Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Early Learner Curriculum Achievement Record (ELCAR; Greer, Speckman, Dudek, Cahill, Weber, Du, & Longano, 2020) is a comprehensive criterion-referenced assessment and curriculum used to determine the presence or absence of repertoires and response classes across self-management, verbal foundations, listener, speaker, academic, and physical (fine/gross motor) domains, allowing for development of an individualized curriculum. The ELCAR also includes screenings for preferences/reinforcers, observing responses, verbal operants, and instructional readiness. Screenings can be used to guide instructional practices, determine when and if protocols to induce early learner cusps and capabilities are needed, whether cusps/capabilities have been acquired, and to measure progress and learning. Early foundational protocols have been found to condition: three-dimensional and/or two-dimensional stimuli, faces, and voices, resulting in increases in observing responses, instructional readiness repertoires, and newly learned operants. The ELCAR provides a means for an ongoing assessment of all repertoires, cusps, and capabilities. As the child continues to learn and acquire new reinforcers, teachers may also need to adjust and analyze the curricular objectives, method of instructional delivery, and graphic displays to provide the most effective and efficient instruction for each student. A curriculum analysis, which consists of a series of questions, can be conducted if the instructional programs being presented are aligned with what the child needs and are appropriate for that child.

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