Teaching Executive Skills

Applying Brain Science to Boost Memory, Attention, and Emotional Regulation for Student Learning

April 16 - 18, 2026

Sheraton NY Times Square Hotel or Virtually via Zoom

Pre-Conference Workshops Accommodations

Credits Registration

Program

Conference registration is open now for the annual Spring Learning & the Brain conference in New York City held at the Sheraton NY Times Square April 16 - 18, 2026.

This conference will be run as a hybrid conference. Whether you attend in-person or remotely, recordings will be available for 45 days after the conference.

Teaching Executive Skills

IMPROVING EXECUTIVE SKILLS FOR SCHOOL SUCCESS

This interdisciplinary conference will explore the “Science of Executive Function” and how it works in the brain.

Discover the science behind executive skills, working memory, attention and focus, ADHD, cognitive flexibility, and emotional regulation, how they are interconnected; and why they are important for learning. Learn evidence-based strategies to embed executive skills in your classroom; empower your mind and emotions; boost student working memory; raise self and emotional regulations skills; reduce anxiety and declutter disorganized minds; help students pay attention and deal with ADHD; use games, AI, and VR to improve executive skills; and develop self-regulated, thinking readers and writers.

Featured Speakers

What the Science of Learning Is Not Telling You: How to Make a Memory and Get It Out

David B. Daniel, PhD, Conference Chair

David B. Daniel, PhD, Conference Chair

Professor Emeritus of Psychology, James Madison University; Former Executive Director and Founding Board Member, International Mind, Brain, and Education Society; Former Managing Editor, Mind, Brain, and Education Journal; Recognized in the “Top 1% of Educational Researchers Influencing Public Debate” in the US; Co-Author, “Toward an Ecological Science of Teaching” (2021, Canadian Psychology), “Seeing Self and Others On-Screen Does Not Negatively Impact Learning in Virtual Classrooms” (2021, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology), and “E-Textbooks at What Cost? Performance and Use of Electronic v. Print Texts” (2013, Computers and Education)

Executive Function: How Your Brain Gets Things Done

David T. Badre, PhD

David T. Badre, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences', Brown University; Affiliate, Carney Institute for Brain Science; Member of the Editorial Boards for Psychological Science, Cognitive Science, Behavioral Neuroscience, and eLife; Recipient of several awards, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Neuroscience, the James S. McDonnell Scholar Award in Understanding Human Cognition, and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award; Author, On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done (2022); Co-Author, “The Value of Proactive Goal Setting and Choice in 3-To 7-Year-Olds' Use Of Working Memory Gating Strategies in a Naturalistic Task” (2021, Developmental Science) and “Neural Systems Underlying the Learning of Cognitive Effort Costs” (2021, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience)

How Your Brain’s Executive Function Works and How to Improve It

Sabine Doebel, PhD

Sabine Doebel, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University; Author, “Rethinking Executive Function Development” (2020, Perspectives on Psychological Science)

Teen Emotions and Executive, Default Networks

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD

Fahmy and Donna Attallah Professor of Humanistic Psychology; Professor of Education, Psychology, and Neuroscience, who pioneered novel approaches to the study of child and adolescent social-emotional and brain development; Founding Director, USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning, and Education (CANDLE), University of Southern California; Author, Emotions, Learning & the Brain (2015); Co-Author, “Diverse Adolescent Transcendent Thinking Predicts Young Adult Psychosocial Outcomes Via Brain Network Development” (2024, Scientific Reports), “The Brain Basis for Social-Emotional Learning Also Supports Academic Learning” (2021, UNESCO), and “The Brain Basis for Integrated Social, Emotional, and Academic Development” (2018, Aspen Institute)

The Science of Emotion Regulation

Ethan F. Kross, PhD

Ethan F. Kross, PhD

Neuroscientist; Director, Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory; Professor, Department of Psychology and Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; Faculty Affiliate, University of Michigan's Center for Culture, Mind, and Brain; Author, Shift: Managing Your Emotions--So They Don't Manage You (2024), Chatter: The Workbook (Forthcoming), and Chatter: The Voices in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It (2021); Co-Author, "Managing Emotions in Everyday Life: Why a Toolbox of Strategies Matters" (2025, Emotion), "Harnessing Placebo Effects to Regulate Emotions" (2024, Handbook of Emotion Regulation), and "Smarter, Not Harder: A Toolbox Approach to Enhancing Self-Control" (2020, Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences)

Beyond the Science of Reading

Natalie L. Wexler, JD

Natalie L. Wexler, JD

Education Writer; Senior Contributor, Forbes.com; Author, Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning (2025), "Why So Many Kids Struggle to Learn: Teachers Continue to be Trained in Ways That Ignore the Findings of Cognitive Science" (2021, The American Scholar), “Building Knowledge: What an Elementary Curriculum Should Do” (2020, American Educator), The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System—And How to Fix It (2019); Co-Author, The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades (2017)

Rise Above: Empowering Your Mind, Your Emotions, and Your Life

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD

Cognitive and Humanistic Psychologist; Founder and Director, Center for Human Potential; Professor, Columbia University; Honorary Principal Fellow, Center for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne; Former Scientific Director, The Imagination Institute, University of Pennsylvania; Host of the #1 Psychology Podcast, The Psychology Podcast, with over 30 million downloads; Columnist, “Beautiful Minds,” Scientific American; Author, Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential (2025), Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization (2020), Twice Exceptional (2018), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2015); Co-Author, Learned Helplessness (2020), Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt (2022), Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2016), and “Imagination Is the Seed of Creativity” (2018, The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity)

Executive Brains: Connecting Anxiety, ADHD, and Emotion Regulation

Tracey I. Marks, MD

Tracey I. Marks, MD

Owner, Marks Psychiatry And Forensic Services; Member, American Academy Of Psychiatry And The Law, American Psychiatric Association; Author, Why Am I So Anxious? Powerful Tools for Recognizing Anxiety and Restoring Your Peace (2022), Bipolar Basics: Unpacking the Nuances and Understanding Solutions (2021), and Master Your Sleep – Proven Methods Simplified (2011); Co-Author, "Legal, Ethical and Clinical Implications of Prescribing Involuntary, Life-Threatening Treatment: The Case of the Sunshine Kid" (2003, Journal of Forensic Sciences)

Boosting Executive Skills, Attention, and Memory Through Science-Based Tools and Exercise

Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD

Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD

Dean, College of Arts and Science; Award-Winning Professor of Neural Science and Psychology, Center for Neuroscience, New York University; Popular TEDTalk presenter with over 65 million views; Recently named "One of the Top 10 Women Changing the Way We See the World" by Good Housekeeping; Author of the Internationally best-selling book, Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion (2021), and Anxiety Is Your Superpower (2020); Co-Author, "Adapting a Neuroscience High School Curriculum to Support Inclusive Online Learning" (2023, Toward Inclusive Learning Design: Social Justice, Equity, and Community), "Exercise to Enhance Mental Health" (2022, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience), and Happy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better (2016)

Decluttering Our Students' Minds in an Age of Stress, Distractions, and Change

Deborah Gilboa, MD

Deborah Gilboa, MD

(aka "Dr. G"); Family Medicine Attending Physician, Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill Health Center; Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Founder of AskDoctorG.com; Resilience, Change, and Youth Development Expert; National Advisory Board, United States AntiDoping Agency; Board of Directors, Cybersmile Foundation; Author, From Stressed to Resilient: The Guide to Handle More and Feel It Less (2022), Get the Behavior You Want... Without Being the Parent You Hate! (2014), Teach Responsibility: Empower Kids With Great Work Ethic (2013), Teach Respect: That's My Kid (2013), and Teaching Resilience: Raising Kids Who Can Launch (2012)

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