Development and Testing of a Curriculum to Improve Decision‐Making Skills in Middle and High School Students

Abstract

Adolescence is a key developmental period for developing and strengthening brain circuits that underlie effective decision‐making skills, which profoundly impact lifelong health and academic, professional, and economic achievement. But decision‐making skills are learned rather than inherent. School presents an ideal environment for the direct instruction and frequent practice of decision‐making skills, however, finding time in the school day is a challenge for contemporary educators. We have developed a learning curriculum that involves active student participation to strengthen decision‐making skills that is sufficiently flexible and adaptable to be utilized in a wide variety of content‐specific classwork. Using this curriculum, students show evidence of improved decision‐making skills, including increased consideration of the number of factors that are relevant to their decision, the resources needed to make a particular decision, and both the short‐term and long‐term consequences of decisions.