Executive Functioning vs. Intelligence: What You Need to Know
Many parents worry when their bright, capable teen struggles to turn in homework, stay organized, or manage time effectively. It’s easy to assume these challenges mean a lack of effort or ability, but that’s rarely the case. More often, these struggles point to difficulties with executive functioning, not intelligence.
What Is Executive Functioning?
Executive functioning is the brain’s management system, the set of skills that help students plan, focus, remember instructions, regulate emotions, and complete tasks. These skills live in the prefrontal cortex and are still developing well into early adulthood.
Intelligence ≠ Executive Functioning
A teen can have a high IQ and still struggle with executive functioning. Many gifted or high-performing students find school increasingly difficult as expectations rise, not because they aren’t smart, but because organization, prioritization, and follow-through become more important than raw intelligence.
When a student has weak executive function skills, they might:
Know the material but fail to turn in assignments
Understand the lesson but freeze when planning a project
Have great ideas but struggle to express them clearly or on time
These struggles can be deeply frustrating for parents and teens alike, but they’re not a reflection of laziness or lack of potential.
The Good News: Executive Functioning Can Be Taught
Like any skill, executive functioning can improve with direct instruction and consistent practice. With the right strategies, breaking tasks into steps, using planners or digital tools, building routines, and developing emotional regulation, students can learn to manage their workload, time, and attention more effectively.
Over time, strengthening these skills helps teens unlock their full potential, both academically and personally.
Partnering With Minkus Educational Solutions
At Minkus Educational Solutions, we partner with parents to strengthen executive functioning, organization, and study skills through individualized tutoring and coaching. Serving families in the north side of Chicago, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Skokie, Highland Park, Lake Forest, and surrounding suburbs, we help students become confident, independent learners ready to succeed in school and beyond.
