7 Planning and Evaluating Skill Acquisition

Set a meaningful skill goal

A skill-acquisition plan turns a meaningful learning goal into teachable steps, specifies how instruction and reinforcement will be delivered, and uses data to determine whether the plan is working. Procedures can be combined, but each should serve a defined part of the skill while taking the learner’s preferences, context, and independence into account.

Begin with an observable goal that states the conditions in which the skill matters. For example: “When the learner wants a break during independent work, they will request one using speech, a sign, or their communication device.” Clarify what counts as a correct response, what counts as independent, and where the skill is useful.

Consult the learner and relevant supporters when choosing goals and procedures. Obtain consent and, when applicable, assent. Make the plan clear enough that different instructors can follow its components consistently.

Match teaching procedures to the skill

Choose teaching procedures to fit the skill’s demands. Prompting supports emerging responses with extra help, such as a model, gesture, visual cue, or appropriate physical guidance. Select a strategy—such as least-to-most, most-to-least, or time delay—and plan how to fade prompts so the natural cue, rather than the instructor’s help, comes to control the response.

Shaping builds a response gradually by reinforcing successive approximations when the full response is not yet in the learner’s repertoire. Advance criteria gradually and ensure that each step is achievable.

Chaining teaches a sequence of actions. Define the steps in a task analysis, then choose forward chaining, backward chaining, or total-task instruction. Prompt and reinforce steps as planned, and fade help as performance improves. A task analysis identifies the sequence but does not, by itself, teach the learner to perform it.

Discrimination training teaches when a response is appropriate through practice with relevant cues and alternatives. For example, a learner might practice requesting a break when work is underway while learning to use a different response when they need help. Include varied examples so the skill does not become tied to only one instructor, material, or setting.

Reinforcement follows a response and increases the future likelihood of that response. Identify outcomes the learner values and deliver them promptly and contingently at first. As the skill becomes reliable, plan for naturally available outcomes and less frequent programmed reinforcement.

These procedures can work together. In a handwashing plan, a task analysis specifies the steps; prompts support steps not yet performed independently; shaping can build a difficult component, such as using an appropriate amount of soap; discrimination training can clarify when handwashing is needed; and reinforcement can support successful practice.

Measure progress and adjust the plan

Collect data that answer the instructional question. Define the measurement method, observation opportunities, and mastery criterion before instruction. Depending on the target, record:

• Accuracy: correct responses divided by opportunities, reported as a percentage. The calculation is $\frac{\text{correct responses}}{\text{opportunities}}\times 100\%$.

• Prompt level: whether the response was independent or required a specified prompt.

• Fluency: how quickly or smoothly the skill is completed, when speed matters to its use.

• Chained-task performance: which steps were completed correctly and independently.

• Generalization and maintenance: performance with new people, materials, or settings, and at later follow-up checks.

A plan might require the learner to complete all task steps independently across several sessions. This is an example, not a universal threshold; the criterion should match the skill’s importance and the learner’s needs.

Display data over time and review both outcomes and implementation. Check whether enough opportunities were provided, prompts and reinforcement were delivered as planned, and progress was measured consistently. If progress stalls, review these conditions and reconsider prompting, task difficulty, reinforcement, practice opportunities, or the assessment of barriers. Behavior analysts are expected to collect and use data to evaluate and adjust services.

Plan for generalization

Generalization occurs when a learned skill is used beyond the conditions in which it was first taught. Plan for transfer rather than assuming it will happen automatically:

1. Practice with different people, settings, materials, examples, and naturally occurring cues.

2. Teach the response in the environments where it will be useful, and involve the people who will support it there.

3. Fade prompts and extra instructional signals so the ordinary cue evokes the skill.

4. Reinforce appropriate use in natural contexts, not only during formal practice.

5. Probe performance with untrained examples to check whether the skill transfers.

For example, after teaching a learner to request a break with one instructor, arrange opportunities to request one during work with another adult and in another relevant setting. Keep communication options accessible and acceptable to the learner.

Support maintenance over time

Maintenance means that a skill continues after initial teaching or when teaching support is reduced. Plan follow-up checks after mastery, continue to make the natural outcome available, and provide occasional practice if performance begins to decline.

Record whether the skill remains independent and useful, rather than only whether it can still be produced after a prompt. If performance weakens, identify possible changes in cues, access to reinforcement, practice, or context. Adjust support and review the data again. Plans should aim for outcomes likely to persist under natural conditions.