abc - attentive, bethought, clever! Strengthening executive functions and selfregulation as basic skills for safety, health and academic success in primary school

Status:

completed 12/2024

Aims:

The research project "abc — achtsam, bedacht, clever" aimed to develop and evaluate a scientifically grounded and practice-oriented holistic concept for primary schools to strengthen students self-regulation skills and executive functions (EF). Self-regulation and EF are essential for safe, responsible, and health-conscious behavior, for developing social skills, and for successful learning and academic achievement.

The abc concept is based on current findings from psychology, neuroscience, and educational science, which have been specifically adjusted for behavioral and structural prevention within the primary school context and adapted to the German education system. The central element of the concept, the abc training, was designed in a way that enables teachers and other school staff to implement it by themselves and integrate it into their daily routines. Additionally, key success factors for effective implementation were identified.

Activities/Methods:

The research project consisted of four main work packages:

• Development, testing, and optimization of the abc training and accompanying materials in collaboration with 12 primary schools and a circle of practice experts,
• Process documentation to support the schools during implementation (formative evaluation), to identify success factors and challenges, and to derive supportive measures for sustainable implementation,
• Large-scale, longitudinal, quantitative evaluation using an intervention/waitlist control group design with N = 906 children to assess the effectiveness of the abc training regarding children's development,
• Development and piloting of a train-the-trainer program for abc trainers as basis for sustainable implementation as well as training and certification of an initial cohort of abc trainers.

Results:

The abc training received broad approval and was considered by teachers as both practical and beneficial. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the content, methodology, and supporting materials. The training led to noticeable improvements in educational practices, lesson design, and school structures supporting self-regulation and EF.

The evaluation revealed that students in the intervention schools experienced notable benefits from abc across multiple domains compared to students at control schools. Especially noteworthy is the reduction in reportable school-related accidents as well as reported accidents and near accidents at home and during leisure time. A plausible explanation lies in the improvement of inhibitory control, a cognitive skill closely linked to risk-aware behavior. These results directly support the strategic aims of statutory accident insurance institutions.

In addition, compared to the control group, students demonstrated significant improvements in learning behavior (including concentration, effort, and independent learning) as well as in social behavior, classroom climate, and their attitude towards school. In this way, abc makes a valuable contribution to fostering positive social interactions and enhancing students' well-being at school, thereby supporting key principles of the DGUV's concept "Gute gesunde Schule".

The goal of developing a comprehensive, scientifically grounded prevention concept for primary schools that demonstrably supports children's development was successfully achieved. Overall, the results highlight the potential of abc as an effective intervention to strengthen safety- and health-promoting conditions in primary schools. The abc concept and its accompanying materials provide a solid foundation for broad implementation of abc in further schools by qualified abc trainers.

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