Syllabus

Session #1 — 7 Jan 2009 Introduction to the Class	Session #2 — 14 Jan 2009 Measurement, Assessment, & Evaluation	Session #3 — 21 Jan 2009 Movement Cycles & Critical Functions	Session #4 — 28 Jan 2009 Counts, Frequencies, and Fluency	Session #5 — 4 Feb 2009 Performance Aims, Objectives Goals
Session #6 — 11 Feb 2009 Charting the Course of Progress	Session #7 — 18 Feb 2009 Deciding When to Change	Session #8 — 25 Feb 2009 Deciding What to Change (Acquisition & Fluency-Building)	Session #9 — 4 Mar 2009 Deciding What to Change (Application)	Session #10 — 11 Mar 2009 Final Discussions, Repeated Timings for Final Probes, and Project Presentations (Last Class)

General Notes:

l Click on any underlined text in blue to jump to the material described.

l I prefer assignments be submitted via email (owhite@u.washington.edu, or click on the “Contact Owen” button at the top-right of any class web site page). That ensures that you will retain a copy and that I can review and return the material more quickly. However, material can also be submitted to the “hand-in” folder during any class session.

Session #1 7 Jan 2009	Introduction to the Class At the beginning of this first session there will be a brief presentation by Meg Gardner from the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPRIG) concerning their work on several issues, including funding for higher education.
	l Educational Myths l Essential Information l Course Overview	l Class Web Site l How to download; forms l Hand-Back Policy	l Say-Fact practice l Overview of next week’s assignment
Session #2 14 Jan 2009	Measurement, Assessment, & Evaluation Assignments 1. Read: White, O. R. (1986) Precision Teaching -- Precision Learning. Exceptional Children, Vol. 52, No. 6, pp. 522-534 [1.1mb]. 2. Read: Lindsley, O. R. (1992). Precision teaching: Discoveries and effects. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25, 51-57 [260k]. 3. Suggested additional reading: Lindsley & Precision Teaching (Athabasca University Psychology Server, 2000) [316k] . This article is not required, but it gives some interesting historical background that you might find interesting and useful in class discussions. 4. Take-home probe: Measurement / Assessment / Evaluation (download from “Probes” page of web site)
	Possible Discussion Items 1. What are the differences among measurement, assessment, and evaluation? 2. What are the advantages & disadvantages of formal evaluation systems over simple assessment systems? 3. What are some of the purposes to which assessment and evaluation systems have been put in education? 4. Is Precision Teaching basically an approach to assessment or evaluation? (Note: this is a "trick" question) 5. How can the WASL be useful to you, as a teacher? 6. How do you feel about 'adapting" the WASL for kids with special needs?
	In-Class Probes Write-Facts 1.0: Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation.
	Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project (Say Facts): You should be studying your say-facts on a regular basis. It is suggested that you study the Ordered Say-Facts each week to prepare for the weekly Write-Fact probes, then try repeated timings on one or more of the Random Say-Fact lists to work toward mastery of the entire list. You should also be recording the results of your timing on a Progress Record Sheet, describing your study and assessment procedures on the IS Plan Sheet, and charting your progress on the Standard Celeration Chart. If you are displeased with your progress, change something in your plan to try and improve. Teacher-Manager Project: You should have already identified a person with whom you can work, and have at least begun discussing with that person possible instructional targets.
Session #3 21 Jan 2009	Movement Cycles & Critical Functions Assignments 1. Read: White, O. R. (1980) Adaptive performance objectives: Form vs. function [296 kb]. In W. Sailor, B. Wilcox, and L. Brown, Methods of instruction for severely handicapped students. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes, pp. 47-70. Note: it might also be helpful to review the sections in last week's reading assignments that discussed movement cycles. 2. Complete at least the Movement Cycle and Critical Function parts of the Goal Description Form. Try to describe the target of your teacher-manager project, but if you're still uncertain what that project will address, choose anything of interest to you. Possible Discussion Items 1. Why is it important to differentiate between "movement cycles" and "critical functions?" 2. How does the idea of "critical functions" apply to "functional behavior assessments/analyses?" 3. Do many "standardized tests" employ the notion of critical functions? Why? Why not? 4. What might be some movement cycles and critical functions we could use to evaluate things like "creativity" or "anti-social behavior?" 5. How can we evaluate whether a targeted movement cycle is "really getting at the issue we want to address?" In-Class Probes Write-Facts 2.0: Movement Cycles and Critical Functions Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project (Say Facts): Continue as before. Teacher-Manager Project: You should now have identified a specific instructional target for your project and written movement cycle and critical function descriptions of that target. If time permits, share your work during the class discussion time. You will not be required to submit your partially completed goal description form at this time, but if you do, I'll give you feedback so you have an opportunity to correct any problems before going further with your project.
Session #4 28 Jan 2009	Counts, Frequencies, and Fluency Assignments 1. Read: Binder, C. (1996) Behavioral Fluency: Evolution of a New Paradigm [284 kb]. The Behavior Analyst. 19(2) 163-197. 2. Describe at least 2 movement cycles you might assess in your work. Select behaviors that should be assessed over different periods (for example, one-minute vs. all day) and where one assessment period would usually remain constant, while the assessment period for the other movement cycle might change form day-to-day. It is important that one of the two movement cycles represent what you think you will target for your Teacher-Manager Project, since this is a chance to get feedback on your plans to assess that target and to discover “critical errors” before too much time has passed. Develop plans to collect frequency data concerning those movement cycles. Collect at least two days' frequency data for each movement cycle. If it is not convenient for you to collect those data with an actual client (e.g., a student of yours), you may collect the data with someone easily accessible to you. You may even collect data on yourself for one of the movement cycles (hint: your say-fact behavior might be a good target), but at least one of the movement cycles should be evaluated with another person. Submit your movement cycle descriptions, assessment plans, and data to me before the end of class. Click here for a more complete description of the assignment. Click here for a form you can use, or you can simply type up your assignment using any format you choose. Possible Discussion Items 1. What kinds of data do you encounter in your work? 2. What do those data mean; how do you use them? 3. Why do many people believe frequency data are more useful than percentage data for evaluating performance and learning? Why, are "percent" data so much more common? 4. Do you have to collect all the data concerning your pupils' (clients') performance, or can they collect some of it? What are some of the advantages/disadvantages to each approach? In-Class Probes 1. Write Facts 3.0: Counts, Frequencies, and Fluency 2. Computing Frequencies, Floors, and Ceilings Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project (Say Facts): Continue as before. Teacher-Manager Project: You should have begun to assess the relevant frequencies of your instructional target. You're not required to share your results with me before the final project, but I suggest that you show me the results of your assessments soon so any possible problems can be corrected before you proceed much further.
Session #5 4 Feb 2009	Performance Aims, Objectives & Goals Assignments 1. Read: White, O. R. (1984-85) Aim*Star Wars: Episodes I through V [812 kb]. Journal of Precision Teaching , 5(3), 55-64; 5(4), 86-93; 6(1), 7-12; 6(2), 30-34. Note: if you prefer to download 2 smaller files, instead of one big file, go to the Aim*Star material on the Readings page. 2. Complete the performance aim sections of the Goal Description Form for your Teacher-Manager Project. Details are provided below, under Teacher-Manager Project. Remember that the Goal Description Form will be graded both as a "probe" in its own right, and as part of the Teacher-Manager project. Possible Discussion Items 1. How do Behavioral Objectives, IEP Objectives, and Behavioral Descriptions, as defined in your reading and say-facts, relate to Functional Behavioral Assessment and Analysis, as mandated by law? What is the legal mandate for FBAs? 2. What kinds of data are usually used in education to express performance aims? 3. Why are fluency aims usually better? 4. Why hasn't education used fluency aims more often? 5. Why is there an "endurance" section for our performance aim? 6. What's a "use" aim? Why aren't "use aims" specified more often in education? Are "use aim" data usually the same as our instructional data? Why or why not? 7. We can describe different levels of control over a behavior as "can-do," "will-do," and "does-do." What do you think those phases mean? 8. How do we decide if a performance aim is "good?" 9. What should we do if a pupil reaches our instructional performance aim but doesn't do well in the next, related step of the curriculum, or fails to apply the skill outside instruction in the way we want? In-Class Probes Write Facts 4.0: Performance Descriptions, Aims, Objectives, and Goals Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project: Continue as before. It might be interesting, though, to consider the performance aim established in this class for say facts (30/minute correct w/at least a x10 accuracy ratio). Does that aim make sense? If you were to change it, what would you do? Teacher-Manager Project: (1) Complete the performance aim sections of the Goal Description Form for your Teacher-Manager Project. Eventually, you'll have to have two of these forms - one describing your immediate instructional aim, and the other describing your "application aim" (i.e., how you want the skill to be applied in the "real world"). If you can complete both of those descriptions at this time, great; but you only need to focus on your instructional aims at this time. (2) Draft a description of the instructional plans for your teacher-manager and learner-manager projects, using the terminology presented in your say-fact list and illustrated in previously assigned readings. It might not be possible to complete all sections of those plans (e.g., the performance aim sections) until you have covered more of the material in this class. Do as much as you can now, and revise them as necessary as you learn more throughout the remainder of this course Drafts of your goal description form and plan sheet should be submitted to me by the end of this class session for feedback. If, after the class discussion, you want to keep your forms and make revisions, do so, but be sure to submit it for my preliminary review before the end of the next class session. Note: Hopefully, you're well under way on your teacher-manager project. If you haven't begun to collect data for that project, bear in mind that there are only 5 weeks left before the end of the quarter. In order to get the required number of data points for your teacher-manager project, you must begin that project within the coming week.
Session #6 11 Feb 2009	Charting the Course of Progress Assignments 1. Read: White, O.R. (2003) The Standard Celeration Chart: An overview of its features and conventions (aka, The Chartbook) Manuscript prepared for use in EDSPE 510, Seattle, WA: University of Washington. 2. Read: White, O.R. (2003) The Finder Book for the Standard Celeration Chart. [8.6Mb] A complete overview of the use of the "Finder" with the Standard Celeration Chart to plot frequencies, floors, and ceilings; and to determine celeration line slopes, among other things. These are very large files. I recommend using a high-speed connection for downloading. It might also be helpful to review the sections concerning charting contained in the Precision Teaching papers assigned earlier. 3. Find an example of a "misleading" chart -- a chart that is difficult to understand or (you believe) has been deliberately designed to mislead people. NOTE: An MS Excel template exists to allow you to enter data and create a standard celeration chart on your computer. I generally don’t recommend using a computer to create charts you use daily, but it can be helpful when preparing charts for publications, emailing to others, or posting on web sites. This template requires the user to have MS Excel loaded on their computer. The template can be downloaded by clicking on this link: MS Standard Charting Template (669 kb) Possible Discussion Items 1. Why did Ogden Lindsley develop the Standard Celeration Chart? What are the main advantages of such a chart for you, as a professional interested in human learning? 2. If you were to try and select a different chart for each program you conduct, what rules would you use for picking a chart? 3. There are many cases when a particular type of chart other than the Standard Celeration Chart would be more "mathematically correct." What kind of chart would that be? Why would it work better (at least in many cases) for displaying learning? Why don't we use it as our standard chart, or at least one of a few "standard" charts to use in our work with pupils? In-Class Probes 1. Write Facts 5.0: Charting the Course of Progress. 2. 3. Charting with a Constant Record Floor 4. Charting with a Variable Record Floor 5. Charting with Conventions Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project: Continue as before. If you have not yet started to have at least some of your assessments monitored by me, I suggest you do so. Remember, you can take this probe with me as often as you wish. Teacher-Manager Project: Begin charting the course of at least your Teacher-Manager Project using all of the standard charting conventions. A copy of that chart, along with the progress records that show the original data on which the chart is based, should be submitted to me for review as soon as possible.
Session #7 18 Feb 2009	Deciding When to Change Assignments Note: The following reading assignments will cover information useful for both this week and next week. Discussions this week will focus on the use of minimum celeration for deciding when a program should be changed. Discussions next week will focus on phases of learning and their implications for what might be changed in a program. 1. Read: White, O. R. (1984) Performance Based Decisions: When and what to change [776k]. In R. P. West and K.R. Young (Eds.), Precision Teaching Instructional Decision Making, Curriculum and Management, and Research. Logan, UT: Department of Special Education, Utah State University. 2. Read: White, O. R. (1985) Decisions, Decisions [268k]. British Columbia Journal of Special Education, Vol. 9, pp. 305-320. Possible Discussion Items 1. Do you think the use of minimum celeration lines would make you more or less effective in making decisions about program changes? More or less efficient in making those decisions? 2. What can go wrong with decisions based on minimum celeration lines? That is, when could they lead to the wrong decisions if the rules are applied "blindly"? 3. The main purpose of minimum celeration lines is to force us to at least consider program changes when the learner fails to demonstrate expected progress. Are there other ways we might accomplish the same thing? 4. In this class we're applying minimum celeration lines to frequency data displayed on standard charts. Could minimum celeration lines also be useful in making decisions with other types of data or on other types of charts? Why or why not? If so, what are some examples? In-Class Probes 1. Write Facts 6.0: Deciding When to Change. 2. Drawing/Using Minimum Celeration Lines Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project: Continue as before. If you have not yet started to have at least some of your assessments monitored by me, I suggest you do so. Remember, you can take this probe with me as often as you wish. Teacher-Manager Project: Review your project to see if you would have made different change-decisions if you had been using minimum celeration lines. Based on your new understanding of minimum celeration, you might also want to change your program at this time. Remember, though, that just because the minimum celeration line might suggest a change, you might decide not want to actually make a change. Look at your work, the data, and the minimum celeration line critically. Begin drafting your comments concerning minimum celeration for inclusion in the "what if" section of your final class project.
Session #8 25 Feb 2009	Deciding What to Change (Acquisition & Fluency-Building) Assignments 1. Review the reading assignments for last week, focusing on material covering phases of learning and rules for deciding what should be changed in a program if a change is made. 2. Study the flowchart summary of rules for the acquisition and fluency-building phases of learning. Possible Discussion Items 1. The phases of learning discussed in your readings were identified through what might be called "raw empiricism" - using data of what actually happens during the learning process. "Theory" played a relatively minor role. What's good about that approach for developing decision guidelines? What problems might that approach present? 2. Why are frequency data particularly useful in deciding where a learner falls in the phases of learning? 3. In most cases, given the way we set up and monitor our programs, "acquisition" and "fluency-building" will overlap. Does that make sense? Why or why not? 4. If acquisition and fluency-building do overlap, why do the guidelines suggest change strategies that only focus on the instructional needs of one phase or the other? Shouldn't we implement changes that address both phases of learning? Why or why not? 5. What's the difference between "maintenance" and "retention?" What are the instructional implications for instructional programs? In-Class Probes 1. Write-Facts 7.0: Deciding What to Change (Acquisition & Fluency Building) 2. See-Chart, Say Change Note: This probe will be based on the flowchart summary of rules for acquisition and fluency-building phases of learning (see assignments, above). Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project: Continue as before. If you have not yet started to have at least some of your assessments monitored by me, I suggest you do so. Remember, you can take this probe with me as often as you wish. Teacher-Manager Project: Review your project using the decision rules for acquisition and fluency building and decide whether you would have done anything different if you had known the rules earlier. Begin drafting comments concerning your conclusions for inclusion in the "what if" section of your project report. Even if the rules suggest that you should change something about your program, you're not required to do so. If you decide to "go against the rules" at this time, however, you should be prepared to explain why you choose to do so. Note: If you provide me with a draft of your final project report by the end of this class session, I'll promise to have it back to you (with comments) by the next class session. That will give you one week to correct any problems before the final project is due. If you do not provide me with a draft by the end of this session, I can make no promises about giving you time to correct any problems.
Session #9 4 Mar 2009	Deciding What to Change (Application) Assignments 1. Read: Chapters 6 through 9 of Haring, N.G., Liberty, K.A., White, O.R., and Billingsley, F.F. (1988) Generalization: Strategies and Solutions for Students with Severe Handicaps. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. Chapter 6: Writing Objectives for Generalization [56k] (Felix F. Billingsley) Chapter 7: Probing Skill Use [84k] (Owen R. White) Chapter 8: Strategies to Improve Generalization [160k] (Kathleen A. Liberty and Felix F. Billingsley) Chapter 9: Decision Rules and Procedures for Generalization [268k] (Kathleen A. Liberty) Possible Discussion Items 1. Skill application is rarely assessed in educational programs. Why? What might we do to change that? 2. Some people say that data like "parental reports" are unreliable, and we shouldn't take them at face value. What do you think? 3. The whole issue of application is tied up in the notion of "social validation." What is social validation, and how should it influence our notions of application? 4. There are many strategies available to us for promoting skill application. If we run into problems with application, why don't we just build programs that use them all (or as many as we can handle) instead of using the decision rules to select among those alternatives? 5. Why does application, especially problems in application, often force us to pay attention to "qualitative data?" In-Class Probes Write Facts 8.0: Deciding What to Change (Application) Note: since the information you might gather to evaluate application can be so broad and varied, no probe other than your response to the write facts will be offered for this material. Remember, however, that your assessment of application and consideration of the application decision rules will be part of your final class project. Even if you were unable to complete what you believe to be a satisfactory assessment of application for the skill you're teaching, you'll be expected to discuss those problems in the "what if" section of your project report. Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project: Time is running out. If you have not yet started to have at least some of your assessments monitored by me, I strongly suggest you do so. The final assessment of this skill must be completed by the end of next week! Teacher-Manager Project: If you have not already done so, try to turn in a draft of your final report. I'll try to provide you with feedback (via email or phone) about any problems I find so you can correct them before projects are due next week. The deadline for guarantees of timely feedback was last week, however, so I won't make any promises. If you have not already done so, prepare a Goal Description Form to describe your application aims for the skill you are teaching in your teacher-manager project. If you have not already done so, prepare a plan for assessing the application of the skill you are teaching in your teacher-manager project. This plan can be described using the general Plan Form available under the "materials" tab of the class web site, or any other form of your choosing, as long as it is clear what you will be assessing, who will conduct the assessment, and how the assessment will be conducted. Be sure to indicate on your plan how the results of application assessments will be noted on the chart of learner progress. Sometimes, for example, it will be possible to assess the fluency of target skills under application conditions in much the same way you conduct assessments during instruction. If so, you could record the results of those application assessments on the instructional chart using slightly different symbols (e.g., open circles for correct frequencies instead of closed circles). At other times you might assess skill application quite differently from the way you conduct instructional assessments (for example, you might use parental reports of whether they observed the application of the skill at home). In those cases the results of application assessments might be noted on your instructional chart as simple notes. If you have not already done so, conduct at least one assessment of the application of the skill you are teaching in your teacher-manager project. Follow the plan you described above, and indicate the results of your assessment on your chart of learner progress. Apply the decision rules for application & fluency-building to determine whether you should modify your program and, if so, how. If appropriate, change your program accordingly and indicate that change on your chart and in your instructional plans. Be prepared to discuss your work in class. You do not have to submit your work to me at this time, but I'll to review it and provide feedback if at all possible (time is running out). The results of this work must eventually be submitted as part of your final project report.
Session #10 11 Mar 2009	Final Discussions, Repeated Timings for Final Probes, and Project Presentations (Last Class) Assignments 1. Complete and submit any assignments for which you have not yet received a final grade. If an assignment was one that would be counted twice -- once as an assignment in its own right, and again as part of the project report, like the goal description forms -- it only needs to be contained in the project report. 2. Complete and submit your final project reports - one for your Learner-Manger (say fact) project, and another for your Teacher-Manager project. It's suggested that you enclose both projects in the same binder. 3. Prepare a brief presentation of your Teacher-Manager project to share during the class discussion period. If possible, prepare an overhead transparency of at least your chart to make it easier to share your work with the class, or email copies of the materials to Owen, and he will try to prepare projections of them. Possible Discussion Items Time permitting, students will be given an opportunity to share the results of their Teacher-Manager project with the class. Given the "standard" approaches you've learned for displaying information, 10 minutes should be enough time to hit at least the highlights of your project. Please try to leave at least a few minutes at the end of your presentation for questions and class discussion. It will help if you prepare transparencies of the materials you want to share with the class, or email copies of your charts to Owen so he can prepare projections of them. In-Class Probes Maintenance Probe: A maintenance probe will be constructed with sample write-fact probes. One sheet will be included to correspond to each write-fact probe taken during the quarter. The maintenance probe will be optional. You do not have to take it. If you failed to get a perfect score on all of the write fact probes during the quarter, however, this will represent your only chance to improve that grade. If you do better on a section of the maintenance probe than you did on a corresponding write fact probe during the quarter, I will use the higher score in computing your final class grade. Under no circumstances, however, will your performance on the maintenance probe lower your grade. In any case, regardless of whether you need to improve your grade, I would appreciate the feedback concerning your maintenance of knowledge that taking the maintenance probe would provide me. Instructor Timings: A relatively small portion of the class time (perhaps 30 minutes) will be devoted to instructor assessments of student skill in the areas previously assigned (e.g., charting, decision-making, say facts). While the instructor is assessing one student, the others can be practicing or working to refine other assignments. Student time with the instructor will be on a strict first-come-first-serve basis. Since time is limited, and we want to spend as much time as possible discussing student projects as a class, you are strongly encouraged to finish all of your assessments with me before this class. I'll try to be available by appointment as much as possible outside class. Project Prompts Learner-Manager Project: Due by the end of this class session. Teacher-Manager Project: Due by the end of this class session. See the Project tab of the class web site for details about how each project notebook should be prepared. Sharing: Time permitting, I would like students to share the results of their teacher-manager projects with the class. If you will not be able to turn in your project on time, you must let the instructor know via phone or email before this class session.

Last Reviewed/Updated: Friday, March 20, 2009