Skill Acquisition Programs in ABA: Organizing Targets and Optional Phases

Key Takeaways

A skill acquisition program needs a clear relationship between what you are teaching, how you measure it, and what comes next. TallyFlex groups related targets into programs, with optional phases for sequencing and optional objectives within each target. Recorded target mastery drives the program’s configured completion rules.

When related targets are scattered across a long list, a simple review becomes harder: which targets belong together, which are current, and which need follow-up? Programs keep that context visible without requiring a phase structure for every skill.

Start with the Target, Then Choose the Structure

A target is what you measure. A program groups related targets. Add phases when distinct groups of targets need to start in sequence; keep a flat program when they can be worked on together.

A program can group targets into phases while each target keeps its own objectives:

This is an organizational example, not a prescribed teaching sequence. Choose the targets and order from the learner’s plan. A program used for discrete trial training can have phases, but DTT does not require this software hierarchy.

Objectives Belong Inside Targets

An objective can represent an intermediate criterion for a target. TallyFlex evaluates the current in-progress objective, showing whether its configured numerical criteria are met. A person with editing access reviews the evidence and records objective mastery.

After normal mastery confirmation, the next pending objective starts. On-hold objectives stay unfinished. When all objectives are recorded mastered, the target is recorded mastered. Targets without objectives can instead use written criteria and a direct target mastery decision.

See Mastery Criteria and Objectives for the target-level workflow.

Choose What Completes a Phase

Phases support two rules based on recorded target mastery:

• All targets: every target in the phase must have recorded mastery.
• N-of-M: the configured number of targets must have recorded mastery.

Choose the rule to match the plan. An N-of-M rule defines phase completion; it does not establish mastery for the remaining targets. If 3 of 5 completes the phase, the other two stay unmastered.

Archiving a target does not remove it from phase membership or change the phase’s requirement. Review membership separately when the intended target set changes.

Decide Whether the Next Phase Starts Automatically

When an in-progress phase meets its recorded-mastery rule, it can complete. In an active program with Auto-progress phases enabled, that completion starts the next not-started phase in order. With the setting off, start the next phase manually.

This automation follows the decisions already recorded for targets. A calculated “criteria met” result alone does not advance the program. Paused programs and phases on hold do not silently resume.

Program phases are also separate from Baseline and Intervention recording modes. Advancing a phase does not switch the targets’ recording mode. Select that mode deliberately to reflect how observations are being collected.

Keep Maintenance and Completion Useful

Cumulative phases can keep mastered targets from completed phases selected for maintenance while the program is active. It does not create a probe schedule, and it does not reclassify unfinished N-of-M targets as mastered.

Once a program is completed, its targets remain available for deliberate follow-up. In session setup, use Show mastered/completed and select the targets you intend to check. They start unchecked for a new session.

The maintenance probes guide explains how to connect those selection choices to a follow-up plan.

Review Progress at the Right Level

A program’s mastered count and cumulative mastery chart summarize recorded target mastery. The target comparison chart helps you choose where to look next; individual target graphs provide the observations needed for closer review.

A completed phase or rising mastery count does not establish treatment effectiveness. Read those summaries alongside target evidence, criteria, and the learner’s plan. A program can complete under N-of-M rules while individual targets remain unfinished.

Set Up Your First Program

1. Group related targets into a program; add phases only when sequencing is useful.
2. Define target criteria and any objectives, then choose each phase’s completion rule.
3. Choose manual or automatic phase progression and plan how follow-up work will be selected.

Programs are available on Solo and Teams. The programs overview walks through setup, and the program analytics guide explains the review view.