Milestones Mark Progress. Programs Make Progress.
The magic’s in the middle.
Have you ever meet a new BCBA who's absolutely crushing their VB-MAPP milestones, but their learner still isn’t really learning? I have.
More times than I can count.
They’re checking off boxes. Running through assessments like it’s a to-do list. Milestone after milestone after milestone. Looks good on paper. But there’s a dirty little secret underneath it all: they’re teaching to the test.
Not good!
To start, we have to understand what an assessment is. VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R, AFLS are assessments. An assessment is a tool for measuring progress. An assessment is a map to ensure the learner is headed in the right direction.
But they’re not the road.
And this is where BCBAs can get tangled and confused. They sometimes think a milestone is a program—all they have to do is teach that milestone and viola! If we confuse milestones for programming, we run the risk of making it look like the learner’s progressing…when they’re actually just passing the quiz we’re prepping them for.
For example, a fresh BCBA looks at the VB-MAPP and sees the learner didn’t hit Imitation 3M: “Imitates 8 motor movements, 2 involving objects.” So that becomes the program. They pick 8 movements and two objects. They teach eight movements across two objects. And the kiddo masters the eight movements across two objects.
Great!
But, here’s where they make a mistake. Once these programs are mastered, they simply move on to teach the next milestone “spontaneously imitates 5 motor behaviors of others” (Imitation 4M). Seems logical, right?
Wrong.
That jump? It’s a cliff. There’s no bridge built. We just handed the learner a unicycle and pointed them at a tightrope. And if they fall, we blame their attention span or their motivation instead of recognizing that we skipped all the scaffolding.
You see, we have to teach all the skills IN-BETWEEN the milestones to MEET the milestones.
That’s the real issue. Milestones aren't written to be taught linearly. They weren’t designed to be your program book. They’re the result of great programming—not the source of it. That middle ground? The skills between the milestones? That’s where the real magic is. That’s where the work happens.
So why do we fall into this trap?
Easy: we’re overwhelmed. We're undertrained. We’re pressed for time and trying to justify treatment to payers. Sometimes we just don’t know what else to do—and nobody’s showed us how. And I get it. Innovation is hard. It’s harder when your plate is full and your confidence is thin.
But there’s a better way.
Start with a component-composite analysis. Break down the skill you think you want, and then get real about what it’s made of. What comes before it? What has to be fluent before spontaneous imitation even makes sense? Build backwards. Create the bridge. That’s programming.
And if you’re a supervisor? Talk about this stuff. Call it out in meetings. Show your team the difference between an assessment and a program. Make component analysis part of your training. And for the love of reinforcement, stop using the VB-MAPP as your primary programming guide.
Progress isn’t just checking boxes. It’s growth. It’s flexibility. It’s skill generalization and fluency and confidence.
So yeah, teaching to the test looks good in a treatment plan. But teaching the actual skills? That’s what gets our learners where they need to go.
Martin Myers is a BCBA with a passion for helping improve the field of ABA. He is the creator of BxMastery, with over 4,000 goal ideas, sequenced, to inspire your programming. With 10+ years of experience in the field, he’s dedicated to empowering others and fostering positive change through effective leadership and communication. Connect with Martin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more insights and updates.