The implementation of Precision Teaching for the improvement of academic skills: A systematic review of the literature over thirty years

Abstract

Precision Teaching (PT) is a system for precisely defining, measuring and facilitating the subsequent analysis, interpretation, and decision making behavior (Kubina & Yurich, 2012). It can be incorporated into educational settings to monitor learners' progress and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching approaches for academic skills. The current systematic review provides a summary of studies published over 30 years which implemented PT for the improvement of academic skills. Key components of PT as implemented across studies are summarized. The findings of this review are discussed in relation to future research, identifying gaps in the literature and suggesting areas for improvement and further research on PT.

Commentary on “Implementation of an adapted handwriting without Tears® programme for children with developmental disabilities in a special education setting”

“…Several studies have used PT to enhance students’ performance in academic tasks (McTiernan et al , 2022). PT has also been used to improve motor skills.…”

Effects of an Explicit Decoding Plus Frequency Building Intervention on Word Reading Fluency for Students With Disabilities in an Urban Elementary Setting

“…Lambe et al (2015) and Mannion and Griffin (2018) tested Dolch word lists and Irish sight words, respectively. A subsequent review of precision teaching research from 1990 to 2020 (McTiernan et al, 2022) added six studies with elementary school students that involved a word reading fluency component (Brosnan et al, 2018; Downer, 2007; Griffin & Murtagh, 2015; Hayes et al, 2018; Kessissoglou & Farrell, 1995; Kubina et al, 2009). Five of the six studies occurred in the United Kingdom or Ireland and did not either report outcomes or include students with reading disabilities.…”

PROTOCOL: Evaluating the application and effectiveness of precision teaching: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Existing reviews have focused on different aspects of Precision Teaching but not in a manner that would capture the whole corpus of the Precision Teaching literature and make possible the evaluation of the field in terms of its various applications and effectiveness (Cihon, 2007 ; Doughty et al, 2004 ; Gist & Bulla, 2022 ; Heinicke et al, 2010 ; Martinho et al, 2022 ; Tiernan et al, 2022 ; Quigley et al, 2018 ; Ramey et al, 2016 ; Stocker et al, 2019 ). Specifically, Cihon ( 2007 ) focused on Precision Teaching's effectiveness in developing verbal behavior.…”

“…Gist and Bulla ( 2022 ) focused on the combination of Precision Teaching with fluency‐building activities. Finally, another recent review focused on Precision Teaching's effectiveness when focused on academic skills (Tiernan et al, 2022 ). Although each review has produced important information about Precision Teaching and behavioral fluency, they have all used different definitions of Precision Teaching, which could have potentially led to inconsistent results.…”