Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach

Middle schoolers often struggle to transition from structured elementary schools to more independent secondary learning. Unlock their success with practical, research-backed strategies that help them not just survive, but thrive and become expert learners! In Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades, seasoned educator and curriculum development expert Susanne Croasdaile, PhD, provides the essential roadmap to middle school success based on the powerful Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework. This book is a vital resource for every middle school teacher, instructional coach, and administrator seeking authentic, tested strategies. This book is a timely intervention for educators in the middle grades, focusing on the core competencies that predict student success: executive function (the ability to self-monitor and execute plans) and sustained student motivation. Following an easy-to-implement 8-step process, Croasdaile demonstrates how to support student growth using the UDL Guidelines to plan goals, methods, materials, and assessments. Throughout the book, she shares numerous strategies and real-life examples to illustrate instructional moves that scaffold students to focus themselves, sustain effort, and persist through tasks, even when frustrated or bored. This book is a practical toolkit that empowers every middle school educator to elevate instruction and transform students into independent, resilient expert learners. It is a must-have resource for improving middle school outcomes.

About the Author :
Susanne Croasdaile, PhD, has been a classroom teacher, instructional coach, professional developer, program specialist, systems change consultant, and associate director of curriculum and instructions for public schools in Virginia and Louisiana. With more than 25 years of experience in K-12, higher education, and educational research and evaluation, she uses a range of roles to support school-based faculty members as reflective practitioners and to lift their voices to the larger education community.

Review :
"Dr. Croasdaile presents a compelling discussion on building expert "middle school" learners through the UDL lens. Her points and examples are relevant and reflect many of the issues teachers often face in the classroom. Her connections to the literature are deep and promote the importance of how the UDL lens correlates with well-designed instruction. A must-read for any educator to understand why we teach UDL - to build that all important learner expertise!" - Dr. Fran Smith, Adjunct Faculty, GW University "Croasdaile integrates real-life situations and scholarly research in a well-written book every instructional leader should have and use. This timely and valuable book answers a common question in middle school environments, how do we motivate students? How do you address executive functioning? Those questions, and others, related to engaging students, are in this book. It's encouraging to see a book about motivation and UDL presented in a way that is easy to read, understand, and implement. The institutional calendar is the tool you didn't know you needed until you saw it. This is a must-read if you want to know how to address student motivation." - Phyllis L. M. Haynes, Ph.D., Co-Director, Training & Technical Assistance Center, Virginia Commonwealth University "Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, 'Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach' is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, school district, college, and university library Teacher Education, Educational Psychology, and Behavioral Science collections.." - Midwest Book Review, August 2023