Executive Functioning in American Government Classes: Skills for High School Students to Succeed 

When Government Class Becomes Overwhelming

High school government classes are one of the foundations for creating lifelong learners who are informed, aware, and ready to make a difference. 

Students are taught how to debate perspectives, evaluate evidence, and understand how our current government runs and operates, skills which support students in making informed decisions as they head into civilian life as young adults. 

However, many students struggle with this course. It’s not because they don’t care about what they’re learning but because they lack some of the foundational executive functioning skills to keep up. 

This can look like: 

• difficulty organizing materials for long projects 
• struggles to keep track of important dates
• withdrawing from class discussions because they feel unprepared 
• feeling overwhelmed by current event or long reading analysis 

These challenges often stem from the same root: executive functioning gaps. 

—

Why Government and Civics Classes Are More Important Than Ever

Government courses are designed to support students in developing critical thinking skills so that they can evaluate information effectively and understand how the government impacts their daily lives. Courses generally consist of teaching students how to explore current events and policy debates, media literacy and evaluating sources, understanding multiple perspectives and how to participate in their civic duties. 

All of these skills are critical for students to enter into the world with knowledge to become active members of their communities and daily lives. In order for them to be successful members of their communities, they’re going to need more than knowledge. 

—

The Hidden Skills Students Need to Succeed in Government Class

Students need executive functioning skills in their government class in order to apply their learning: 

• They may know the names Locke and Montesquieu, but they might struggle to understand how those two historical figures impact their daily lives.
• They may understand the checklist for evaluating whether a source is biased, but they might struggle to apply that checklist to their social media consumption. 
• They may see a large scale project and understand the steps for completing it but struggle to estimate how much time they actually need to complete the assignment by its due date. 

This is where they start to struggle, and where planning, organization, time management, and task initiation skills can provide support. 

Making Civics Content More Engaging Through Real-World Connections + Executive Functioning Supports

So how do we support these students when they’re struggling to succeed in government? 

We want to promote more engagement, and in doing so, provide multiple opportunities for students to practice their executive functioning skills. 

For educators, this looks like: 

• Adding connections to current day events when discussing constitutional principles
• Analyzing local government decisions that are affecting students’ local communities. 
• Encouraging classroom debates with organizational supports

But engagement alone doesn’t solve everything.

Where Many Students Still Struggle

When students see the relevance, engagement rises dramatically, which fosters the desire to implement more executive functioning support, such as:

• reminders for DO dates (when students will complete assignments) so that they can submit assignments on the DUE date. 
• chunked larger assignments, providing one part at a time so that students aren’t overwhelmed by a large task. 
• organizers to support debates, argumentative writing, or keeping track of sources. 
• timelines and other visuals to help students understand complex concepts that span multiple units. 

When executive functioning supports aren’t embedded in class structures, parents will often see students turning in last minute assignments, cramming for tests, or lashing out in frustration due to managing large projects or research papers. 

How Coaching Supports Both Teachers and Students

With Empower, we work as a partner in supporting teachers and students. 

We work with students in a 1:1 capacity or in small groups to apply planning, organizational, and study skills outside of the classroom. These skills are embedded into their coursework through our work together when we:

• break down research papers and large scale projects into manageable steps. 
• organize notes from readings and current events 
• create a plan for the week – not only focusing on due dates, but also focusing on when, where, and how we will complete assignments 

We work with teachers in a 1:1 or small group cohort to look at what you’re already doing well, and where we can apply more executive functioning supports, such as:

• visual and verbal reminders of due dates with time to add that due date to the calendar of the students choice. 
• formatting projects, assessments, and class work assignments to ensure understanding, comprehension, and application of skills. 
• implementing retrieval practice into every lesson so that students have a chance to recall information that is prevalent to the lesson. 

When we support students and teachers in embedding executive functioning skills in their classroom, everyone grows.

The Result: Stronger Engagement and Student Confidence

Teachers see:

• Students who are prepared 
• Classroom discussions dive deeper
• Analysis and Research papers are stronger

Parents see:

• Fewer homework meltdowns 
• Improved time management 
• More independence

Students gain:

• Confidence to engage in debates and conversations 
• Stronger civic thinking 
• Systems that can be practiced in all subject areas 

—

Supporting Students Together

Government classes ask students to think critically about the world around them—but many students need support building the skills to succeed in those assignments.

Our academic coaching programs help students develop the planning, organization, and study strategies needed for research projects, discussions, and complex coursework.

We work with students and teachers in 1:1 and small-group settings, supporting the work they’re already doing in class.

Learn how we partner with families and teachers to support student success.