How to Determine if Students Meet Criterion for Mastery

The Process

• After teaching the lesson, calculate the per cent of first-time correct data for each part of the lesson. 
• To do this, divide the number of first-time correct answers by the number of total number of answers. 
• If a group got three first-time correct out of four items, three divided by four equals seventy-five per cent. 
• Determine if a lesson part is ‘new’, ‘review’, individual turns or independent work.  
• An exercise introduced for the first time is considered ‘new’ and students should be at least seventy per cent first-time correct. 
• An exercise introduced earlier in the program sequence is considered ‘review’ and students should be at least ninety per cent first-time correct. 
• Students should be 100 per cent first-time correct on individual turns. 
• Students should be at least eighty-five per cent first-time correct on work completed independently. 
• Students should score at least ninety per cent on mastery tests. 
• If students do not meet the criteria on a particular lesson part, go back and reteach those parts the next day before moving on to a new lesson.