Although there has been much recent attention to young children’s development of executive function
and early mathematics, few studies have integrated the two. Here we review the evidence regarding
executive function and mathematic achievement in the early years. After defining the executive function
processes we consider, we briefly address the question of whether executive function can be taught in
schools. We then turn to the relations between executive function and achievement. We begin with a
review ofthe larger literature on correlations between the two, both concurrent and predictive. This leads
to the fewer but more directly educationally-relevant causal studies. We conclude that developing both
executive function processes and mathematical proficiencies is essential for young children and suggest
that high-quality mathematics education may have the dual benefit of teaching this important content
area and developing executive function processes.