Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA): a performance-based assessment of executive function piloted with at-risk adolescents.

OBJECTIVE We piloted the Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (WCPA), a performance-based measure of executive function (EF), to establish a baseline for at-risk adolescents. METHOD Participants were 113 youths ages 16-21 who were enrolled at a charter school for youth returning to high school after dropping out. We administered the WCPA and collected demographic information. RESULTS On average, participants spent 15.9 min on the WCPA, made 7.9 errors, and followed 4.0 of 5 possible rules. No ceiling effect was observed in overall accuracy. Participants used a mean of 3.1 strategies (standard deviation = 1.9) while completing the WCPA. Participants who used more strategies spent more time planning and completing the task and were more accurate. CONCLUSION The WCPA may be useful to occupational therapists as a performance measure of EF. This assessment allows evaluation of complex task performance, strategy use, self-evaluation of performance, and error patterns, which can be used in developing intervention strategies.