The use of precision teaching to teach basic math facts

Abstract

A Precision Teaching program for basic math facts was designed for students in the 5th, 6th, and 7th grade level in a regular primary school. Forty-eight typically developing students who were nominated by their teacher as falling behind their classmates in multiplication and division participated. Following a randomization there were two groups of 24 each: one that received Precision Teaching and one that received treatment as usual. The Precision Teaching intervention was put in place for 20 minutes each school day of the week for eight weeks. Tests were performed before and after the program, and also at follow up which was one month after termination of the Precision Teaching intervention. The group receiving Precision Teaching improved more on the tests than did the group receiving “treatment as usual”, i.e. the regular mathematic instruction. Furthermore, on an individual level, more students in the Precision Teaching group showed reliable improvement. This study adds to the knowledge of the efficacy and importance of Precision Teaching and mathematic performance monitoring