If they have a finish line, a true goal, they can see how far they have come and how far they have left to go. It’s pretty basic, really. But what a difference it can make! I have seen dramatic improvements in how willing the children are to keep working at their goals and how quickly they meet them when they have a specific goal that they can see and a reward at the end!

One client, who had been working on his “er” sound for what seemed like forever, quickly met his goal of 80% accuracy at the word level and maintained it for three sessions. He then progressed through “ar” words and “or” words. Sometimes he even asked if we could “do more words” so that he could bring his percentage up! What caused this change? A simple chart that gave him a finish line and an inexpensive reward (e.g., a Matchbox type car that cost less than $1). He knew that when he reached 80% three times, he earned a reward.

The progress chart has some other benefits, too. It serves as a great visual representation to show parents and teachers how the child is doing, and it helps the speech-language pathologist know it’s time to move on to the next goal.

So, give your clients a target to aim for. Let them realize that they are in control of how quickly or slowly they meet their goals. Find something motivating for them and watch them soar!

Of course, using this chart requires that you to track progress using data. If you don’t already keep data on your clients because it may seem overwhelming or be too much of a hassle, read my post about simple ways to keep data.

Happy New Year!
Becky Wanca

Printable progress chart

Let’s face it- data is important. We need it to know how our clients are doing and when their goals have been achieved.  It’s also important for our clients to know how they are doing and when they will have reached the “finish line” for that goal.  We need it to chart progress for ourselves, for our clients, and for their caregivers.

The key for easy data collection is to work in groups of ten. Whether it’s a list of “r” words, pictures of verbs, or a set of vocabulary words, work in groups of ten.  This makes it so much easier to calculate percentages.  (For those situations when ten trials is not enough, you can work in groups of twenty and multiply the number correct by 5, or do twenty-five trials and multiply by 4.)

1. If you are working with pictures or cards, use those to keep track for you.  Simply place the correct cards in one stack and the incorrect ones in another.  When you are done, count the correct ones, add a zero, and that is your percentage (e.g., seven cards in the correct stack = 70%).

2. Give the child a sticker or token or some other object (e.g., piece for a Cootie Bug) for each correct answer.  Again, the number of objects they have at the end corresponds to the percentage correct.

3. Have the child move ahead one space on a game board for each correct response.  Count how many spaces he/she has moved after ten attempts.

4. Have the child color or glue a picture on a reinforcement activity page.  If you want the child to be able to color after each attempt, give him/her a certain color to use when the response is correct.

5. Keep tally marks on a scrap of paper.  Ok, really basic, but in some situations, this is just the best way to keep track.  You can use any markings you want.

Use this simple graph for keeping track of data.  I draw a dark line across at the target percentage (e.g., 80%) to make it clear where the “finish line” is.  For children that are old enough to color in the lines, I outline the area that represents their percentage for that session and let them color it in.

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