I am pleased to introduce a paper for our Applied Practices’ section of the journal, which is entitled Working Memory Interventions with Children: Classrooms or Computers? As one of the authors of this paper, with my colleague Kit Double, I can confirm that its scope is to examine what types of interventions for working memory in children currently exist, their relative efficacy in impacting working memory itself, as well as academic achievement, self concept and classroom engagement. Importantly, we explore the relative paucity of effective interventions, despite current rhetoric about the importance of working memory as a key part of executive functions. The role of attention factors, which are critical to working memory being used appropriately, is also examined. I recommend this paper to you all to challenge your preconceptions and to realistically evaluate what you can and should consider when advising about working memory as part of your practice.

The importance of working memory to classroom functioning and academic outcomes has led to the development of many interventions designed to enhance students’ working memory. In this article we briefly review the evidence for the relative effectiveness of classroom and computerised working memory interventions in bringing about measurable and sustainable benefits to students’ working memory, classroom engagement, and academic performance. Although there is considerable evidence that working memory is significantly linked to academic achievement, virtually no research has been undertaken within the classroom context, nor has the research had an intervention focus, nor has any research involved students themselves. Although there is a large amount of research on computerised working memory training programs, the evidence confirms that such programs rarely provide transferable or sustainable benefits to students’ working memory, classroom functioning, or academic performance. Positive evidence is provided for one classroom intervention specifically designed for personal and independent use by students, with their teachers’ support. Recommendations for classroom practice and directions for further research combining classrooms and computer interventions are discussed.

The author would like to make the below corrections to his article. The author apologises for these mistakes.