MN Executive Function Scale vs DERS

The Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) is a subscription service for assessing executive function skills using a brief, standardized instrument administered on an iPad®. Executive function refers to the neuro-cognitive skills needed for successful learning and performance in school, at work, and in life. They include cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. How does the MEFS work? The MEFS is easy to use, but is intended to be administered only by trained and certified examiners. That is how you can be sure the MEFS results and norms are reliable and valid. The App will be fully accessible to subscribing organizations with secure login credentials provided by Reflection Sciences upon signed user license agreement. FEATURES + Created by leading research experts in developmental neuroscience + Early childhood version designed for ages 2-7 + Select an avatar to play along + Virtual card-sorting game with 7 levels of challenge + Intuitive drag and drop responses + Adaptive to individual EF ability + Takes 3 to 7 min to complete (average 4 min) + Reliable, valid, and normed + Backed by a secure web portal to immediately access scores and track growth on individuals or groups + Screening provides early detection of potential EF difficulties + Formative assessment complements educational curricula and programs designed to improve EF skills + Youth and Adult U.S. norms based on over 34,000 individuals

The Developmental Environmental Rating Scale (DERS) measures the quality of learning environments offered in classrooms serving children between the ages of 2.5 and 12. It aligns environmental design and implementation with desired outcomes related to executive functions, literacy, and social-emotional development. The DERS consists of 60 research-based environmental attributes or observable behaviors (child and adult) aligned with five broad aspects of human development: initiation and concentration, inhibitory control, working memory, linguistic and cultural fluency, and social fluency and emotional flexibility. The assessment is administered in a 60-minute classroom observation, during which the assessor records the presence, magnitude, and/or frequency for each item. Schools can use the DERS internally to identify priorities for continuous improvement or externally as an assessment of environmental quality. The DERS was developed by researchers at the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector.