The 9th International Precision TeachingConference: Hightights and Future Directions

CARLBINDER

IntroductionFrom Ocober 3l through November 3,

1990, the 9th International Precision TeachingConference occurred in Boston. Ove r 200 educa-

tors from 30 states and Canada gathered to dis-cnss measurably effective teaching methods and

to plan efforts for inmeasing public awareness ofthese methods. To most educators and policymakers, this was merely one of the hundreds ofconferences devoted to educational iszues through-out the year, one of many calendar listings inEducationWeek. Butforthose in auendance, andperhaps for many more educators in the future,this conference signaled a renewal of efforts togain wideracceptance for teaching methods dem-onstrated to be measurably superior in their ef-fects on students' learning and achievementcompared with the methods tsed in most Ameri-can classrooms (cf. Binder and Watkins, 1989).

The conference celebrated 25 years ofPrecision Teaching, an approach to instructionthat incorporates direct measurement of perforrn-ance as an inherentpartof the learning and teach-ing process. It also provided an opportunity forthose in asendance to participate in a StrategicPlanning Worlahop, aimed at promoting wideradoption of effective teaching methods, and todiscuss issues related to policy and broad dis-

semination often ignored by Precision Teachingpractitioners and researchers whose primary fo-cus tends to be limited to technical and classroomimplementation issues.

This article includes a brief section on the

background of the conference, summarizes a

number of sessions wittr significant implicationsfor those concerned with educational policy, anddescribes future directions and plans for promot-ing ttre use of Precision Teaching and othermeasurably superior teaching methodologies.

BackgroundPrecision Teaching began with the inven-

tion in 1965, by Dr. Ogden Lindsley, of theStandard Celeration Chan, sometimes called theStandard Behavior Chart (Lindsley, 1990). TheStandard Chan is a tool forrecording and makingdecisions about learning and performance. Itsscale "up Ore left" isfrequency ---count per min-uto, per week, per month, of per year. Is scale

"across the bottom" is calendar ttme{ays,weeks, months or years. Thus, the Standard Chartis a tool for graphically monitoring and rnakingdecisions about the rate or frequency of perforrn-ance of any skill or knowledge activity overcalendar time. Simply stated, Precision Teaching

. CARLBINDER, Ph.D. is pesidentof PTMS,Inc., aBoston-area consulting firm. He was Chairman of the 9thInternational Precision Teaching Cqrference srd has been a freguent contributor to Youth Policy Institutejoumals. FormoreinformationonPrecisionTeachingoroneffortstopromotemeasurablyzuperiorinstructionalmethods, please contact him at P.O. Box 159, Nonanrum, MA 02195 (617)332-2656.

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FUTURE CHOICES

is use of the Standard Chan by rcachers andstudents to make educational decisions about

what is working and what is not" on a daily basis.By inventing the Standard Chart and train-

ing teachers and students to use it, Dr. Lindsleyliterally made scientific rnethod available in the

cliassroom. By deciding what to measure (aca-

demic skills, social behaviors, thoughts, feelitrBS,gE.), setting performance goals or'oaims," ctlart-ing, and deciding if and when to make programchanges, teachers and students have been able toidentify tea€hing and learning methods that workbest for individuals, while discovering generalprinciples of curriculum and instruction.

Measurement and revision are built intoPrecision Teaching. Unlike most, apprcaches toeducation which rely on occasional "researchstudies" fo validate effectiveness, hecision Teach-ing involves daily measurement and continuousevaluation and revision of teaching or learningmethods, This is the key tll its success, and to thedevelopment of increasingly powerful instruc-tional methods and strategies. Precision Teach-ers do not merely seek effective instructionalmethods. Rather, they seek the most effectivemethods, tlose that produce the greatest possiblelearning and achievement for each individual.

To establish credibility in academic circlesand among policy makers, Precision Teachershave conducted effectiveness studies (c.f. Binder,1988). The most frequently cited study was theSacajawea School Precision Teaching Project,conducted in Great Falls, Montana, during the1970s. By adding only 20 to 30 minutes per dayof Precision Teaching to the usual curriculum and

teaching methods, elementary school teachers

enabled their students to gain by 20 to 40 percen-tile points on various sub-tests of standarduzenachievement tests, compared with students inschools that had not adopted Precision Teaching.This is the equivalent of moving an entire schoolfrom below the national average in achievementto within the top 20 or 25 percent of all students.These results led to validation by the U.S. Depart-ment of Education and ro dissernination of keci-sion Teaching methods through the National

Diffusion Network, The results of the Great Fallsproject have been replicated and expandedthroughout l{ofih America, with applications tovirtually every student population incl u din g rE g u -

lar and handicapped students of all ages (1Mest,

Young and Spooner, 1990). Among the most

dramatic results in recent years are huge gains inliteracy (nearly two years of academic achieve-ment per month in the program) achieved byadolescents and young adults using Precision

Teaching methods (Johnsotr, 1990).The theme of the 9th International Preci-

si on Teac h in g Conferenc e, "Prom oti n g Meas ura -

bly Superior Instructional Methods," heralded an

imponant agenda. fn the midst of America'sc urrent educ ational cris is, Preci si on Teac h er s an d

other practitioners of measurably superior in-stnrctional methods offer powerful solutions(Watkins, 1988; Binder and Watkins, 1989), Inaddition to providing opportunities for profes-

sional communication and sharing among re-searchers and practitioners, the conference sig-nalled a newly invigorated effort to enter intopublic dialogue about what's wrong with Ameri-can education, and to offer solutions, tested bytime and supported by dramatic resuhs.

The RoIe of the Textbook in AmericanEducation

A keynote presentation by P. KennethKomoski, Executive Director of the E.P.I.E.

@ducational Products Information Exchange)Institute of Water Mill, New York, helped placeeffective instructional methods in the context ofcurrent educational practice. Komoski, who has

for over 30 years been tracking the extent towhich educational materials and programs are

tested with learners foreffectiveness before beingwidely disseminated, discussed the role of thetextbook in curent educational practice. Citingresearch in the 1970s showing that /ess than onepercent of publislwd educational materials areactually tested and vqlidated with learners beforepublication, he described his initial surprise thatthese facts alone have not led to changes ineducational policy.

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THE 9TH INTERNATIONAL PRECISION TEACHING CONFERENCE

Textbooks form the basis of virtually atleducation in American classrooms. Mos[ teach-ers organlr.e their lesson plans around materialtaken from published texts and assume ttrat it istheir responsibility to teach the content of those

lexts. ]vlany teachers view textbooks as the mostauthoritative and powerful teaching resources attheir disposal. In fact, educational publishingtoday is marketdriven, like any ottrer business.Pubtshers decide what content and formats toinclude in their books largely on the basis ofinformation gathered through their sales forces

and from analyses of state and district lists ofcurriculum objectives. Most texts today are cre-ated by groups of editolS, based on requirements

dictated by market research. hrblishers neithertest their texts as learning tools prior to publica-

tion to see how easily and how much studentslearn from them, nor do they revise textbooksbased on measrues of students' learning and per-

formance. This factalone, staggering in its impli-cations, ffiay account for a great de{tl of theineffectiveness in American education.

Komoski's own research, comparing listsof state- and disrict-mandated curriculum objec-tives with t}re contents of published textbooks,shows a range of about 20 to 40 percent corre-spondence between the lists of objectives and

textbook coverage. In otherwords, a teacherneedonly teach between 20 and 40 percent of theaverage textbook in order to address the curricu-lum objectives for which it was adopted by aschool district or state. In practice, of course, such

selective coverage of texts might require consid-erable planning. But teachers, who often feelobligated to cover entire textbooks within a schoolterrn or year, mightberelieved of timepressurebysuch an approach. Komoski points out that withsuch selective use of textbooks, educators mightgain a considerable amount of time for implemen-tation of measurably effective instnrctional ac-tivities and programs. This srategy assumes thatteachers uue trained !o use measurably effectiveteaching rnethods. Although this assumptionmay not generally be true, the argument thatselective use of textbooks can free time for more

effective instruction is nonetheless compelling,and offers a point of enury in the discussion forproponents of measurably effective teachingmethods.

A final ttreme in Komoski's presentation

concerned the impact of electronic publishing on

the textbook indusuy. Citing several major pub-

lishers who have begun to experiment with cus-tomized texts, he stated that they can now produce

and sell customiznd texts in lots as small as 20 ar

a profit. Thus, individual and small groups ofteachers and adminisranrs might be able to re-quest that specific content and exercises be in-cluded in small numbers of books in order !oevaluate their effects on sBdents' Iearning and

performance. Although this capaciry for cus-

tomization could well be used to introduce rendyor uni mportant loc al variations, Komo ski po in ted

out that it might also provide a means of support-

ing testing, revision and learner validation oftextbooks and ancillary materials at a more fine-grained or local level.

Measurably Effective Instruction in UtahA second keynote presentation focused on

fie policy of supporting demonstrably effectiveeducational methods and materials in a singlestate. Bruce Griffin, Associate Superintendent,and Stevan Kukic, Director of Special Educationfor the Utah S tate Office of Education, j oin tl y de-livered an address entitled "Support from theTop: Measurably Cost-Effective Instruction in

the State of tJtatt."Because of its large families and compara-

tiv ely s mall w age- earn irg popu latio n, U tah spen ds

less per student on education than any other state.However, perforrnance on standardized tests and

o0rer indicators of students' achievement place

Utah considerably higher in the nation than onemight expect from ttre amount of money it spends.The secret, according to Griffin and Kukic, is ttrat"LJtah cannot afford educational fads."

Describing a history of state educationalpolicy that supports adoption of measurably ef-fective instmctional methods and materials, thespeakers traced the growth of Precision Teaching

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FUTURE CHOICES

in Utah from being an isolated mettrod or tech-nique used in classrooms for a small portion of theday to a vision of the funre in which this measure-ment-based approach will be part of a fully inte-grated educational system. Because PrecisionTeaching provides teachers and sudents withdirert, daily measures of learning and perform-ance, they can make frequent and timely deci-sions to adjust instnrctional methods and materi-

so he titeratly p,trt scientific tools in the hands ofstudents and their teachers while at ttre same timecreating a precisely empirical version of "stu-dent-centered learning." In the years since itsinception, teachers and shrdents have made doz-ens of importan t discoverie s, man y c oun ter - in tu i -

tive, about how students learn best (Lindsley,1990). While it is beyond the scope of this articleto report the details of Dr. Lindsley's presenta-

als foreach studentbefore much time is wasted onineffective learning programs. By husbandingsupport for this approach in districts and through-out ttre state, working with university pre-serviceand state - supported inservice trainin g resources,educators in Unh have begun to see ttre benefitsof promoting measurably superior instructionalmethods. Kukic and Griffin (who are curentlypreparing a full report of their efforts for theYouth Policy Institute) presented an inspirationalexample of educational leadership based on solidtechnical and frccal considerations. Their experi-ence demonstrates that theproblems in Americaneducation are not inractable for either technicalor economic reasons. By carefully supportingtraining and dissemination of teaching methodsand materials that have been systematicallydem ons tnated to produ ce m easured im prove m en ts

in studentsn performance, even a relatively poorstate can substantially improve the cost-effec-tiveness of its educational system.

25 Years of DisdoveryDr. Ogden Lindsley, founder of Precision

Teaching, provided a finale CI the keynote eventby reviewing "Key Charts That Taughr Us TheMost Over 25 Years." Lindsley kgan PrecisionTeaching by instmcting teachers to conduct dailydirect measures of students' performance and touse the Standard Chan for making decisions onthe principle ttrat "the child knows best-" In doing

tion, several key issues stand out for those con-cerned with educationatr policy.

First, ttrere is no subsdnrte in the educa-tional process for direct frequent measures ofstudents' perfornance. Occasional tests and per-formance samples may reveal, on the average,whether an educational program is succeeding orrailing overall. But the vast range of individualdifferen@s, even among so-called'nnormal" s&l-dents, dictates that slight variations in proceduresand materials can make huge differences in indi-vidual learning rates. And wi0rout frequent, pref-erably daily measures of each student's perforrn-ance on the specific tasks that form their day-to-day curriculum, neither students nor their teach-ers will be able to determine what works best forthem. There is simply too much time lost onineffective methods and materials in the typicalAmerican classroom, a problem easily remediedby direct daily measurement and decision-mak-ing.

Second, without the student's direct par-ticiparion in the measurement and decision-mak-ing process, snrdents will not learn nearly sorapidly as they are able. When Precision Teach-ers shifted from measuring and ctrarting students'performance to teaching their students how !orneasure and ctrart their own performance, and tornake decisions about their own progress and in-structional programs, learning rates doubled, onthe average (Lindsley, 1990). Using resrs man-

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THE gTH INTERNATIONAL PRECISION TEACHING CONFERENCE

dared "from above" as a means of motivatingteachers cannot duplicate the effects of the stu-

dent-centered process of self-measurement and

self-management, in which teachers work withstudents tro jointly make decisions about individ-ual learning programs rather than acting as au-

thoritarian decision-makers. Y/hile rnany educa-

tors understand the importance of including shl-dents in decisions about their own learning, feweducational methods provide systematic, objec-tive tools for implementing this principle. Preci-sion Teaching is just such a method.

Third, Ore true definition of mastery is

flu,encyaccuracy plus speed of performance(Binder, 1988). During the early history of Pre-

cision Teaching it became obvious that the usual

definition of mastery, based on accuracy meas-

ures only, was incapable of reflecting differencesbetween beginning and expert levels of perforlrl-ance. Eric Haughton (1972), one of Lindsley'searli e st protege s an d c o llaborators, demon stratedthat students capable of performing basic arith-metic operations were not able to move smoothlythrough the California elementary math curricu-lum unle,.ss their performance was equal to orbetter than writing 50 basic arithmetic problemscorrect per minute. Since that early discovory,Precision Teachers have learned that fluency (orwhat cognitive psyc hologists call "au tomati ci ty ")is a critical ingredient of masbry, and that deci-sions to move from one step to another in a

hierarchical ctrrriculum should be based on timedmeasures of performance. By using brief timedsamples of perfiorrnance on skill and knowledgetasks, Precision Teachers have been able to suc-

cessfully identify students in need of additionalhelp with a high degree of accuracy and cost-effectiveness, and to help students move throughcurriculum steadily and confidently at each step

along the way.Fourttr, it is possible for students to achieve

dramatically Sfeater learning and achievement,than they now demonsmr in typical classrooms.While many educational research studies report

. "significant differences" at a statistical level,Precision Teaching has demonsmted huge prac-

tical improvements in students'rates of learning.

In classnmms wherc teachers are released fromtIrc constraints of "curriculum allocatior," shJ-

dents can leap ahead by multiple grade-levels inthe standard curriculum (West, Young and

Spooner, 1990). Lindsley and his colleagues

have come to expect that all students can doubletheir performance on a given skill each week, and

with carefully monitored and adjusted teachingmethods, shrdents can master skills and knowl-edgeatincrediblerates. One of the more dramaticexilmples of ttris phenomenon discussed at theconference comes from the Morningside Acad-emy in Seattle. In programs for adult illiteratesand dropouts, the Morningside program routinelyproduces gains of nearly two years of academicachievement p€r month in class.

Among the most disturbing developments

in the histo,ry of Precision Teaching have been the

many occasions on which teachers have been

punishe( rather than rewarded, for enabling firstgraders to read at a third-grade level, helping thirdgraders to master sixth grade math, or allowingstudents to develop writing skills far beyond theirgrade levels. Precision Teaching, by basing edu-

cational decisions on direct measures of students'performance, explicitly rewards both snrdents

and teachers for learning. Evidence from withinthe ranks of Precision Teachers, as well as amongthe broader population of effective teachers,suggests that the educational bureaucracy oftensquashes methods and individuals able to pro-duce rates of learning that are markedly greater

than average (Watkins, 1988). In order forAmerican education to take advantage of meas-

urably superior teaching methods, we will need

policies that explicitly reward students, teachers

and agencies for improved learning and perform-ance. Precision Teaching, by providing tools fordirect measurement of learning and performance

offers a model for implementing such a policy.

The Terry Harris StoryWhen Terry Harris was born with severe

cerebral palsy in Belleville, Ontario, doctors andpsychologists counseled his mother, Janice, "notto expect too much." The best professional judg-ments of the day predicted that he might talk with

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a severe impediment, if gmd luck prevailed.They said that Terry would certainly never walkand probably would never write or have anythinglike a norrnal life. Today, more than 18 years

later, Terry Flarris is ready for college, enjoysdownhill skiing, recently passed his driver's test,

and receives many public speaking requests.Terry, his mother, 8r1d Elizabeth Haughtott, a

teacher who contributed to this near-miracle,

were no longer discouraged," said Janice Harris,Terry's mother. "Terry wasn'tbeing compared rohis classmates. For the very first time we weroable to measure his progress. Any time there isprogress, no matter how small, there is hope. Andhope is optimism."

The Terry Harris story is really a riumphof science plus the heart. Without the persistent

and loving effortof his family and teachers, Terry

presented an overview of their experience withPrecision Teaching, a story which conferenceorganizers hope will eventually form thebasis fora documentary film.

The presentation chronicled how a persis-

tent and loving family combined with dedicatedteachers and a research-based teaching metltod-ology to virhrally $ave a young boy's life. Dr.Eric Haughton was one af the co-founders ofPrecision Teaching and his wife, Elizabeth, is amaster teacher and practitioner of the approach.From kindergarten on, the I,Iaughtons, Terry andhis family used Precision Teaching methods towork step by step toward specific leaming goals,from gross and fine motor skills, to speech andcommunication, through social and academicskills. Sharing anecdotes from each of theirunique perspectives, photographs of his earlyyears, and Precision Teaching measures of hislearning and achievemenL Terry, his mother andhis teacher presented a 90-minute overview oftheir remarkable story.

when the Haughtons first encounteredTerry, he had been segregated from his kinder-garten classmates and assigned "special" tasksthat reflected his teachers' low expectalions.Using the measurement and curriculum planningmethods of Precision Teaching, the Haughtonshelped Terry and his family !o set challengrnglearning goals, monitor progress, and designeffective teaching and practice programs. "'We

would not be where he is today. But it's also truethat without the methods of kecision Teaching,they would have lacked the tmls for monitoringand achieving the step-by-step progress requiredfor success. Precision Teaching creates a class-

room environment where measrued learning is

the focus, and where teachers and students chartdaily timed samples of performance tl: make

decisions about what educational steps tio takenext. As Elizabeth Haughton reminded those in

anendance, "When we stress how students' learn-ing patterns are alike, their differences becomeinconsequential. This establishes a learningarnosphere where acceptance, cooperation and

high self-esteem are the norm."Terry Flarris is an accomplished speaker, a

remarkable young man whose understanding and

control of his own life and goals are quite impres-sive. Dr. Eric Haughton, a major contributor toPrecision Teaching, died in 1986. The confer-ence presentation was, to some extenl a tribure !o

his enduring contribution to the science of learn-ing and the art of teaching. It was also intended to

accentuate the theme of the Boston conference,"Promoting Measurably Superior InstructionalMethods." If Tery Harris could achieve what he

has done using these methods, then it should bepossible to help every child excel in all areas of,

school and life by adjusting teaching methodsbased on measures of students' performance.Beside providing an inspirational high point lor

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THE 9TH INTERNATIONAL PRECISION TEACHING CONFERENCE

the conference, the Terr), Flarris s[ory illustrates,both in its remarkable demonstration of successes

and in the resistance within theeducational estab-

lishment thatTerry, hisparents and the [Iaughtonswere required to overcome, that it is possible toproduce far greater learning and achievement

than what occurs in typical classrooms, given an

approach based on frequent direct measures ofindividual learning and performance.

Strategic Planning and Future DirectionsDuring a pre-conference Srategic Plan-

ning Workshop, and throughout ttre remainder ofthe conference, participants focused on how theymight work to have greater impact on Americaneducation (Binder and Watkins, 1989). Althoughmuch of the best work in Precision Teachingcurently occurs in private schools and tutoringagencies established over the last decade by pre-

viously frustrated public school educators, par-

ticipants recognized that any large-scale impactwill need to occur in the public sector.

The State of Utah provides one case studyof what can be done in a public school systemwhen educational policy emphasizes support form eas urabl y effec ti ve in s rr."r c tio nal m ethods . S o m e

of the participants, bridging the gap benveenpublic schools and co{porate interests, are work-ing to attract support from business leaders in-creasingly concerned about the condition andproducts of Amerimn education (Binder, 1990;Binder and Watkins, 1990). Others are workingwithin their school systems and universities topromote effective teaching methods. Two keydevelopments at the conference promise to ad-vance this general effort the regeneration of theJournal of Precision Teaching and founding ofthe Association for Precision Teaching.

The J ournal af Pre cision Te aching, apub-lication founded for reporting scholarly and prac-tical work in the field, had not been published forseveral years for a variety of fiscal and logisticalreasons. At this conference, however, thejournalresurfaced in the form of a special 25th Anniver-sary issue produced under the direction of its newChief Editor, Dr. Claudia McDade of the Center

for Individualized In stnrction, Jackson vi 1l e S tate

University (Atabama). In conjunct"ion wittr ef-forts by a number of Precision Teaching leaders

to produce articles for other journals and more

popular non-academic publications, this devel-opment signals a renewed commiunent to com-municate both the results and the methods ofPrecision Teaching to a larger audience.

In a parallel vein, the conference hostedthe founding meeting of the Association for Pre-

cision Teaching (API), the first international or-ganizati on created am on g kec isi on Teac hers w i th

a mission more extensive than the annual confer-ence. By establishing the APT, those in anen-dance acknowledged ttre need for a "platforrn,"an organization whose mission will be to suppondevelopment and dissemination of PrecisionTeaching through a variety of channels, includingthe journal, the annual conference, and efforts to

stimulate and inform public discussion and de-

bate. The founders set a goal of formal incorpo-ration and a charter membership offering by earlyin 1991.

In addition to thepresentations cited in this

article, more than 50 sessions discussed me*rods

and reviewed results of educational programs

spanning a range from very young and handi-

capped learners, through primary, secondar), and

highereducation, to adult illiterates and corporatetrainees. The conference also included presenm-

tions representing other measurably effectiveteaching methodologies, most notably DirectInstnrction, based on the model developed at theUniversity of Oregon, (Wa&ins, 1988). Overall,these sessions illusfarcd that systematic instruc-tional methods based on frequent direct measures

of students' performance are capable of produc-

ing dramatic improvements in learning. Theyalso demonstrated the generaliry and power ofPrecision Teaching methods across the broadestpossible range of educational populations and

settings, providing added credibility for thoseplanning to enter more fully into the nationaldebate about educational effectiveness.

The challenge is !o help policy-makers and

the general public become aware of these meth-

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FUTURE CHOICES

ods and their sometimes startling results, and toprovide sufficient information to decision-mak-ers so that they can make knowledgeable choicesleading to greater cost-effectiveness in Americaneducation. This effort will continue, through thejournal and the newly formed Association forPrecision Teaching, as well as in preparation for

the next two international conferences to be heldin Utatr (early L992) and in San Diego (1993).

Those interested in learning more about PrecisionTeaching or effora to promote meastrrably supe-

rior instructional methods should contact theauthor of this article.

AxswBRs ro QunsrroNs ABour PnBcrsIoN TBacrrrNG

Donald A. Cook and Carl Binder

Dr. Donald Cook, Senior Associate of the

Youth Policy Institute, posed several qucstions toDr. Binder, autlwr of thc preceding report on the9th International Precision Teachtng Confer-ence. These qucstions, and Binfur'I anstvers totlum, provide an informative supplement to thearticle.

Cook: If PrectsionTeaching (PT) is pimaily ametlw&the use of the Standard Clwrt-formccsuring ongotng results, does it also take astand on what metlwds are shown or have been

shown to work wlun using the clnrt?

Binder: In p,nnciple, Prrecision Teaching is simplyuse of the Standard Chan for daily measurementand frequent instnrctional decision-making-independent of teaching methods or materials.However, in 25 years ofpractice, Precision Teach-ers have discovered and developed approaches tothe design of instnrctional materials and proce-dures that are used, in various forms, h manyPrecision Teaching classrooms. Perhaps the bestsummary of some of the key discoveries andprinciples appears in Lindsley (1990).

For example, we know that students shouldbe allowed to perform at their own pace, with un-limited opportunities to respond. We know thatallowing and even encouraging students to re-spond rapidly, making lots of errors in the begin-ning, generally produces more rapid learningthan when erTors are prevented or suppressed.

'We've learned that attaining fluency in a givenskill or knowledge task depends in part on havingauained fluency in key prerequisite or componentski[ or knowledge elements, not just having at-tained accuracy. Attaining fluency in "multiplechannels"-different sensory inputs and differ-ent response modalities-tends to strengthen an

overall ski[ or knowledge cluster, partly becawedifferent shrdents may learn or perform differ-ently in the various input and oulput channels.One of the weaknesses of Precision Teaching isthatnotvery much hasbeenpublishe4 and no onehas systematically gathered ogether a compen-dium of effective Precision Teaching methods ofirutnrction and design. However, as researchers

and practitioners hrrn more toward broad dis-seminations of these methods, wo might expectan increase in publication of how-to articles andinstructional packages.

Cook: Wlwt are the requiremcntsfor using PT?For emmple, can a teacher simply adopt PTwhile continuing to teach in the usual rnanner?Or does rae of PT require additionalwork suchasthe recording ttself which would change tlrc rou-tine opproach to teaching?

Binder: ldany teachen begin using PrecisionTeaching by devoting a ponion of the class day,perhaps 30 minutes, to timed practice and chart-ing on a few key skills or knowledge sets. As inthe Great Falls Precision Teaching Project, even

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THE 9TH INTERNATIONAL PRECISION TEACHINO CONFERENC E

this type of approach can produce large improve-ments in achievement. Other, more advancedpractitioners, especially ttrose who teach theirstudents to time and chart theirown performance,integra te practice and m easurement activities in odifferent portions of ttre schml progftLm, includ-ing whole -c lass, s mall group and brief one-to-onesessions. fn addition, some teachers mix dailymeasurement and practice in some key areas withweekly and even monthly measurement on otherless critical or more long-term learning outcomes,ap,plying Precision Teaching at various levels andto various degrees across the curriculum. Thebasic elements of Precision Teaching - identify-ing countable units of perforrnance, timing per-formance, charting and making decisions - areadaptable to a wide range of teaching styles andprogram designs.

Cook: If Pf records separately tlu belravior ofeach individwl in a class, how does it apply to anentire class as a whole? If its appltcation re-quires the separate recording of significant be-haviorfrom each pupil,whct is the tmpact of this

fact upon the usual class procedures, upon there commendcd size of classes, etc.? What clwngestake place tn the teacher' s role or in the teaclwr' sneed for and use of stff support?

Binder: In regular classrooffis, Precision Teach-ing is a practical method for inroducing genu-inely criterion-referenced individualized learn-ing for each student while maintaining an overallclassroom and curriculum management scheme.Generally, teachers obtain or create practice andmeasurement materials for key slices and steps inthe curriculum, identify "aims" or fluency stan-dards for each, and schedule time each day duringwhich students measure their perfornance andpractice bward mastery on the particular slices orsteps at which they are crurently working. In thiscontext, t}te teacher becomes a learning advisor,a curriculum counselor, and a manager of theoverall process, in addition to being an instnrctorper se. Some teachers conduct grcup timings in

which all surdents work on the sarne practice andmeasurement activities, while others simply ar-range a period ofrepeated timed intervals (e.9. , 30minutes with a repeating l-minute beeping inter-val timer) and manage the overall class situationas students measure and chart their own perform-ance on different prirctice sheets or activities.Some teachers arrange for group activities, per-haps supervised by an aide orolder student, whilethey conduct brief measurement and feedbacksessions with individual surdents, one at a time, ata side table or desk. As in any classoom, aides orstudent helpers can provide teachers with invalu-able assistance. And in the best Precision Teach-ing classrooms, students assume significant re-qponsibility (and enthusiasm) for managrng theirown and their classmates' activities during vari-ous portions of the day. In general, the objectiveperformance aims and "competition with self''inherent in Precision Teaching seem to providestrong motivators for individuals and entire classesto become more involved in and motivated bytheir own learning and to become more effectiveself-managers.

Cook: What is the relationship between PT andthe use of computers?

Binder: To the extent that, computer-aided in-stnrction does not include time-based measure-ment, of perfornance, non-computer:n?A Preci-sion Teaching methods can be used as a measure-ment and practice strategy to accompany ir (as

with non-computerized methods that do not in-clude timed measurement). However, an increas-ing number of Precision Teaching researchersand practitioners have developed or adaptedcomputer prograrns explicitly aimed at measur-ing and promoting fluency. These include pro-grarns for IBM, I\dacintosh and Apple II compur-ers. On the Apple II, Mighty Math, developed atthe Quinte I-earning Cenre in Belleville, Ontario,provides time-based practice and measurementactivities in basic math skills. Mac Test, a fluencymeasurement program developed at the Center

. DonaldA. Coolq Ph.D., is aSeniorAssociateof the Youth Policylrutitute and Directorof Instrucrional Design,JHM Corporuion. For more informarion, write him at 36 Bunoughs St-, Jamaica Plai& MA 02138.

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FUTURE CHOICES

for lndividu a I i -ed Instruction at J acksonville S tateUniversity, has been used with college and highschool students in a broad variety of subjectmatter areas. At the same location, developershave used the commercially available lvlacintoshauthoring systoffi, Course Builderw, b developfl ue ncy -based in structional program s for col le ge

students. At the Experimental Education Unit ofthe University of Washington, Tim Slocum, a

teacher? Does the answer to this question dependon the age or other attributes of the learners?

Binder: Origrnally, most Precision Teachersused the charts for their own decision-makingwithout negessarily sharing them with students.When Precision Teachers began showing chartsto students and involving them in the process ofdecision-making, average learning improved. In

'trht,t:',,:|he,,,i ',r,ffiea,ffil;Pxieiritbn,,,WaEffig,',,,';'El,asiri,bhffi:l:itffi|ls,,,,;"ma;,tntain

graduate student, has developed a prograrn inwhich students select correct answers by using a

mouse, often using graphical material (e.g., maps,identifying paru of diaguuns, etc.) to attain flu-ency in a variety of identification and discrimina-tion tasks. Others have develof.d programs nowbeing used to investigate complex forms of frans-fer of training in computer-based training, withti m e- based prac tice and m eas urem en t procedures .

On the IBM-PC and compatibles, a range ofprograms exist that were explicitly designed tocreate fluent performance. Two of them are thecommercially available Exemplarru authoringsystem from BehaviorTech, Inc. in lrving, Texas,and Think Fast,ru a program developed by Jo-seph Parsons at the Universiry of Victoria inBritish Columbia. In general, the potential of thecomputer for measuring and promoting fluentskills and knowledge is just beginning ro beexploited by Precision Teachers.

In addition to computer-based training,u ni v ersi ry - based an d c omm erc ial developers havecreated a number of computer programs for col-lecting and managing Precision Teaching data,producing computerized charts, designing andprinting paper practice sheets, and helping teach-ers to make fluency-based instructional deci-sions.

Cook: Is it a key part of the PT method that thestudent see the fttcasured results cs they arecharted, or fs this process primarily for the

those cliassrooms where students maintain theirown charts and make their own decisions with thehelp of the Eacher, average learning rates are

even greater (I-indsley, 1990). Consequently,whenever possible Precision Teachers involvestudents in the ctrarting and decision-makingprocess, even very young children. One of themost famous charters, Stephanie Bates (who alsotaught others to chart), about whom at least onearticle was wrinen @ates and Bates, 1971), was

only five years old. When teachers are unable toengage students in the charting process (e.g., wi0rmultiply handicapped students), they make everyeffort at least to provide feedback to srudenrsabout perfrormance improvements from day tro

day by marking practice sheets to indicate goals,providing tokens or other rewards for performingbetter than before, creating "beatthe clock" games

in which snrdents can easily see progress fromday to day, etc. In the most effective kecisionTeaching classrooms, students maintain their ownchars and manage their own learning, with theteacher functioning as an advisor.

Cook: What proryrtion af the current effort in PTis devoted to problems of special education?What are the challenges faced in extendtng themethods of PT more fully into the matnstream ofAmerican education?

Binder: Although thousands of regular educarorshave been trained in Precision Teaching msthods,

48

THE 9TH INTER}IATIONAL PRECISION TEACHINC CONFERENCE

strongest support for such a "q)@ial" methodtends to exist within special education progurms.I n gen eral, rcgul ar educuion adminis trations (withnotable exceptions such as those in Great Falls,Montana and in the state of Utah) have not pro-moted methods that differ so significantly frommainstream educational practices as does PT.(Other examples of measurably superior teachingmettrodologies and programs that have been ig-nored or resisted by regular educators include theDirect Instnrction programs from the Universiryof Oregon, the Personalized System of lnstruc-tion or "Keller Plan," and mathematics programspublished by John Saron.) On the other hand,special education teachers tend to be left alone !odo whatever they choose, and educators seem tofind atypical methods easier to lolerate in specialclassrooms.

The challenges faced in efforts to promotePrecision Teaching more widely are multiple,and seemingly overwhelming. They include:perceptions that these methods are "behavioris-tic" and therefore contrary to the current cogni-tive-developmental vogue in education; a general

resistance among educational practitioners toobjective, quantitative measurernent of and ac-countability for students' learning and perform-ance; perceptions that such methods are only

appropriate for special needs students; the viewthat "drill and practice" produces "rote learning"which is seen as somehow unnecessary for "higherorder" skills and that "rote" (or basic) skills havebecome less important in the "Information Age"as comparcd with the "Industrial Age"; very reallimitations on the number of qualified PrecisionTeaching trainers among college of educationprofessors; the comparative lack of academicpublications about Precision Teaching and aconsequen t credibil iry gap arn on g ttr ose w h o j u dg e

an educational ap,proach by the number of chap-ters and articles written about it; the fact thatPrecision Teachers themselves are mostly practi-tioners, nol marketeers, academics or othersrnotivated by self-promotion, publication or ef-forts beyond their own classrooms. These and

otherperceptions and factspose real challenges tothe spread of Precision Teaching and other meas-

urably effective instructional methods. How-ever, more and more of those who practice these

methods are becoming vocal in their effons toctarify misconceptions, communicate objectivefacts, and generally make the broader publicaware that such practical and effective teachingmethodologies offer real solutions to America'scurent educational crisis.

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FUTURE CHOICES

References

1. Bates, S. and Bates, D. F. (1971), "...And a Child Shall Lead Them: Stephanie's Chart Sory."TEACHING Exceptiotal Children, 3, 1 I l- 1 13.

2. Binder, C. (1988), "Precision Teaching: Measuring and Attaining Exemplary AcademicAchievemeng" Youth P olicy, 10(7), 12-15.

3. Binder, C. (1990), "Efforts !o Promote Measurably Superior hsructional Methods in Schools."P erfonnance and Instrrction, 29(9), 32-y.

4. Binder, C., and Watkins, C. L. (1989), "hornoting Effective Instructional Methods: Solutions toAmerica's Educational Crisis," F utur e C ho ic e s, 1 (3), 33 -39.

5. Binder, C. and Watkins, C. L. (1990), "Precision Teaching and Dkect lnstruction: MeasurablySuperiortnstructionalTechnology in Schools," Pe4[ormance Improvement Quarterly,3(4),2-14.

6.lIaughton,E.C.(1972),"Aims: GrowingandSharing," InJ.B.Jordan&L.S.Robbins(Eds.),Lel'sTry Doing Sonuthing Else Kind ofThing, Arlington, VA: The Council on Exceptional Children,20-39.

7. Johnson, K. R., Literacy Training: ".ITPA Adults and Youth at Risk," Presentation at the 9th Inter-national Precision Teaching Conference, Boston, November 1, 1990. (Handous showing meas-

ures ofresults available on request)8. Lindsley, O. R. (1990), "Precision Teaching: By Teachers for Children," Teaching Exceptional

C hil dr e n, 22(3), l0 -l 5.9. Watkins, C. L. (1988), "Piojr:ct Follow Through: A sory of the identification and neglect of effec-

tive insfuctiot," Yottth Policy,10(7), 7-I1.10. West, R. P., Young, R. and Spooner, F. (1990), "Precision Teaching: An Introduction," Teaching

Exc e p tio nal C hildr e n, 22(3), 4 -9.

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