Newsletter
Volume 29 | 2006 | Number 2
Education Board Update
By Dr. Pamela G. Osnes
Education Board Coordinator
The Board has had a productive year, with the following individuals participating in six teleconferences between October, 2005, and May, 2006: Judah Axe, Traci Cihon, Gwen Dwiggins, and Amanda Guld from The Ohio State University; Maryanne Budetti, Jamie Hughes, and Joel Vidovic from Behavior Analysts, Inc.; Jennifer Austin from California State University, Fresno; John Borrero from University of the Pacific; Ronnie Detrich from the Wing Institute; and Janet Twyman from Headsprout, Inc. The Board’s Committees consist of the Accreditation Board (Janet Twyman, past Chair, and John Borrero, current Chair) and the Council of Directors of Graduate Training Programs in Behavior Analysis (Jennifer Austin, Chair). The Board’s Subcommittees consist of Graduate Training Directory (Judah Axe, Chair); Syllabi Bank (Traci Cihon, Chair); Student Vita/START (Joel Vidovic, Chair); Agency-Based Behavior Analysis Training (Ronnie Detrich, Chair); and Employment Placement and Internship Site Identification and ABA Student Member Retention (Gwen Dwiggins, Chair). In addition, both Judah Axe and Gwen Dwiggins served as Administrative Assistants for the Board.
2005-2006 Goals and Progress Toward Their Achievement
Goal 1: Syllabi Bank
The syllabi bank has been updated with the syllabi recruited during 2004-2005. Syllabi submitted previously have been retained on the ABA Web site. Recruitment efforts have been recently resumed with a recruitment letter e-mailed to members of the Graduate Training Directory in April. Distance Learning Programs will be included in this recruitment effort. (see http://www.abainternational.org/BA/education/syllabi_bank_index.asp).
Goal 2: Identify Methods to Track and Increase Number of Student Vita in START
Variables were identified in 2004-2005 that may confound the ability to get an accurate count of new vs. remaining student vita in the system. These variables include the identification of an applicant as a student, the frequency of applicants updating their postings, and the removal of postings upon achieving employment. A process was identified this year that will result in a more accurate accounting of vita in the system, and measurement began in March.
Goal 3: Contact Internship Sites and Employers for Potential Postings on START and Analyze Responses to Determine Methods to Increase Postings
The letter written in 2004-2005 that was directed at employers and internship sites is undergoing revision and will be submitted to the Board for approval. After approval, it will be mailed in Fall 2006 to employers and internship sites. During the 2005-2006 year, the existing list of employers and internship sites was cross-referenced with the 2005 ABA convention program. This resulted in a current list of parties from whom to recruit updates and new additions to the START Web site for employment and internship positions.
Goal 4: Update the Graduate Training Directory (GTD)
At the request of the ABA Executive Council, the Board accepted the task of reviewing the GTD and making recommendations about methods by which to update it. After significant discussion across several months, the Board concluded the criteria for inclusion and for methods by which the information on the GTD is kept current after the initial updating process. The process includes:
- the Education Board will continue sending requests to programs to update their profiles on a regular basis and annually on October 1;
- if the Education Board agrees that a program might not offer a substantial level of behavior analysis after reviewing the updated information, a letter will be sent to that program requesting vita and syllabi; and
- if the Education Board decides that there is an insufficient level of behavior analysis after review of the vita and syllabi, a letter will be sent to the program recommending that they be removed from the GTD because they do not offer sufficient training in behavior analysis.
However, as long as there is one faculty member offering quality behavior analysis training in a program, that program will remain on the GTD. Finally, as a convenience to GTD visitors, a search mechanism has been recommended that allows people to search by Master’s programs, doctoral programs, and programs that offer BCBA pre-approved course sequences.
Goal 5: Creation of Agency-Based Behavior Analysis Training (ABBAT)
The purpose of ABBAT is to develop guidelines for agencies to use to influence the quality of the training for service providers. With the dramatic increase in the demand for behavioral service providers, there is a concomitant need to assure the ultimate consumers that these providers are well trained. Generally, these providers are not required to be certified through the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) and many of them do not meet the minimum requirements to become certified; yet they are responsible for both providing services and training other providers. A formal process to directly influence the training and indirectly influence the quality of the service does not exist at this point in time. Such a process is seen as impacting three consumer groups:
- the clients as ultimate consumer;
- the organizations that are hiring and training these service providers; and
- the trainee who will benefit from the quality training.
The primary activity of ABBAT this year has been to gather descriptions of training materials from exemplars currently providing training in service settings. After all materials have been gathered, they will be reviewed to determine common practices and from those practices a set of training guidelines will be developed. The target date for development of the guidelines is Spring 2007. ABBAT participants are: Ronnie Detrich (Chair, Wing Institute), Doug Greer (Columbia University and the CABAS Schools), Kent Johnson (Morningside Academy), Suzanne Letso (Connecticut Child Development Center), Jim McGimsey (AdvoServ), Bethany McNamara (New England Center for Children), Pamela Osnes (Behavior Analysts, Inc.), Dennis Reid (Carolina Behavior Analysis and Training Center), and Beth Sulzer-Azaroff (Brown Group).
Accreditation Board Update
Dr. Janet Twyman, past Chair and Dr. John Borrero, current Chair
Twelve universities have 15 accredited programs. One site visit was conducted in the past year, which resulted in the re-accreditation of Southern Illinois University’s M.S. Program in Behavior Analysis and Therapy from the Rehabilitation Institute within the College of Education and Human Services (2007-2012). Site visitors were Dr. John Borrero, University of the Pacific, and Dr. Michael Dorsey, Simmons College.
Dr. John Borrero accepted the appointment as Chair of the Accreditation Board (2006-2009). In May 2005, a six-person Accreditation Board was officially formed, with the following members and initial terms: Dr. Carl Cheney, Utah State University (3-year term), Dr. Alyce Dickenson, Western Michigan University (3-year term), Dr. Michael Dorsey, Simmons College (2-year term), Dr. Libby Street, Central Washington University (2-year term), Dr. Mark Galizio, University of North Carolina, Wilmington (1-year term), and Dr. Jennifer Austin, California State University-Fresno (serving a 1-year term as the representative of the Council of Directors of Graduate Training Programs in Behavior Analysis).
Updates to the Accreditation process and corresponding revisions to the Guidelines were approved by the ABA Executive Council at their November meeting. The revised Accreditation Manual has been placed on the Web and distributed to interested parties.
Council of Directors of Graduate Training Programs in Behavior Analysis (CoD)
Dr. Jennifer Austin, Chair
The Council currently has 25 members, including five international programs. The following annual goals for 2005-2006 were set forth by the members of the CoD:
- ensure that current CoD purposes as stated in the bylaws are consistent with the ABA Executive Council’s goals and objectives;
- strengthen the CoD’s collaboration with the ABA Accreditation Board and the Behavior Analysis Certification Board;
- facilitate sharing of information among graduate programs and provide support for new and existing programs; and
- expand CoD membership to include all graduate programs in behavior analysis, including international programs.