Designing and Validating an Executive Function Training Program for Elementary School Teachers

Executive functions play an essential role in the cognitive and social development of individuals. In recent years, executive functions have been studied as one of the most important neuropsychological variables affecting the reform and development of teachers’ professions and as a result, better academic and social performance of students. This study aimed at designing and validating an executive function training program for elementary school teachers. The qualitative research method was used for the design and development part. To validate the program, the face validity method and the content validity method with a panel of 10 experts were used. To calculate the content validity, two relative content validity coefficients (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were used. The minimum and maximum CVR for each item or component of the program were calculated. They were 0.80 and 1, respectively. Also, the minimum and maximum CVI rates for each item or component of the program were 0.80 and 0.93, respectively. Finally, the average content validity index for the whole program was 0.85. The results showed that the executive functions training program for primary school teachers has  face and content validity and has the necessary validity for use in educational centers, in-service courses,  and for research, and extracurricular classes in schools.