Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is usually known by parents as a whole package, but its value is most certainly the sum of its parts. It’s an overall practice that uses many methods and principles to achieve its aims. While parents don’t necessarily always need to know the intimate details of the theories and practices behind the methods, they may find comfort in having a deeper knowledge.
Precision teaching is one of the tools used by behavior analysts in ABA. It’s a bit complicated but a very useful tool in teaching children with autism. This article explains precision teaching in simple terms, covering practical examples, what it aims to achieve, and how it can be implemented at home.
- The Fundamentals of Precision Teaching
- Precision Teaching Examples
- Tools and Techniques Used in Precision Teaching
- Benefits of Precision Teaching for Children with Autism
- Comparing Precision Teaching with Other ABA Techniques
- Implementing Precision Teaching at Home
- Challenges and Considerations
- FAQs
- Conclusion
The Fundamentals of Precision Teaching
Before going into the specifics of what makes precision teaching great, we should go over its development. Precision teaching was created in the 1960s by a man named Ogden Lindsley. He was a student of B.F. Skinner (who is considered to be the father of behaviorism, and ultimately the guy who paved the way for behavior analysts and applied behavior analysis today).
Precision teaching was developed to enhance and refine instructional practices by focusing on precise measurement and visual representation of performance. It uses a special type of graphing (which we will go over later) that makes it easier for people to make data-based decisions. Precision teaching addresses traditional educational approaches’ limitations by systematically tracking and analyzing behavior.
Key concepts in precision teaching include pinpointing behavior, measuring response rate, and something called a standard celeration chart (SCC). Pinpointing behavior involves a clear definition of behaviors and a specific way to measure them. If there’s one thing we love in the field of ABA, it is defining behaviors. We want to ensure that we are clear about what is being measured and how we are measuring it.
Measuring response rate, which, for precision teaching, typically looks at the frequency of a specific behavior within a given time frame, helps us see performance and progress trends. Standard celeration charts, which are the main tools used in precision teaching, allow educators to visualize and analyze the rate of behavior change over time. It’s a bit confusing because of the name, but precision teaching is less of a teaching method and more of a data collection method.
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Precision Teaching Examples
Now that we have a lot of the technical jargon out in the open, we can go into what precision teaching is in practice and how it is used.
A great example of how precision teaching would work is with arithmetic tables that are often used in elementary school.
Students are given a sheet of math problems and a minute or two to complete as many of the problems as they can. When the time was up, they all put their pencils down and counted the number of problems they answered correctly. In these situations, the focus is not only on the number of correct answers but also on fluency. This is an important distinction of precision teaching.
In this example, the target behavior is correctly answering arithmetic problems. If we wanted an overall goal to be that students will correctly answer 30 arithmetic equations in under 1 minute, we could use the information collected using precision teaching to make decisions on whether or not a particular teaching method is working and if changes need to be made.
If we collect data using precision teaching every day for two weeks and graph findings on a standard celeration chart, we can very easily visualize the trend. If the students are becoming more fluent and are increasing in responding, we can assume that the teacher is using a great method to teach the students. If there is no change or a decrease in responding, we can use this information to make a data-informed decision and possibly change the teaching method being used.
Tools and Techniques Used in Precision Teaching
As I mentioned before, precision teaching is not necessarily a teaching method but a data-collection method that allows teachers to learn how to teach most effectively.
The main tool used in precision teaching is the standard celeration chart. Now, an entirely separate article can be written just to explain how standard celeration charts work and how to read them. If interested, here is a great video breaking down exactly how to read them.
In practice, however, a behavior analyst working with parents will be able to go over the charts with parents and explain them in a way that is easy to digest. Even with little experience and knowledge of precision teaching, trends in behavior can be easily recognized on a standard celeration chart to help in making decisions.
Benefits of Precision Teaching for Children with Autism
Solving math problems is only one example of a behavior that can benefit from precision teaching. Precision teaching can be used for academic skills, problem behaviors, daily life skills, social skills, and more. This adaptability makes it great for working with children with autism.
Using precision teaching in ABA sessions with autistic children can help families and behavior analysts make sure that the child is learning most effectively. If a skill isn’t being acquired, precision teaching allows us to make changes in a way that best meets the learner’s needs.
Comparing Precision Teaching with Other ABA Techniques
ABA uses many different teaching techniques. Much of the time, we use discrete trial training (DTT) and natural environment training (NET) to teach skills. While these are incredibly beneficial, sometimes precision teaching is better for certain behaviors or skills. Precision teaching helps to build fluency and focuses more on the rate of behaviors, while DTT and NET focus more on correct versus incorrect.
In the example above, with math problems, fluency is more important overall than just percent correct. With DTT, answering 2 out of 2 math problems correctly (100%) would hold more value overall than answering 18 out of 20 math problems correctly (90%). With precision teaching, the rate of responding is just as important as correctness.
Implementing Precision Teaching at Home
While parents might not want to pull out a standard celeration chart and graph behaviors, there are some things that parents may be able to do outside of ABA sessions using precision teaching.
They can work with their child’s BCBA in learning how and when to collect behavior data outside of ABA sessions to make sure behaviors are occurring in different environments. They can also learn the basics in reading SCCs so that data-informed decisions can be made.
Challenges and Considerations
Being a more complicated form of data collection means that it’s a bit more complicated to implement in the real world. Precision teaching typically requires a bit more experience when it comes to collecting behavior data and requires a lot of consistency. Sometimes, other methods of collection and teaching are sufficient for the learner and precision teaching is not necessary. Finally, learners may take longer to acquire skills when measured by precision teaching since correct responding and rate must increase to a certain level before they can be considered mastered.
FAQs
What is the difference between precision teaching and direct instruction?
Direct instruction is a teaching method that includes structured lessons and teaching of specific skills. Precision teaching focuses on measurement, not specific teaching strategies. Precision teaching uses the collected data to make decisions on adjustments to instruction.
What are the disadvantages of Precision Teaching?
Precision teaching can be incredibly time-consuming and requires consistency to work best. It can also be a process to teach how to implement, especially when teaching someone without ABA experience how to graph using a standard celeration chart.
What is the fluency chart for Precision Teaching?
The standard celeration chart is a special type of graph that is used in precision teaching. It tracks how quickly and accurately a student performs over time and allows for daily collection over multiple weeks.
Can you use Precision Teaching for spelling?
Yes, you can! It can be used to teach academic, social, daily, and nearly all types of skills.
Conclusion
Thankfully for caregivers, BCBAs are experts in choosing the best possible courses of action when it comes to teaching skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. Precision teaching may or may not be used, depending on the individual. If parents believe that precision teaching can be more beneficial, they should certainly discuss their concerns with their child’s behavior analyst to figure out ways that it can be incorporated into their therapy sessions.
