Every learning objective requires some prior knowledge.  Some early skills we learned required very low levels of prior knowledge, such as decoding one-syllable words. The prior knowledge skills necessary for emergent reading include making sounds that correspond to letters and blending phonemes.  The higher up the knowledge ladder we progress, the more important the level of prior knowledge and mastery of prerequisite skills become. It is imperative that the student progresses up the knowledge ladder step-by-step so that he or she does not miss any important steps along the way. One obvious shortcoming of fact-based instruction is that it often leaves students with huge learning gaps.  

Dr. Carl Binder, who began his career as a student with B.F. Skinner at Harvard University in the 1970s, is a leader in the field of Human Performance Technology. He has written many publications related to instructional design, performance improvement, and knowledge management. In his article, “Precision Teaching: Measuring and Attaining Exemplary Academic Achievement,” he wrote, “students must achieve fluency in ‘tool’ skills in order to progress smoothly to more advanced material. When they do not achieve sufficient levels of basic arithmetic computation, students usually experience difficulty learning long division, algebra, and other advanced math skills. Thus, many so called ‘learning disabilities’ turn out to be no more than a failure to measure and to work toward fluency in basic skills.”  

Foundation skills, also known as building block skills, are the prerequisites to more advanced skills.  It is imperative that a student masters certain foundation skills because he will encounter many skills in the future that will build upon these essential building blocks.  For example, if an educator is going to teach the pre algebra objective, “evaluate numeric and algebraic expressions that contain exponents” to her seventh grade math class, reflect on the many prerequisite skills that must be mastered prior to learning this new skill. The following skills are just a few of the many skills a student needs prior to attempting the new skills: 

1.      Understand variables and substitute a number for a variable in simple expressions.

2.      Apply the correct order of operations to solve problems..

3.      Use multiplication and division to solve problems.

4.      Understand the use of variables to represent a number value in an expression or an equation.

5.      Solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 

The PKL (Prior Knowledge Level) ranking system is designed so that educators can determine the best methods for teaching and remediating learning objectives.  The lower the PKL, the less prior knowledge required to master the current skill, and the higher the PKL, the more prior knowledge is required.  The ranking system is computed based on the number of grade levels of immediate prior knowledge and the total number of learning objectives needed to master the current learning objective.  A PKL score under 30 usually means that there isn’t a significant amount of prior knowledge and the teacher will most likely have the necessary resources necessary to teach that objective along with any prerequisite skills that have not been mastered.  A PKL score over 60 usually means that the prior knowledge required is extensive and the educator must plan to have the student master skills that were previously taught (prerequisite) before introducing this learning objective.   

In another example of the value of teaching foundation skills rather than isolated test-preparation facts, when a student has to write a multi-paragraph essay as part of the year-end writing assessment, he will be pulling from his prior knowledge to do so.  Because students do not know what type of writing in which they will have to demonstrate their proficiency, they need to be prepared to write a narrative, descriptive, expository, descriptive, and literary response essay.  Consider the many skills the student had to master to be able to write a proficient essay. 

1.      Write a complete sentence.

2.      Write in paragraph format.

3.      Begin to use the steps of the writing process.

4.      Revise, edit, and proofread written works.

5.      Experiment with different writing styles.

6.      Create multi-paragraph written works.

7.      Use a variety of organizational styles in written works.

8.      Compose well-developed stories.

9.      Understand and apply simple persuasive techniques in writing.

10.    Use figurative language.

11.    Write using descriptive word choices.

12.    Write in expository form.

13.    Write supported analytical responses to literature.

14.    Write with increased sophistication of support. 

The Pyramid of Skills is an important concept. Just as the ancient pyramids’ strength was a result of a very strong foundation, a student’s future success in school is also dependent on a strong foundation.   Many factors that are out of the student’s control may affect the mastery of these important skills.  Sometimes it is a substitute teacher, an illness, a change in teachers or curriculum, a move to a new school, or even a change in textbooks.  Whatever the reason, it is imperative that the student learn these essential skills at the appropriate grade level.  If any of these foundation skills are not mastered at the appropriate level, it is likely that a student will struggle when presented with new skills that rely on the mastery of those prerequisite skills.  For this reason, it is essential that educators have access to materials that will enable them to create an Individualized Learning Plan for their students.  This will allow a teacher to offer his or her students activities that fit each student’s level and needs.  Research continues to show that the time to offer remedial instruction is early rather than later.  A student who excels in language arts but has deficiencies in mathematics would have individual learning needs that differ greatly from a student who has advanced math skills but deficiencies in reading or writing.  

What happens when a student doesn’t master the essential foundation skills? Many of America’s students are not achieving proficiency in reading.  Why?  Learning the alphabet and how to decode words is not something that comes naturally to children. That is why they must be taught the necessary skills in the proper order that will lead them to become successful readers.  A first grader doesn’t just pick up a book and begin reading.  The first step, or the base of the pyramid when a child learns to read, is learning the alphabet.  The next step is associating sounds with letters; then a student learns to blend the sounds to create a word and so on.  But it all comes back to the very first step - if a child does not learn the alphabet, he will never learn to read.  This seems to be a common sense statement, but when children are missing some of the “steps” on their Pyramid of Skills, their foundation becomes weak.  An Individualized Learning Plan can help identify the missing steps early on so that the student does not fall behind or begin struggling when faced with new material that builds on the existing skills.  

In the mid 1990s in Virginia, students exiting middle school were required to pass all three parts of the Literacy Passport Test to be promoted to ninth grade. What school leaders discovered was that many students were not passing this test.  They realized that many students had not mastered the foundation skills that are taught in elementary school.  

James McMillan of the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium in Richmond, Virginia, conducted a study that identified successful remediation strategies used by educators.  At the study’s completion, McMillan discovered several things reflected by the study’s results and the students’ progress. 

• “Effective remediation occurs when resources are provided that give teachers extra help in the regular classroom.”  Individual Learning Plans make this possible.
• Findings suggest that not only do students need to be actively engaged in the remediation, but also they must be applying needed skills.
• On an individual level, the study results indicate that small groups, close supervision, and individualized instruction lead to successful student remediation.  “It was helpful to keep materials at the right level and individualize as much as possible.  It was clear that the dominant teaching strategy for remediation was to use small groups of students and tutoring.  This was more effective than teaching large groups.”

In McMillan’s conclusion, he remarked that individualized attention was most successful because it addressed the student’s academic weaknesses.  McMillan also concluded that there are a few general principles and approaches that have common elements that include the following:                       

1. More emphasis on teaching basic skills such as vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar
2. Allowing extensive practice for students in the skills that they had deficiencies
3. Individualizing instruction whenever possible
4. Close supervision with guided instruction, often made possible by utilizing other adults in the classroom (teacher’s aid, volunteer, etc.)
5. Begin remediation efforts as early as possible in the elementary school.

Some skills, such as spoken language and fine motor skills can be mastered through primary cognitive abilities, but recent findings in cognitive psychology supports the need for direct instruction for the mastery of many other skills taught in school.  According to Evers, editor of What’s Gone Wrong in America’s Classrooms, “Subject matter often has an inherent internal logic and can be organized on a ladder of increasing difficulty and complexity—a ladder of learning.”   Some skills must be mastered before a student can go on to the next step.  Many skills that are taught in school possess this hierarchical or pyramid character, and it is important that students learn such a skill systematically.  By identifying a student’s areas of weakness, a classroom teacher can develop an individual plan that meets the student’s academic needs.  It is imperative that teachers have access to resources that will enable them to personalize instruction for their students.  For example, an Individualized Learning Plan for a student who is below level in math would differ greatly from a plan for a student who excels in the area of mathematics.

 “In the culturally important academic subjects—math, science, literature…curriculum planners can and should organize a curriculum that emphasizes content.  Education in these subjects should be cumulative and sequential, with each year’s study building on what has been learned previously” (Evers, 1998).  We know that to attain advanced conceptual understanding in all subjects, explicit teaching is necessary.”

The editors of How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom, Suzanne Donovan and John Bransford, point out the importance of both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency, as well as an effective organization of knowledge. “As the mathematics confronted by students becomes more complex through the school years, new knowledge and competencies require that those already mastered be brought to bear” (Bransford and Donovan, 2005.)   By the time a student takes Algebra in high school, previously mastered building block skills will be merged with many new concepts and procedures that must be effectively linked and available to support new algebraic understandings.  The teacher’s goal should be to build and merge those prerequisite concepts or building block skills, which is why teaching students isolated facts does not prepare them for future learning.

A recent report by the National Research council, Adding It Up, reviewed a large research base on the learning of elementary school mathematics.  They found the number one factor that predicts student success to be conceptual understanding (understanding of math concepts, operations, and relations).  Similarly, the results of a study done by the National Research Council, “Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children” stress the importance of providing students with immediate intervention and remediation at the first signs of reading difficulties.  Research consistently reveals that children who receive a strong foundation of skills rarely struggle.

On Utah Students at Risk’s Online Staff Development Academy, under the link “Implementing Effective Teaching Strategies,” educators Vicki Napper and Jonathan Hartsgrove, of Weber State University, emphasis the following. “One of the characteristics of a master teacher is the appropriate treatment of prerequisite skills. The master teacher knows what new material is likely to be difficult for students and which prerequisite skills are important for the successful introduction of new material. Rather than place students in remedial situations, the master teacher will try to prevent errors and misconceptions by making sure that the new material is introduced in small steps and that students demonstrate mastery of the critical prerequisite skills before starting the sequence of small steps.” They also suggest that the prerequisites necessary to ensure high levels of success in the beginning stages of acquiring new knowledge include, “skills mastered to automaticity, problem-solving strategies, and general principles and concepts.” Once again, there is no mention of isolated skill mastery or fact recall.

 “In any given classroom in America on any given day, there is a room filled with individual children who are likely to have very different educational strengths and weaknesses” (Burns, Griffin, Snow, 1999.) In summary,  this makes the educators’ task a daunting one.  If a child does not master a building block skill that is a prerequisite for a future skill, remediation is the key.  Remediation can rebuild a student’s foundation so his or her pyramid may have the potential to reach as high as the others may.   Remediation is not done at the school level or classroom level.  Remediation is done one student at a time with an Individual Learning Plan as the blueprint.

Teachers need access to resources that can introduce, reinforce, assess, or re-teach foundation skills in the various subjects, depending on a student’s needs. The Prior Knowledge Level (PKL) for a current skill will help the classroom teacher identify the skills a student needs to master before tackling the new skill. From there, the teacher can create an Individual Learning Plan for the student to fill in the gaps for skills that weren’t previously mastered..  Not only does a PKL identify the many prerequisite skills necessary, it provides links to activities, assessments, and other resources that will help the student master those skills. Teachers require many important components to create successful learners, the most vital being the means to identify important prerequisite skills and the resources to diagnose, teach and assess these important skills. 

Works Cited

Binder, Carl. Everybody Needs Fluency! International Society for Performance Improvement: Boston, MA. April 2003.

Burns, Susan, Peg Griffin, and Catherine Snow, eds. Starting Out Right. Washington, D.C.: National Academy P, 1999. 

Donovan, Suzanne, and John Bransford, eds. How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies P, 2005. 

Evers, Williamson, ed. What's Gone Wrong in America's Classrooms. Stanford: Hoover P, 1998. 

Friedman, Ian. Education Reform. New York: Facts on File, Inc, 2004. 

Hirsch, E.D. The Knowledge Deficit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006. 

McMillan, James H. Successful Literacy Passport Test Remediation: Strategies for

            Elementary and Middle School Students. Richmond: Metropolitan Educational    

            Research Consortium, 1995.   

Napper, Vicki, and Jonathan Hartsgrove, eds. Utah Students at Risk’s Online Staff  

           Development Academy. “Research into Practice: Implementing Effective  

            Teaching Strategies.” Accessed June 23, 2008.