Getting Started with Precision Teaching and the Standard Celeration Chart (SCC): A Guide for BCBAs

For a BCBA who is just starting with Precision Teaching or the Standard Celeration Chart, the first learning curve could be somewhat of a challenge. But here’s the good news – the beginning is not as hard as you may think, especially if you are targeting foundational skills like mand training, echoics, and tacting. This guide will help you in launching your precision practice as well as demonstrate the versatility of the SCC in addressing the early intervention goals.

Why Use the Standard Celeration Chart?

Prior to exploring the practical steps, one must understand the reasoning aspect. The SCC is a source that helps you keep check not only the accuracy of a skill but its fluency as well, that is speed and accuracy as well. Why should this concern you? Because skills learned to fluency are better remembered and generalized across many different situations. With the use of SCC , there is no ambiguity regarding how much progress has been achieved, and this helps in employing strategies that will boost the success of the learner.

1. Start Small: Choose One Goal

It’s not like when struggling with implementation of Precision Teaching you other strategies have to be abandoned overnight. Rather, determine a particular skill which you are already targeting, for instance manual training. This way, it becomes possible to integrate Precision Teaching procedures into an already existing session without a feeling of anxiety.

How to Implement This: Start by finding out how many mands a person makes throughout your sessions. Count how often your learner requests something for one-minute intervals. This will give you mastery of this simple approach of gathering the data and graphically representing it on the SCC.

Pro Tip: Focus on collecting data over multiple sessions so you can spot trends and make adjustments as needed. The SCC will help you visualize these patterns and guide your next steps in teaching.

2. Use Short Timings for Fluency Building

For the effective learning of a person/project, it is important that he or she masters fluent speech. Using short timings will help you gauge fluency. For skills like echoics, using timings of 30 seconds to 1 minute can turn out to be beneficial. This enables you to track not only the number of echoic responses the learner provides but also their rate of response.

Example: Run a 1-minute timing where you prompt your learner to echo simple words. Count both correct and incorrect responses and plot them on the SCC. The goal is to gradually increase both speed and accuracy over time.

Why This Works: Short and timed sessions recorded enable gradual improvements to be visible. Those learners who practice in short sessions, and repeat often, tend to learn potentially faster and more consistently than those who practice long, but infrequently.

3. Track Tacts Daily

Tact training focuses on the children's verbal naming of objects and pictures, and it is also one of the skills that can be valued on the SCC. Recording daily tacts does not only enable you to see whether or not the learner performs the skill but also how well the learner does it.

How to Implement This: Record how many tacts your learner is able to get correct in a minute session. Try to do this for a few days so you can check their progress. The SCC will assist you in determining their development in speed and accuracy, thus making it easy to modify the way you teach.

Pro Tip: Keep your tacts varied to promote generalization. Include different objects and pictures to ensure the skill isn’t context-dependent.

4. Don’t Forget to Record Errors

A full picture of learning involves more than just tracking correct responses. Recording errors alongside correct responses provides critical information that helps you fine-tune your instruction.

Example: If you notice an increase in errors on specific tacts or echoic responses, this is your cue to step in with targeted interventions. The SCC’s ability to chart both correct and incorrect responses allows you to see when an intervention might be necessary before progress stalls.

Why This Works: Errors are not just mistakes; they’re data points that guide you toward more effective teaching. Knowing when and why errors occur helps you adjust your approach and maintain a trajectory toward fluency.

5. Set Fluency Aims

One of the most beneficial aspects of utilizing the SCC is setting fluency aims for each

skill. These are not random goals but are derived from research and an adequate level of performance research tells you that gets the skill to working level minimum necessary.

Example: For mand training, you might set a fluency aim of 15 correct mands in a 1-minute session. For echoics, this number might be higher, depending on the learner’s current skill level. Use the SCC to monitor progress toward these fluency aims and adjust as needed to keep the learner moving in the right direction.

Why Fluency Aims Matter: A skill performed at 80% accuracy may seem mastered, but if it takes too long to execute, it’s not fluent. Setting fluency aims ensures that your learners aren’t just accurate—they’re proficient. This is what makes skills stick and become second nature.

Key Insights for BCBAs

• Progress Happens in Patterns: The SCC helps you visualize these patterns over time, making it easier to make data-driven adjustments. You’ll be able to see when your learner is making consistent progress, when they’re plateauing, and when it’s time to change tactics.

• Fluency Enhances Retention and Generalization: When learners achieve fluency, they are more likely to retain skills over time and generalize them across different settings. This is crucial for helping your clients apply their learning in meaningful ways.

• Short Timings Make a Big Difference: Don’t underestimate the power of short, timed practice sessions. They provide quick feedback and keep both you and your learner focused and motivated.

Ready to Make the Leap? Schedule a Free Consultation

If you’re a BCBA looking to incorporate Precision Teaching and the SCC into your practice but aren’t sure where to start, we’re here to help. Schedule a free consultation to discuss how these methods can be seamlessly integrated into your sessions. Let’s work together to transform your teaching and make meaningful, lasting progress for your learners.

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