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Portrait of a Learner 9-12

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Portrait of a Learner 9-12 > Factors > Attention

Attention

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Factor Connections

Hover to see how factors connect to Attention. Then click connected factors to explore strategies related to multiple factors.

Attention is the ability to focus on a specific task without being distracted. Strong Attention skills support academic success, as students learn better when attending to materials or activities relevant to their goals. Importantly, attentional control often varies based on the context, including interest in the topic, task difficulty, and task duration. Attentional control continues to develop through middle childhood and adolescence, and can be supported by practice.

Main Ideas

There are several different types of Attention:

  • Sustained Attention is the ability to maintain focus on a specific task for a continuous period of time without getting distracted. Sustained Attention helps students learn new information, and strong sustained Attention is associated with increased academic performance.
  • Selective Attention is the ability to select relevant information to focus on, while filtering out irrelevant information. Selective Attention is closely related to Inhibition and resistance to interference. As Attentional control is an act of attending to sensory information, selective Attention is often broken down into two different sensory types:
    • Visual Selective Attention is the ability to focus on relevant information in a cluttered scene.
    • Auditory Selective Attention is the ability to focus on a specific source of sound in a noisy environment.
  • Alternating Attention is the ability to switch focus between tasks, and is the foundation for Cognitive Flexibility.
  • Divided Attention, also known as multitasking, is the ability to attend to multiple tasks at once. Attending to two or more media activities at once, or media multitasking, is becoming more common with the increase in technology, especially in adolescents. Though research is limited, findings suggest that adolescents who report having difficulty with Attention may multitask more often. In addition, more frequent media multitasking in early adolescence, including multitasking in the classroom, may lead to increased Attention problems both within and beyond the classroom.

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is multi-faceted and often presents with differential patterns of attentional control. These behaviors can manifest differently for different individuals and can shift over time, including restlessness (hyperactivity or overactivity) or inattentiveness r as well as impairments in inhibitory control or Working Memory. Adolescents with ADHD often have difficulty with academic (e.g., keeping track of assignments, managing complex tasks, etc.), social (taking turns, reading social cues, etc.), and adaptive (e.g., managing time) behaviors. They are often at a higher risk of dropping out of school, having low attendance rates, and may demonstrate an increase in risky behaviors. Some research shows that increased risk-taking is related to delayed maturation of certain regions of the brain, making teens with ADHD more susceptible to peer influence.

Importantly, a sense of Safety can play an influential role in Attention. Students who do not feel safe in their school, neighborhood, or home, or are victims of bullying tend to experience stress and anxiety, which can negatively affect their ability to pay Attention in school. Teachers can support their students' Attention in a number of ways, including supporting engagement through meaningful and motivational content, creating breaks for movement, incorporating checks for understanding, and creating a safe and positive classroom climate by building strong, trust-based relationships.

Learn More

  • Attention: A microcredential to support students' Attention
  • ADHD in high school: An EdWeek article that discusses the prevalence of ADHD in high school and how to support it.

View Measures and References

Research-Based Strategies For This Factor

Creating Visual Representations

Creating visual representations such as drawings, diagrams, graphs, and concept maps, whether student or teacher-generated, can help students process abstract concepts, enhancing understanding and retention of information.

Drawing

Encouraging learners to draw as a form of synthesizing key concepts and to explain their drawings in the classroom, can support the development of Core Academic Literacies, especially when solving complex problems across content areas.

Explaining Their Thinking

Students explaining their thinking during learning is a metacognitive process that involves actively self-questioning or being questioned while exploring new concepts, and explaining thoughts and reasoning in response.

Field Trips

Visiting places connected to classroom learning provides opportunities to add relevance to classroom topics and deepen understanding through firsthand experiences.

Games

Games support learning, as learners engage with new information in fun and informal ways.

Gallery Walk

Gallery walks are ways of showcasing content and materials as multiple “exhibitions” for students to view and interact with as part of larger learning goals.

Flexible Grouping

Flexible grouping is a classroom practice that temporarily places students together in given groups to work together, with the purpose of achieving a given learning goal or activity.

Cooperative Problem Solving

As learners work together to solve problems, they learn new strategies and practice Communication skills as they express their academic thinking.

Mnemonic Device

A mnemonic device is a creative way to support memory for new information using connections to current knowledge, for example by creating visuals, acronyms, or rhymes.

Think-Alouds

Incorporating think-alouds, or verbalizing thinking while reading or working through a new concept, can be a powerful way to help learners explore disciplinary texts, learn new skills, and retain content.

Multimodal Teaching & Learning

Multimodal teaching and learning provide opportunities for students to engage with the same content through different sensory modalities, such as visual, auditory and tactile.

Goal Setting & Monitoring

Goal-setting and monitoring involves teachers working with students to set individualized academic or behavioral goals, plan actions to achieve those goals, and track progress.

Communication Boards

Communication boards are displays of graphics (e.g., pictures, symbols, illustrations) and/or words where learners can gesture or point to the displays to extend their expressive language potential.

Gestures

Using motions to explain new concepts or ideas supports the ability to process new information and to convey thinking and conceptual understanding.

Music & Dance

Music and dance supports learners in a myriad of ways, including supporting their engagement and motivation, connecting with cultural background, and offering structure during play.

Brief Instruction Steps

Providing instructional steps clearly and concisely can help learners understand classroom expectations, reduce cognitive load, and complete tasks more efficiently.

Student Choice

Providing students a voice in their learning is critical for making learning meaningful.

Incorporate Students' Cultural Practices

Learning about students' cultures and connecting them to instructional practices helps foster a Sense of Belonging, increase positive student Identity development, and mitigate Stereotype Threat.

Check-ins

Checking in with learners, or taking the time to talk with individual learners about their experiences or goals, is important for fostering a positive classroom environment.

Shadowing a student

Shadowing a student involves an educator, administrator, or designated adult observing a learner across different parts of their day to deepen their understanding of that learner's experience beyond their classroom.

Respectful Redirection

Respectful redirection, or error correction, outlines a clear and concise way that educators can provide feedback on behaviors that need immediate correction, in a positive manner.

Mnemonic Device

A mnemonic device is a creative way to support memory for new information using connections to current knowledge, for example by creating visuals, acronyms, or rhymes.

Flexible Seating

Flexible seating refers to the practice of offering students a range of work surfaces, seating sizes and heights, movement, and varied body positions in the classroom, and often incorporates a range of technologies to offer a more personalized learning experience.

Simulation Learning

Simulations involve students engaging in interactive experiences that mimic real-world scenarios to explore content, practice skills, and solve problems.

Youth Participatory Action Research

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a student-centered approach that puts the learner at the helm of the research process, from ideation to dissemination, to investigate and advocate for change they want to see in their schools and communities.

Collaborative Writing

Collaborative writing activities allow peers to work together to plan, draft, edit, and revise during the composition process, supporting writing skills and engagement with content knowledge as students write to reflect upon and apply what they have learned.

Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice requires students to access information, or get information “out” from Long-term memory in order to support better retention and understanding.

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