Precision Teaching

History

Lindsley began by developing a graph, which he initially called the standard behavior chart. His vision was that teachers could be scientists, plotting each student's performance data on the chart, watching the trends in each student's performance as they learned, and prescribing interventions to improve their growth. By always using the same chart, teachers could also communicate the results of their efforts with each other in a standard way instead of inventing new graphs for each communication. After a few years, Lindsley developed an orderly system for using the chart, which he called precision teaching.

Precision Teaching Method

The method prescribes five steps. First, teachers define a learning objective, which he called a pinpoint because it precisely pinpoints a skill, fact, concept, or principle to learn. Second, they arrange materials and procedures for learning and practicing the pinpoint. Precision teachers who are teaching a group of students usually provide instruction on a skill and then give students worksheets, flashcards, or some other arrangement to practice that skill. Precision teachers who are tutoring individual students often begin immediately with timed practice, guiding the student's performance with “tips and quips” and cheerleading. Third, teachers and students time the student's performance and count its frequency. The timing may be as short as 10 seconds or as long as 15 minutes or more. Students increase their frequencies by repeatedly practicing a skill in a series of short timings, often 1 minute in length, over successive days. Students in classroom settings often work in pairs, with one student monitoring the other's performance and giving feedback as they take turns practicing. A fluency aim is set for each skill, specifying the [Page 810]frequency of tasks that should be completed in the timing period. Fourth, students and teachers chart the student's performance on the standard celeration chart. They then compare their frequency to the fluency aim and keep practicing until they reach it. Depending on the skill, they could reach fluency in 1 day, several days, weeks, or even months. Fifth, students and teachers review trends of performance on the chart and make decisions about possible interventions to improve performance. Some precision teachers set minimum celeration aims to help ensure that students achieve fluency aims in a timely manner. Peers coach and cheerlead each other to do better on each successive timing. Lindsley developed a motto for the method: “Pinpoint, record and chart, change, try try again.”

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