Precision Teaching
What is precision teaching?
Precision teaching (PT) is a measurement method that allows us to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum and method of teaching. It looks at the frequency (rate of change) and allows the learner to achieve a fluent and accurate rate of responding. The main difference you’ll notice as a parent is all of our data is graphed onto the Standard Celeration Chart (SCC), which looks intimidating but allows your team to make the best data-based decisions possible.
How is this approach beneficial to my child?
One of the main principles of PT is that “The Learner Knows Best.” This means that if the student is progressing according to the plan we know that the method of instruction is effective for your child’s learning style!
When your child reaches fluency with a new skill it means they have retained the teaching over time, are able to generalize to new environments, and combine it with other behaviours to form new and more complex skills sets. For instance, learning a new language, playing a musical instrument, or riding a bike are all skills that most people can identify as a fluent skill or not.
How will using precision teaching look for my child?
Every 1:1 intervention session your child has will consist of precision teaching. These interactive sessions typically last between 1.5-2 hours and occur two or more times per week.
Here’s how we create an individualized behavior plan for your child:
Choose the Skill to be Learned: Within the area the child is struggling, we will choose the specific skill we want them to learn.
Example: To improve reading, we may work on the skill of fluently reading individual words or even sounds.
Establish the Learners Current Baseline and Set a Goal: We will identify where the learner currently is at within the targeted skill and use this information to pinpoint the exact behavior, rate and time we will measure.
Example: Currently the learner can read 15 words accurately in 2 minutes. Our goal may be to get the student to 100 words accurately in 2 minutes.
Teaching and Recording Results: During the 1:1 session each skill we are teaching will be taught for 5-10 minutes. Frequency is key to see great success and progress rates, although the teaching of each skill may be short by practicing every session you child will quickly reach fluency!
Reaching their Goal: Once the student achieves their target goal we use our RESA checks to ensure they have truly mastered the skill. RESA stands for:
Retention: Can the learner retain the material after a break from practicing frequently?
Endurance: Is the learner able to perform at their highest rate of accuracy and speed when asked to do the same skill for a longer period of time?
Stability: Can the learner perform at their highest rate of accuracy and speed when in a new or distracting environment?
Application: Is the learner able to generalize their learning?
Adapted from EdPsychEd and Meaningful
Mastery: Validating Fluency with RESA (Kelly Ferris)