Criterion Referenced Instruction

About CRI

When you're training people to master important skills, you can't afford uncertain results.

That's why we offer Criterion Referenced Instruction.

Criterion Referenced Instruction (CRI), developed by Dr. Robert Mager and Peter Pipe, is a proven methodology virtually guaranteeing that those who pass the course assessment can perform skills reliably and confidently to the standards you set.

CRI gives you a process for success:

1. First, we evaluate your company's goals against current performance to see clearly what needs improving to meet those goals. This streamlines and focuses the project, omitting the unnecessary effort and expense often wasted on extraneous development.
2. Then we work together to define concrete, measurable objectives from your goals, creating criteria for success. We also explore what these goals mean to the learners so we can integrate powerful motivational messages into their learning materials.
3. Once we know the criteria, we figure out what behavior proves mastery of the objectives to the level you have specified.
4. Then we develop an assessment to demonstrate mastery. This could range from using a checklist properly to passing a government compliance test to fixing a broken elevator.
5. Next, we design the right practice so learners can internalize the skills they need to pass the assessment.
6. And finally, we design the training or other support that teaches learners whatever they need to practice.

If you have already done any or all of these steps, we can use whatever you've done to shorten the process. Whenever possible, we also take a baseline before implementing the program, so you can measure the results.

I am a certified CRI practitioner. I received my instructional design degree from the Center for Effective Performance, the world’s foremost authority on CRI and the exclusive owner of all Dr. Mager's Criterion Referenced Instruction products. Contact us for more details on how CRI can be your company's yardstick for success!