By Betsy Hill and Roger Stark
During Brain Awareness Week in March 2015, experts gathered at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts to review emerging findings in brain science and discuss practical ways to improve national well-being through brain health. Neuroscientists, pediatricians, psychologists, mindfulness practitioners, cognitive-behavioral specialists, educators, healthcare professionals, researchers, and technology leaders explored how to translate brain research into effective, school-based strategies. The consensus: investing in early childhood development with neuro-supportive, classroom-integrated interventions would yield the greatest return for national brain health and academic success.
Even then, evidence was mounting that accessible, research-backed brain-building activities can directly improve academic achievement and mental wellness when sustained through childhood and adolescence. Despite the strength of this evidence, traditional school systems have been slow to adopt approaches that make brain fitness a priority. Many teacher preparation programs do not meaningfully teach brain science, so most educators lack a clear understanding of how cognitive skills underpin learning. As a result, large numbers of students underperform academically not because of lack of effort, but because they have not been taught—and have not had opportunities to develop—the cognitive abilities that enable learning.
It is important to distinguish brain disease from brain fitness just as we distinguish physical illness from physical fitness. Being free of disease does not mean an individual is fit for demanding physical tasks; similarly, being free of mental illness does not guarantee cognitive readiness for learning. Physical fitness involves attributes such as aerobic capacity, muscle strength, stamina, and flexibility. The cognitive counterparts are attention and focus, working memory, reasoning, and cognitive flexibility. Without these core cognitive skills, students struggle to read comprehension passages, solve math problems, or apply knowledge in science and social studies.
If we think of physical training—calisthenics, gym routines, athletic conditioning—we should also consider what the equivalent “calisthenics” for the brain look like. The 2015 Kennedy Forum conversations suggested that providing students with systematic tools to strengthen basic cognitive skills is foundational to improving school learning and national competitiveness. In short, cognitive training integrated into schools can act as cross-training for the brain.
Research continues to support the positive effects of targeted cognitive training on academic performance. For example, during the 2021–2022 school year, a group of seventh-grade students who were performing below grade level participated in a structured, integrated cognitive development program delivered in an interactive, game-like format for one semester (approximately 12 weeks). These students were not identified as special education and had nonverbal reasoning skills in the typical range; their challenge was specific weaknesses in cognitive skills that schools usually assume students already possess.
Before the program, standardized cognitive assessment results showed average sustained attention at the 22nd percentile, working memory at the 8th percentile, and verbal memory at the 7th percentile. After 12 weeks of daily 40-minute cognitive training, the same students showed dramatic gains: sustained attention rose to the 48th percentile, working memory to the 52nd percentile, and verbal memory to the 22nd percentile. These cognitive improvements translated into academic gains. On the spring state assessments, 90 percent of participating students improved their performance in either English Language Arts or math. Thirty percent of the group increased a full performance level in both subjects; an additional 40 percent increased a performance level in one subject and narrowed the gap in the other.
These results illustrate a key point: strengthening foundational cognitive skills can produce measurable improvements in school achievement in a relatively short period. The Kennedy Forum’s 2015 recommendation—that a national emphasis on brain health and cognitive fitness could revitalize education and strengthen society—remains highly relevant. The challenge is mobilizing public and political will. Past national reforms and accountability efforts—No Child Left Behind, Every Student Succeeds Act, shifting funding priorities—have produced mixed results, and average U.S. performance still lags that of many less affluent countries.
One way to reframe the problem is to envision a bold national goal—an educational “Moon Shot.” Just as the space race galvanized resources and innovation in the 1960s, a similarly ambitious initiative focused on cognitive readiness and literacy could concentrate attention and investment. A concrete, measurable target might be to double the percentage of students reading proficiently at grade level by the end of the decade. This would require scaling proven cognitive training and support systems so that every child receives the brain-building tools they need to learn.
The seventh-grade cohort described above offers a hopeful example: within a year, the proportion of students meeting grade-level expectations more than doubled among those who received targeted cognitive training. We may actually know more about how to achieve such educational gains now than we did about spaceflight when President Kennedy announced the moonshot in 1961. If we commit to strengthening cognitive skills at scale, cognitive training could be the fuel for a modern Education Moon Shot—one that improves lives, closes achievement gaps, and supports long-term national prosperity.
About the authors
Betsy Hill is President of BrainWare Learning Company, which applies neuroscience to build learning capacity. An experienced educator, she has studied the intersection of brain science and education with experts in the field. She has served as chair of the board of trustees at Chicago State University and teaches strategic thinking in the MBA program at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Betsy has been recognized for contributions to learning excellence and for sharing neuroscience-based practices with educators. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and an MBA from Northwestern University.
Roger Stark is Co-founder and CEO of BrainWare Learning Company. Over the past decade he has led efforts to make comprehensive cognitive literacy training and assessment accessible and affordable. His work has focused on translating decades of clinical collaboration and trial-and-error into effective cognitive training tools. He led development of BrainWare SAFARI, a widely researched, integrated online cognitive literacy training program.
Note: This article was originally published by a research institute and news organization focused on the shift in education toward digital curriculum and the practical application of brain science in schools.