5 Practical Ways to Improve Self-Monitoring in High School Students

Posted In Application On May 1, 2025

Helping students improve self-monitoring is one of the most impactful ways high school teachers can support academic success and overall student growth. Self-monitoring—an essential executive function skill—involves a student’s ability to track their own behavior and performance, evaluate it against goals or expectations, and adjust as needed. This skill is a critical piece of the executive function system and directly contributes to improved academic performance, better student behavior management, stronger self-control, and increased confidence.

As high school students face more rigorous academic demands and increased independence, executive function instruction becomes a powerful tool. Teaching executive function skills like self-monitoring empowers students to take ownership of their learning, increase engagement, and build the social and academic skills needed for long-term success. Below are five classroom-tested executive function strategies you can implement to help students improve self-monitoring in your high school classroom.

1. Weekly Self-Monitoring Goals and Reflections

One of the most effective ways to improve self-monitoring is through goal setting and consistent reflection. Have students write a weekly self-monitoring goal related to academics, behavior, or personal growth. Each week, guide them through a structured reflection:

• What progress did I make?
• What worked well that I should continue?
• What needs to change?
• What obstacles might I face next week?
• What is one specific action I can take to overcome those obstacles?

This consistent routine not only improves self-monitoring but also fosters self-awareness and accountability—two foundational elements of executive function learning.

2. Analyze Returned Work for Patterns

Returned assignments are a goldmine for executive function skill development. Encourage students to go beyond the grade and look at their errors. Ask them to collect data on common mistakes over time—missed directions, grammar issues, skipped steps in math, etc. Once students gather enough data, help them identify patterns.

Are their mistakes due to rushing, misunderstanding directions, or a lack of studying? Then, work with students to develop a plan to address these patterns. This executive function strategy helps students see mistakes as learning opportunities and directly supports their efforts to improve self-monitoring.

3. Track Progress on a Target Skill

To improve self-monitoring, have students select one academic or behavioral skill to focus on (e.g., coming to class prepared, completing homework, participating in discussions). Guide them to list daily activities that support the skill and track their progress on a simple checklist or chart.

After a few weeks, have students evaluate their growth and decide if adjustments are needed. This kind of visible progress not only supports student engagement but also improves student motivation and their ability to self-monitor.

4. Use Rubrics for Pre- and Post-Assignment Reflection

When students begin a project or assignment, provide a clear rubric or checklist outlining expectations. Have students use this tool to self-evaluate both before submitting and after receiving feedback. This reinforces the importance of evaluating their own work against a standard and identifying areas for improvement.

By embedding these executive functioning tools into everyday instruction, you help students build essential self-monitoring habits that can transfer across content areas and beyond high school.

5. Weekly Grade Check-Ins and Action Plans

One simple but powerful way to improve self-monitoring is by building a weekly grade-check routine. Encourage students to log in to their school portal, record their grades, and notice any drops or trends. Then, have them create a short list of action steps for the week—turning in missing work, studying for a test, asking for help, etc.

This routine allows students to track performance, reflect, and create a plan to meet a goal. Over time, this habit supports better academic outcomes and contributes to student empowerment.

Final Thoughts

When you teach high schoolers to improve self-monitoring, you are giving them one of the most important executive function tools they’ll need for college, careers, and life. These strategies don’t require overhauling your curriculum; they just need consistency and reflection. Whether you’re addressing student learning needs, strengthening social skills, or boosting student strategies to solve executive function challenges, improving self-monitoring is a core part of any effective executive function intervention.

Want more ideas tailored to younger grades?

• Click here for strategies to improve self-monitoring in grades 1–4.
• Click here for strategies to improve self-monitoring in grades 5–8.

Looking to bring executive function curriculum into your classroom?

• Explore Cerebrate’s executive function lessons.

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By integrating these self-monitoring strategies into your executive function lessons, you’ll improve students’ performance and set them on a path to success.