Mastery Learning

Traditional methods of instruction in which all students receive identical instruction regardless of prior learning histories typically benefit a limited number of students. Mastery learning procedures were developed to accommodate the different rates at which students learn. Broadly defined, mastery learning refers to a set of instructional procedures designed so that students can master one set of objectives before continuing on to subsequent objectives. Based on the premise that students can achieve reasonable objectives given sufficient time, appropriate feedback, and quality instruction, mastery learning has had an important impact on how instruction is delivered in schools, expanding the number of students who benefit from instruction.

Mastery learning procedures typically are composed of the following sequence of steps. A specific curriculum or task is subdivided ...