An ABA trials to criterion data sheet counts eligible learning opportunities from a declared phase start through the trial that first completes a predeclared performance rule. Initial responses, prompts, corrections, probe conditions, invalid attempts, sessions, and elapsed days belong in separate fields. A smaller count can describe faster acquisition under those exact conditions, but it does not prove maintenance, generalization, treatment superiority, or client benefit.

Clinicians & ABA Professionals / Assessment and Treatment Planning.

This worksheet preserves the cumulative path to a criterion instead of displaying only the last successful block. The form does not choose the goal, teaching procedure, prompt rule, criterion, trial dose, or transition decision. Those choices require qualified clinical judgment, current assessment and treatment information, client participation, applicable authorization, and local requirements.

Define the phase before counting trials

The current BCBA Test Content Outline, Sixth Edition identifies trials to criterion as an efficiency measure and separately addresses measurement validity, representative data, graphing, assessment, intervention selection, and maintenance. It is certification content, not a default mastery rule.

The phase contract needs to be complete before the first eligible trial. If a response definition, teaching procedure, criterion, prompt treatment, or eligible-trial rule changes materially, the existing phase should close and a new version should begin.

Phase contractEntryClient or authorized case codeClient-selected or informed goalTarget and phase versionPhase start date and first eligible trialObservable initial responseEligible opportunity and trial boundaryCorrect, incorrect, prompted, no-response, and invalid codesPrompt and correction treatmentTeaching, probe, maintenance, and generalization labelsPredeclared performance levelWindow or block sizeRequired consecutive windows, sessions, people, or settingsCriterion-completion rulePause, reset, and phase-change rulesClient communication, choice, assent, and dissent planAccessibility and ordinary supportsSafety and immediate stop conditionsResponsible clinician and review trigger

Avoid shorthand such as “80% mastery” unless the record also says 80% of what, under which response and prompt rules, across how many trials or sessions, and in which conditions.

Blank cumulative trial ledger

Number eligible trials consecutively within one phase. Log invalid or blocked attempts, but do not assign them eligible-trial numbers or recode them as errors.

Date and sessionAttempt orderEligible trial numberTeaching or probeTarget or exemplarInitial responsePrompt before initial response?Correction or retryValid?Client communication or contextObserver1Yes / no2Yes / no3Yes / no4Yes / no5Yes / no6Yes / no7Yes / no8Yes / no9Yes / no10Yes / no

Initial response, corrected response, and retry answer different questions. All three should remain available when the plan calls for them, and a successful correction should not replace the initial code.

Track criterion windows without losing exposure

Window or blockEligible trial rangeConditionIndependent correctOther initial outcomesPerformanceCriterion component met?Integrity or data-quality noteYes / noYes / noYes / no

If the rule requires consecutive windows, preserve every intervening window. A failed window may restart the consecutive count without restarting the cumulative trial count, unless the authorized phase rule says otherwise.

Phase summary and review

Phase quantityCount or findingAttempted opportunitiesEligible trialsInvalid or blocked attempts, with reasonsInstructional trialsProbe trialsSessions with eligible trialsCalendar days from first eligible trial through criterion completionCriterion-completion trialTrials to criterionEligible trial number that first completes the declared rulePrompt, correction, and retry distributionProcedure-integrity evidenceObserver-quality evidenceClient experience, preference, assent, or dissent evidenceMaintenance or generalization evidenceMissing or conflicting evidenceQualified decision, rationale, owner, and next review

Trials, sessions, and elapsed time are not interchangeable. Twenty trials delivered in one day represent a different exposure history from twenty trials spread across several weeks. Report the units separately.

Fictional completed example

These data are invented for arithmetic review. Case T is not a real client, and the target, procedure, criterion, schedule, and decision are not recommendations.

Case T has a fictional goal involving an accessible message to request a missing work material. The phase rule defines an independent response as the agreed spoken, signed, selected, or AAC-generated message before a prompt. The fictional criterion is at least four independent initial responses in five eligible probe trials across two consecutive probe blocks. The rule and two-block requirement were written before the phase began.

SessionAttempted opportunitiesEligible trialsInvalid attemptsCondition and result1660Instructional trials 1–6; three independent initial responses2761Instructional trials 7–12; one blocked attempt lacks the required material3550Probe A, trials 13–17; four independent of five4651Probe B, trials 18–22; five independent of five; one attempt interrupted before the cue

The attempted-opportunity total is 6 + 7 + 5 + 6 = 24. Two attempts are invalid and remain documented with reasons, leaving 22 eligible trials. Instruction accounts for trials 1–12, and the two probes account for trials 13–22.

Probe A is 4 divided by 5, or 80.0%. Probe B is 5 divided by 5, or 100.0%. The second qualifying probe ends on eligible trial 22, so the fictional trials-to-criterion value is 22. Four sessions contain eligible trials, and six calendar days pass from the first eligible trial to trial 22.

The final 100.0% probe does not replace the cumulative value. Likewise, 22 trials does not show maintenance, performance with another partner, independence in a natural routine, acceptability, or whether the procedure caused the change. Those remain separate evidence streams.

Reset the phase when the measurement contract changes

A corrected arithmetic error can remain within the same phase if the underlying contract did not change. A new response definition, easier or harder target set, different prompt treatment, changed criterion, new trial boundary, or materially different teaching procedure can make the old and new trials incomparable. Close the original phase, preserve its count, and begin a new phase with a documented reason.

Renaming a target after criterion is met would erase its longer acquisition path. Unrelated targets also need separate efficiency values. When a temporary pause occurs without a contract change, the phase can remain open while the gap is reported in elapsed days.

Compare counts only under sufficiently similar conditions

A lower count may reflect faster acquisition. It may also reflect stronger baseline skill, an easier target set, a less demanding criterion, more intrusive prompts, denser reinforcement, shorter gaps, different materials, more experienced implementers, or more favorable opportunities. Describe these conditions before comparing targets, people, settings, or procedures.

An assessment-based instruction tutorial discusses sessions to mastery and comparisons between instructional arrangements within its specific assessment framework. That framework does not turn an ordinary clinical phase ledger into an experimental comparison.

Read mastery research cautiously

A preliminary analysis of mastery criterion level studied selected criteria and later maintenance with three participants under the reported procedures. A descriptive review of mastery criteria and maintenance found varied and incompletely reported practices in the sampled literature. A comparison of discrete-trial data-collection methods showed that first-trial and fuller data could yield different apparent acquisition points. Earlier continuous and discontinuous skill-acquisition measurement research likewise illustrates how the observation schedule can affect the result.

These studies support stating the measurement and criterion rules. They do not establish one universal percentage, block size, trial count, prompt arrangement, or mastery decision for every client and skill.

The CASP ABA Practice Guidelines access page identifies Version 3.0 and its licensing conditions. When they apply, the licensed guidelines should be consulted directly. This worksheet neither reproduces them nor certifies compliance.

Preserve client access and record integrity

The current ASHA AAC practice guidance provides context for multimodal communication. AAC, interpreters, adaptive materials, sensory supports, mobility supports, breaks, food, water, bathroom access, prescribed care, and emergency help should remain available. Define independence around the authorized support conditions rather than removing ordinary access to manufacture a cleaner score.

The BACB Ethics Codes hub identifies current controlling materials. The linked Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts covers professional competence, confidentiality and records, assessment and behavior-change programs, consent, client welfare, and accurate data. Application remains role- and context-specific.

Trial data belong in an authorized system. The current HHS Security Rule risk-analysis guidance explains risk analysis for regulated organizations but does not approve a spreadsheet, device, app, message, or retention period. Corrections, access controls, signatures, exports, and required record links remain subject to applicable policy and law.

Version and correction log

DatePhase versionOriginal entryCorrected entry or new phaseReason and source evidenceAuthorized byTrial range affectedSummaries affected

The original trial record should remain available, with late entries and recalculations labeled. A criterion should never be backdated, and invalid attempts should not be recoded as errors to change the apparent efficiency.

Stop and route concerns

Pause counting when the target, phase, eligible-trial rule, prompt code, criterion, responsible clinician, client authorization, safety plan, or record destination is unclear. Use the appropriate clinical or emergency route for acute risk, distress, assent withdrawal, inaccessible communication, an unexpected adverse effect, a material implementation deviation, suspected data alteration, or work outside the person's competence.

A criterion marker is a review trigger, not an automatic clinical decision. Preserve uncertainty and obtain qualified review before changing teaching, support, service intensity, generalization, maintenance, or transition plans.

Related resources

Sources