Building better brains: evidence-based interventions to enhance contemporary schooling

School is a rich environment for cultivating academic skills, but also for developing metacognitive skills such as executive functioning and emotional regulation. However, the hours students spend in school are often guided by familiar practices rather than contemporary findings about how the brain best learns and grows. This article describes biological conditions favorable to brain development, psychological skills associated with effective school functioning, and school practices associated with academic and interpersonal success. The aim is that schooling might be shaped with regard to children’s and adolescents’ brain development needs rather than social custom.