Cognitive Executive Operations — Manualized Early Intervention Program

A 16-week manualized intervention
targeting executive functioning deficits
and identity-based self-regulation
in school-age youth.

The CEO Initiative delivers a 16-week, manualized intervention designed to produce measurable improvements in executive functioning and behavioral outcomes in school-age youth. The model integrates ten discrete EF skill domains, a fixed six-component session architecture, and three standardized assessment instruments. Outcomes are pre-specified and evaluated against defined improvement thresholds across a single program cycle. Fall 2026 pilot: Lincoln Public Schools. SBIR Phase I submissions in preparation.

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16 Weeks

Manualized · Fixed Session Architecture

10 EF Skills

Discrete Domains · BRIEF-2 Mapped

3 Instruments

BRIEF-2 · Ohio Youth Scales · CEO EF Tracker

SBIR Phase I

ED/IES Primary · NIH NICHD/NIMH Secondary

Empirical Context
Executive functioning deficits in school-age youth are not a discipline problem. They are a neurodevelopmental intervention target.

01 / PRESENTING GAP

Executive-function difficulties are well documented in school-age youth and are associated with meaningful challenges in academic and behavioral functioning. Existing school-based responses do not always target these difficulties as discrete, teachable skill domains.

Research on executive function consistently identifies inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility as important components of goal-directed behavior. These processes are relevant to school performance and behavioral regulation, and they are responsive to targeted intervention in at least some child and adolescent populations. The CEO Initiative is designed around that literature but does not claim to replace the broader evidence base on school behavior or juvenile justice involvement. These are not attitudinal deficits. They are domain-specific neurocognitive skill deficits that respond to targeted instruction. Standard behavioral consequence systems do not address them. Despite this established evidence, few school-based interventions systematically target these deficits using a structured, repeatable behavioral model with integrated identity development and defined outcome measurement.

02 / STRUCTURAL ABSENCE

Self-concept and identity processes are plausibly relevant to whether practiced skills generalize beyond structured intervention settings, but this relationship is better framed as a theoretical rationale than as a settled empirical conclusion.

Behavioral gains made in structured settings do not always transfer cleanly into naturalistic environments. The CEO Initiative addresses that challenge by explicitly linking skill practice to self-reflection, self-monitoring, and repeated behavioral rehearsal. In this model, identity development is treated as a program hypothesis and design feature, not as a universally established mechanism of change. This generalization failure is the primary reason short-term behavioral gains in youth interventions do not sustain across contexts or over time. The theoretical gap is not in the skill training literature — it is in the failure to address the identity variable that determines whether trained skills become behavioral defaults. No widely-disseminated school-based EF intervention currently incorporates a specified identity development component with its own measurement system.

03 / CEO INITIATIVE RESPONSE

Behavioral gains made in structured settings do not always transfer cleanly into naturalistic environments. The CEO Initiative addresses that challenge by explicitly linking skill practice to self-reflection, self-monitoring, and repeated behavioral rehearsal. In this model, identity development is treated as a program hypothesis and design feature, not as a universally established mechanism of change.

Every session delivers EF skill instruction within a fixed six-component sequence — Trigger Identification → Deliberate Action → Structured Reflection → Targeted Feedback → Identity Shift → Generalization Practice — that systematically links skill practice to self-concept development. Each component has a specified clinical function, a defined time allocation, and a facilitation protocol grounded in CBT and trauma-informed care principles. Identity shift is operationally defined as a measurable change in student self-report data and practitioner-rated EF composites across the 16-week program cycle.

Theoretical Architecture
Six Principles. Not constructs — operationalized behavioral domains.

The Six CEO Principles are not aspirational values. They are operationalized behavioral domains, each defined by observable, measurable behavioral indicators and mapped to specific executive functioning subscales in the BRIEF-2 assessment taxonomy. Each principle functions as an identity-level organizing construct: students do not comply with the principles — they develop them as stable features of self-description through repeated, structured behavioral practice over the 16-week program arc. This distinction — between externally imposed behavioral norms and internally organized identity constructs — is the core theoretical contribution of the CEO Initiative and the mechanism through which the program addresses the generalization failure described in the behavioral intervention literature.
...

Theoretical mapping: Theoretical mapping: Each principle is aligned with one or more executive-function domains commonly discussed in the executive-function literature, one or more self-concept themes drawn from developmental self research, and one or more BRIEF2 scales used in the program’s assessment battery. These mappings are part of the CEO Initiative’s internal model and should be presented as design alignments rather than direct one-to-one claims from the cited sources.

Three Identity Pillars

01Clarity & Momentum — Inhibitory control, initiation, sustained attention, task completion

02Presence & Control — Emotional regulation, recovery, cognitive flexibility, self-monitoring

03Vision & Influence — Goal-directed behavior, planning, social awareness, community orientation

Discipline

Consistent behavioral output independent of affective state. Operationally: the student initiates and completes tasks without external prompting, in the presence of competing stimuli or negative affect. Mapped to BRIEF-2 Inhibit and Initiate subscales.
BRIEF-2: Inhibit / Initiate

Resilience

Functional recovery from disruptive events without identity destabilization. Operationally: re-engagement with structured tasks within a defined window following an adverse behavioral event, without facilitator re-escalation. Mapped to BRIEF-2 Emotional Control and Shift subscales.
BRIEF-2: Emotional Control / Shift

Ingenuity

Generative problem-solving in the presence of obstacle or failure. Operationally: produces at least one functionally distinct alternative approach when an initial strategy fails, framing the obstacle as information rather than dispositional attribution. Mapped to BRIEF-2 Plan/Organize and Shift.
BRIEF-2: Plan/Organize / Shift

Citizenship

Socially embedded behavioral accountability. Operationally: demonstrates perspective-taking, considers systemic consequences of individual behavior, and voluntarily accepts accountability for shared outcomes without external prompting. Mapped to Ohio Youth Scales Social Functioning domain.
OYS: Social Functioning

Self-Love

Emotionally regulated self-appraisal anchored in stable self-worth. Operationally: tolerates corrective feedback, acknowledges behavioral failure, and re-engages without dysregulated affect or withdrawal. Trauma-informed framing. Mapped to Ohio Youth Scales Functioning and Hopefulness domains.
OYS: Functioning / Hopefulness

Collectiveness

Identity formation through structured community participation. Operationally: actively contributes to cohort functioning, demonstrates accountability to group norms, and articulates individual development in terms of collective membership. Mapped to Ohio Youth Scales Social Functioning and program cohesion ratings.
OYS: Social Functioning

The 10-Skill Taxonomy
Executive functioning
is the modifiable variable.

The CEO Initiative’s 10-skill taxonomy is informed by the executive-function literature and organized to support intervention delivery, progress monitoring, and practical use in school and community settings. BRIEF2 provides an assessment framework that overlaps with several of these domains, but the CEO taxonomy itself is a program-specific organizational model rather than a direct replication of any single published framework. Skills are organized into three domains: Self-Regulation (inhibitory control, emotional regulation, recovery), EF Learning (initiation, attention, completion, planning, flexibility), and Social Executive (goal direction, social awareness). Each skill is discretely defined, associated with one or more standardized subscales, and tracked weekly using the CEO Executive Function Tracking Sheet 2.0.

Skills are not delivered as content — they are practiced in structured behavioral context, reflectively processed, and measured longitudinally across the program cycle.

Self-Regulation (SR)

EF Learning (EF)

01 / SR
Task Initiation
EF Learning

02 / SR
Impulse Control
Self-Regulation

03 / SR
Focus & Recovery
EF Learning

04 / EF
Time Management
EF Learning

05 / EF
Working Memory & Attention
EF Learning

06 / EF
Cognitive Flexibility
EF Learning

07 / EF
Self-Regulation
EF Learning

08 / EF
Emotional Self Control
Self-Regulation

09 / SE
Task Completion
Self-Regulation

10 / SE
Organization
Self-Regulation

Full Framework Documentation →

Intervention Architecture
Every session instantiates a closed behavioral loop.

The loop architecture is informed by CBT principles and adapted for manualized group delivery in non-clinical and school-adjacent settings. In the CEO Initiative, each component is assigned a specific program function, including metacognitive awareness, behavioral rehearsal, reflection, feedback, and generalization practice. This should be described as a model adaptation rather than as a direct quotation of standard CBT protocol.

Trigger
Identified

Deliberate
Action

Structured
Reflection

Targeted
Feedback

Identity
Shift

Repeat &
Generalize

Implementation Contexts
Three deployment environments.
One manualized model.

...

The theoretical framework, session structure, assessment battery, and facilitation protocols are held constant across implementation contexts. Adaptation occurs at the level of scheduling, referral pathway, and facilitator institutional role — not at the level of model fidelity. This distinction is the basis for the program's claim to transportability without theoretical dilution.

K–12 Schools — MTSS Tier 2 / Tier 3

School-Based Implementation

Delivered within existing MTSS infrastructure as a Tier 2 small-group intervention (cohort: 8–15 students) or Tier 3 individualized support via the CEO Lite track. Assessment battery integrates with school-based behavioral data systems. The Educator Resource Library provides common language and behavioral cue protocols for non-program staff, addressing the cross-setting consistency requirement identified in the EF generalization literature.

MTSS Tier 2 small group + Tier 3 CEO Lite track

Educator Resource Library — cross-setting consistency

Weekly CEO EF Tracking Sheet 2.0 monitoring

Parent tracking component — home generalization

School Implementation Model →

Community — Diversion / Youth-Serving Organizations

Community-Based Implementation

Operates without school enrollment dependency. Appropriate for court-involved youth in diversion or probation contexts where documented structured intervention with measurable outcomes is required by court oversight frameworks. The CEO EF Tracking Sheet 2.0 produces a weekly behavioral data record that satisfies diversion documentation requirements without relying on disciplinary or incarceration-adjacent measurement frameworks.

Structured for diversion systems requiring documented behavioral progress without school dependency.

View Community Application Model → →

Clinical Settings — Adjunct Delivery

Clinical Integration

Supplements individual and group therapy with structured EF skill-building. Compatible with CBT protocols, trauma-focused treatment, and IEP-adjacent therapeutic goals. Appropriate as an adjunct for youth with documented EF deficits, behavioral presentations consistent with ADHD or conduct-spectrum concerns, or trauma histories that have disrupted development of self-regulatory capacity.

CBT and trauma-focused protocol compatible

IEP goal alignment support

Assessment instruments: clinical documentation standard

Adjunct to individual or group therapy

Clinical Inquiry →

Pilot Evaluation Targets
Seven outcome domains.
Pre-specified thresholds. Multi-instrument measurement.

Evidence Base →

The domains below represent pre-specified pilot evaluation targets, not outcome claims. Each target is tied to a named assessment source and a defined evaluation window. These targets will guide pilot interpretation and determine whether the model demonstrates sufficient signal for further study, refinement, and subsequent controlled evaluation.

Goal Attainment

Documented attainment of at least one individualized SMART goal within the Personalized Mission Map by the end of the intervention cycle.

Emotional Regulation

Reduction in youth-reported emotional and behavioral distress using the Ohio Youth Scales Problem Severity subscale, with mid-point review for trajectory monitoring.

Cognitive Flexibility

Measurable improvement in practitioner-rated cognitive flexibility and applied problem-solving using the CEO EF Tracker and behavioral observation.

Executive Organization

Improvement in organization and time management using the BRIEF-2 Plan/Organize subscale, educator-rated form.

Attention & Working Memory

Improvement in sustained attention and working memory using the BRIEF-2 Working Memory subscale, educator-rated form.

School Engagement

Measurable reduction in behavioral incident frequency (administrator-reported), improvement in attendance rate (school records), and reduction in missing assignment rate (teacher-reported).

This site presents a structured overview of the CEO Initiative model. Full documentation and implementation materials available upon request.

Program Structure
Four phases. Manualized delivery. Fixed session architecture.

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Phase One

Assessment

Weeks 1–2

Full psychometric baseline established. BRIEF-2 distributed to educator and parent informants. Ohio Youth Scales administered in parallel youth, parent, and worker forms. CEO EF Tracking Sheet 2.0 baseline completed. Personalized Mission Maps developed from assessment data. CEO Pledge for Change executed — grounded in Oettingen's (2014) implementation intention framework.

Phase Two

Skill-Building

Weeks 3–10

Six structured EF workshops in fixed sequence: Planning & Organization, Attention & Focus, Time Management, Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Organization Systems, Focus Under Pressure. Each follows a CBT-informed structure: psychoeducation → skill demonstration → behavioral rehearsal → reflection. Weekly CEO EF Tracker administered. Pillar progress scores updated and returned as quantitative identity development data.

Phase Three

Application

Weeks 11–14

Trained skills applied to naturalistic behavioral contexts through daily application missions and structured reinforcement challenges. Ohio Youth Scales mid-assessment at Week 12. Individual goal recalibration. Community engagement component activated, operationalizing the Collectiveness principle through structured peer accountability exercises.

Phase Four

Evaluation

Weeks 15–16

Full post-assessment battery: BRIEF-2 (educator and parent), Ohio Youth Scales (youth, parent, worker), CEO EF Tracking Sheet 2.0 final administration. Individual outcome reports generated against pre-specified targets. Cohort-level report for district or partner agency. Transition planning. Program completion recognition structured around identity-level acknowledgment.

Research & Funding Pathway
Evidence-informed at present.
Evidence-based through controlled evaluation.

The CEO Initiative is accurately described as evidence-informed: its design draws from established peer-reviewed research in cognitive behavioral therapy, executive functioning neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and identity development theory. It does not yet meet the criteria for evidence-based designation under federal standards such as those applied by the What Works Clearinghouse, because it has not been evaluated through a randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental study design with an adequate comparison condition.

This is not a limitation to be obscured — it is the precise condition that SBIR Phase I funding is designed to address. The CEO Initiative is positioned at the transition point between evidence-informed and evidence-based: a manualized intervention with a specified theoretical model, a multi-instrument assessment battery, a committed deployment partner, and a defined pilot study design that will produce the pre-post outcome data required for a Phase II efficacy proposal.

Program officer consultations with NICHD and NIMH have been initiated. The Specific Aims document is prepared in both ED/IES and NIH formats. grid templates column"research.html">Full research positioning and SBIR pathway →

$1.75M+
Pilot-stage grant potential

Phase I
$275K–$350K per agency

Phase II
$750K–$1.5M efficacy study

Active Grant Targets

ED/IES SBIR Phase IB▸ Primary

NIH NICHD SBIR Phase I▸ Secondary

NIH NIMH SBIR Phase I▸ Secondary

Institutional Engagement
Documentation is available for institutional review.

The CEO Initiative Specific Aims document, assessment instrument specifications, program manual excerpt, preliminary data summary, and LMS technical architecture documentation are available upon request for institutional reviewers, grant program officers, district-level decision-makers, and clinical professionals evaluating the model for collaborative deployment.

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A 16-week manualized intervention
targeting executive functioning deficits
and identity-based self-regulation
in school-age youth.

Executive functioning deficits in school-age youth are not a discipline problem. They are a neurodevelopmental intervention target.

Executive-function difficulties are well documented in school-age youth and are associated with meaningful challenges in academic and behavioral functioning. Existing school-based responses do not always target these difficulties as discrete, teachable skill domains.

Self-concept and identity processes are plausibly relevant to whether practiced skills generalize beyond structured intervention settings, but this relationship is better framed as a theoretical rationale than as a settled empirical conclusion.

Six Principles. Not constructs — operationalized behavioral domains.

Discipline

Resilience

Ingenuity

Citizenship

Self-Love

Collectiveness

Executive functioning
is the modifiable variable.

Every session instantiates a closed behavioral loop.

Three deployment environments.
One manualized model.

School-Based Implementation

Community-Based Implementation

Clinical Integration

Seven outcome domains.
Pre-specified thresholds. Multi-instrument measurement.

Four phases. Manualized delivery. Fixed session architecture.

Evidence-informed at present.
Evidence-based through controlled evaluation.

Documentation is available for institutional review.

A 16-week manualized interventiontargeting executive functioning deficitsand identity-based self-regulationin school-age youth.

Executive functioning deficits in school-age youth are not a discipline problem. They are a neurodevelopmental intervention target.

Executive-function difficulties are well documented in school-age youth and are associated with meaningful challenges in academic and behavioral functioning. Existing school-based responses do not always target these difficulties as discrete, teachable skill domains.

Self-concept and identity processes are plausibly relevant to whether practiced skills generalize beyond structured intervention settings, but this relationship is better framed as a theoretical rationale than as a settled empirical conclusion.

Six Principles. Not constructs — operationalized behavioral domains.

Discipline

Resilience

Ingenuity

Citizenship

Self-Love

Collectiveness

Executive functioningis the modifiable variable.

Every session instantiates a closed behavioral loop.

Three deployment environments.One manualized model.

School-Based Implementation

Community-Based Implementation

Clinical Integration

Seven outcome domains.Pre-specified thresholds. Multi-instrument measurement.

Four phases. Manualized delivery. Fixed session architecture.

Evidence-informed at present.Evidence-based through controlled evaluation.

Documentation is available for institutional review.

A 16-week manualized intervention
targeting executive functioning deficits
and identity-based self-regulation
in school-age youth.

Executive functioning
is the modifiable variable.

Three deployment environments.
One manualized model.

Seven outcome domains.
Pre-specified thresholds. Multi-instrument measurement.

Evidence-informed at present.
Evidence-based through controlled evaluation.