7/29/2019 Central Opdef

1/5

Sample operational definitions

Operational Definitions for Early Childhood

1. Answering Wh questions means that Jane will verbally answer

who, what, where, what-doing (verbs/actions) questions.

2. Following basic concept directions means, when requested, Missywill physically respond within 5 seconds. Examples of requests

could include quantity (more/less), time (night/day), position(under/over).

3. Increasing vocabulary means that Sarah will show/label items,actions or pictures.

4. Pre-reading means that Jack will turn pages, orient the bookcorrectly, point to pictures on request, labels pictures, retell a

pattern story, and tells a story looking at pictures of a book.

5. Pre-math means that Tom will rote count, one to one count, giveobjects, sort/match objects, color identification, and shape

identification.

6. Play means that Emily will engage in pretend and symbolic play

(Example: feeding a doll with a spoon, using a block as aphone.)

7. Social emotional means that Pablo will initiate interaction

through communication with peers, ask a peer to play, share or

exchange materials during play, take turns with others, andverbally expressing feelings.

8. Following directions means that when Stephanie requested will

physically respond within 5 seconds to a one or two step

direction (example: pick up the block, come to the circle and sitdown).

7/29/2019 Central Opdef

2/5

Operational Definitions for Written Language

1. Writing Mechanics : Writing mechanics means that Jenniferstarts sentences with a capital letter and capitalizes proper

nouns as well as uses correct ending punctuation. Writingmechanics also means that Jennifer uses correct spelling.

2. Written Expression : Written expression means that Sidney uses

correct subject-verb agreement and appropriately uses a variety

of sentence structures (appropriate for grade- such as simple,compound, complex)

3. Organized Writing : Writing an organized product means that

Paul composes a product that contains a main idea, supporting

details, and concluding sentences.

4. Writing an organized story means that Mike writes a product inwhich the event follow a sequential order and contain a

beginning, middle, and end.

5. Spacing : Writing with correct spacing means that Karri uses

spaces the size of a popsicle stick or a finger between eachword.

6. Handwriting : Writing with legibility means that Nicky uses

correct letter formation, line placement, and spacing betweenwords.

Operational Definitions for Behavior

(Social Emotional Learning)

1. Mumbles means that _________ makes inaudible statements.

2. Poor self concept means that __________ makes self-depreciating remarks like Im dumb/stupid.

3. Aggressive means that _______ hits/kicks/throws objects atpeers.

4. Off task means that _________ walks around the room when

the teacher is instructing.

7/29/2019 Central Opdef

3/5

5. Noncompliant means that __________ says I dont have towhen given a direction.

6. Impulsive means that __________ calls out without raising

his/her hand.

7. Poor assignment completion means that __________ does not

complete/turn in assignments by due date.

8. Tardy means that ________ is not in his/her seat/classroom

when the bell rings.

Operational Definitions for Reading

Reading Fluency:

1. Reading fluency means that ________ will orally read at a rate

of ____ cwpm on a ____ grade level passage.

Reading Comprehension:

2. Reading comprehension means that ___________ understands

what he/she is reading as evidenced by ____ correct responseson ___ grade level maze comprehension probes.

3. Reading comprehension means that ___________ understandswhat he/she is reading as evidenced by ____ out of ___ correct

responses on questions about the text.

Phonemic Awareness:

4. Phonemic awareness means that ___________ verballyproduces ____ phonemes in one minute when orally presented

with words of 2 to 3 phonemic segments. (phonemic

segmentation fluency).

Phonics:

5. Phonics fluency means that ___________ identifies and verbally

produces ____ correct phonetic sounds when presented with

7/29/2019 Central Opdef

4/5

randomly organized upper/lower case alphabet letters. (letter-sound fluency)

6. Phonics fluency means that ___________ identifies and verbally

produces ____ correct phonetic sounds when presented with

cvc-structured nonsense words. (nonsense word fluency)

Vocabulary:

7. Vocabulary

Decoding:

8. Decoding words means that __________ accurately reads____

words in one minute. (ORF).

Math:

Number sense means that _____________ has the ability to:

Think flexibly about numbers

Grasp and compare quantities

Break numbers apart and put them together in a variety of ways

Problem solving means that ________________ can understand and

successfully solve a problem when the solution is not immediately

clear. (The problem can be solved in more than one way).

Computation means that ______________ is able to add, subtract,multiply, or divide using numbers to obtain a final correct answer.

Basic fact fluency means that ____________ is accurate, efficient, and

flexible in single digit number computation.

Operational Definitions for OT- related skills

Writing Legibly:

1. Writing legibly means that _______ writes letters withinwords that are recognizable in isolation and that the words

are recognizable in isolation (outside their contextualmeaning).

Eating independently:

7/29/2019 Central Opdef

5/5

2. Eating independently means that _______ is staying in

designated seat, interacting with peers without need forteacher intervention, finger feeding snack foods, and drinking

from personal adapted cup without tipping over.

Operational Definitions for PT related skills

Independently walking means ________ can move from one location

to another as part of a meaningful activity with or without a assistive

device

Transfer means ____________ can move from one position to

another as part of a meaningful activity

Operational Definitions for Math

Number sense means that _____________ has the ability to:

Think flexibly about numbers

Grasp and compare quantities

Break numbers apart and put them together in a variety of ways

Problem solving means that ________________ can understand andsuccessfully solve a problem when the solution is not immediately

clear. (The problem can be solved in more than one way).

Computation means that ______________ is able to add, subtract,

multiply, or divide using numbers to obtain a final correct answer.

Basic fact fluency means that ____________ is accurate, efficient, and

flexible in single digit number computation.