Newsletter
Volume 28 | 2005 | Number 3
Behavior Analyst Certification Board® Update
By Gerald L. Shook, Ph.D., BCBA
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board will introduce new examination instruments based on the new Third Edition Task List for the December 2005 examination administrations. The examinations will be administered in a new computer-based testing format delivered through the Pearson VUE (www.pearsonvue.com) network of high-security, standardized testing centers. Pearson VUE will have over 200 testing sites in the US and over 150 sites outside the US available for BACB® candidates (all non-US sites will not be available until 2006), with no restrictions on the number of candidates required per site. Once approved by the BACB, candidates will contact Pearson VUE to schedule a testing appointment at their local test site during the upcoming two-week testing window (the December 2005 window is from December 5th to 18th). A computer-based testing tutorial is available at http://pearsonvue.com/sponsors/tutorial/ on the Pearson VUE website to acquaint individuals with that testing format. Beginning in 2006, the BACB will increase the opportunity for examination by providing three two-week administration windows per year rather than the current annual two one-day administrations.
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board is phasing-in new experience qualification standards for individuals applying to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst™ (BCBA®) and Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst™ (BCABA®) examinations. The new experience standards include options for BACB approved university-based practica. Practica will be approved only in universities with existing BACB approved course sequences, however universities with approved course may elect not to offer approved practica and continue to offer the approved coursework. On a time-limited basis, applicants may choose between the old and new BCBA, or old and new BCABA experience requirements. Individuals who begin accumulating experience after July 1, 2006 must do so under the new standards. All experience begun after September 1, 2006 must be supervised by a BCBA.