accurately evaluate skills (e.g., expect to do well on tests in spite of poor
past performance; expect to go to a college or get a job without requisite skills
or academic record)

1 2 3 4 5 Can’t identify appropriate study strategies

1 2 3 4 5 Can’t plan or organize a writing assignment

1 2 3 4 5 Can memorize facts but missing the larger context (I do better on multiple-
choice tests than essay questions)

1 2 3 4 5 Having a hard time understanding more abstract concepts (math as well as

content area subjects)

1 2 3 4 5 Having difficulty making inferences, drawing conclusions, grasping the main

idea, reading between the lines

1 2 3 4 5 Failing to check work/proofread

Other Challenges

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