Launch Commit Criteria | What Must Be True Before We Proceed?

Quick Read

A readiness review gathers the evidence. Commit criteria turn that evidence into a decision rule.

The educational question is not “Is this learner a GO?” It is “What must be true about this capability, support level and set of conditions before the next planned move is justified?”

Commit criteria belong to the task and conditions, never to the learner’s identity.

One-Sentence Answer

Launch Commit Criteria are explicit, bounded conditions that define when a learner can reasonably proceed to greater independence, harder conditions or the next stage of Mathematics without relying on hidden support.

The Historical Anchor

Launch operations use commit criteria because proceeding depends on multiple operational conditions, not enthusiasm or schedule alone. Weather, range, systems and other requirements may all matter.

The educational translation is limited but useful: important learning transitions should be governed by conditions relevant to the task. NASA does not prove pedagogy; it offers a disciplined analogy for explicit proceed/hold rules.

Criteria Should Be Written About Capability

Weak language says: “This student is ready for algebra.” Better language says: “Independent linear-equation route selection is sufficiently stable across familiar and changed representations to reduce method prompting.”

The second statement is longer, but it is also safer and more useful. It names what is being released and what support is changing.

Five Parts of a Good Commit Criterion

1. Capability: what exact mathematical job is under decision?
2. Evidence: what observable performance supports the claim?
3. Support level: what help is still attached?
4. Conditions: under what representation, timing or load has the capability been demonstrated?
5. Next move: what specifically changes if the criterion is met?

A Mathematics Example

Suppose a P6 learner has been using a bar model for ratio problems. The relevant commit criterion should not be “ratio mastered”.

A stronger criterion might be: the learner can identify the ratio relationship, choose whether a bar model is useful and solve changed-context questions accurately without the Tutor supplying the representation.

If that is consistently observed, one support can be disconnected: the Tutor stops drawing or suggesting the bar model first.

The consequence of meeting a criterion should be a specific transfer of control.

Not Every Condition Has to Be Perfect

Commit criteria are minimum justified conditions, not a demand for perfection. A learner may still make ordinary arithmetic slips while being ready to own method selection. Another may be conceptually secure but not yet ready for severe time pressure.

The decision should preserve the capabilities already earned while holding only the unresolved boundary.

GO, HOLD and RECYCLE as Educational Decisions

• Proceed: the planned next move is justified by current evidence.
• Hold: the planned move is not yet justified under the stated conditions.
• Recycle: reconfigure support, repair an earlier dependency or gather more informative evidence, then test again.

These are decisions about the learning configuration. They are never categories of child.

Common Commit-Criteria Errors

• Identity language: task state becomes a judgement of the learner.
• Vague criteria: “understands topic” cannot guide support removal precisely.
• Score-only criteria: marks are used without considering prompts, task form or transfer.
• Moving criteria: adults keep adding requirements after the learner meets the original boundary.
• No consequence: the learner meets the criterion but support never actually reduces.

Criteria Should Be Known Where Useful

Learners often benefit from understanding the boundary they are working toward. “When you can choose the route on three changed questions without me naming the method, I will stop giving the method cue” is transparent and motivating.

This makes support reduction predictable rather than arbitrary.

Conditions Matter

The same capability may meet commit criteria under ordinary homework conditions but remain on hold under examination time pressure. That is not a contradiction. It is a more accurate description of capability × conditions.

The Tutorial can then work specifically on the condition that still limits reliable operation.

Parent Decision Guide

• What exact capability is my child being asked to own next?
• What evidence must be present before support reduces?
• Are the conditions stated clearly?
• If the criterion is met, what control actually transfers to my child?
• If the criterion is not met, is the response a specific repair rather than a global judgement?

Frequently Asked Questions

Are commit criteria just pass marks?

No. They can include marks, but also independence, representation choice, transfer, retention, support level and relevant conditions.

Can different students have different criteria?

The mathematical capability may be shared while the immediate support-removal boundary differs because the learners are starting from different states.

What happens when a criterion is missed?

The Tutorial narrows the cause, repairs or reconfigures, and retests. Missing a criterion is information about the current learning state, not a moral failure.

The Long Arc

Mature learners set their own commit criteria. Before an examination, project or professional task, they decide what evidence would convince them that a capability is ready for use and what conditions still require rehearsal.

Independent judgement grows when the learner can say not only “I think I know this,” but “Here is the evidence that justifies my next move.”