Dr. Grace Cho, Chief Professor of the BCBA Graduate Program of Nam Seoul University (NSU) and Director of the South Korean Institute of ABA (SKIABA), is a board certified behavior analyst and Liaison of South Korea for the B. F. Skinner Foundation. She received her doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles in the field of Special Education. Dr. Cho established the board approved graduate program at NSU in Korea in 2007, which is the first program of its kind in Asia. Dr. Cho also provides teacher workshops every summer and winter for teachers of students with disabilities. These workshops were approved by the Department of Education in Korea. Since 2007, Dr. Cho has worked as a government researcher in Korea’s Social Welfare Department. Her responsibilities include developing a service delivery system, a five-year project directed towards enhancing the lives of people with disabilities in Korea. Dr. Cho has chaired the International ABA Conference of Autism and ADHD for Professionals, People with Disabilities, and Parents in Seoul, Korea in 2007 and 2008.
Prior to working at NSU, Dr. Cho was Executive Director of the Los Angeles based Asian Pacific Community Services (APAC) from 1994 to 2004. APAC is a community-based adult day program which specializes in helping people with disabilities of cultural and ethnic minorities from 14 nationalities. Dr. Cho also provided numerous workshops for the parents of children with disabilities.
In the past year, there has been a growing awareness of the need to help people with disabilities in Korea. The Korean government recognizes that the nation has been lagging in the knowledge of the most recent development in ABA. For this reason, the Education Department requires teachers to take workshops for positive behavior intervention in the classroom. With an existing grant from the Korean government, Dr. Cho has already been able to provide teacher workshops for behavior intervention. One drawback is that Dr. Cho does not have the necessary training materials in the Korean language for these teachers. Recently, Dr. Cho received a grant from NSU for $2,500 to cover the cost of translating Classroom Management: A California Resource Guide, which was developed and produced by the California Department of Education and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. It is a practical “how-to” manual that can be used with in-service training or as a teacher resource guide. The grant from NSU, however, will not cover the cost of publication of this translation.
With a SABA grant, Dr. Cho will be able to publish approximately 500 copies of this manual, which can be used during the workshops. Dr. Roy Mayer, the principal author, has secured authorization from the Los Angeles County Office of Education to publish a translation of this book. He is personally committed to helping Dr. Cho with the translation and in providing the best teacher workshops for positive behavior intervention. Ultimately, their goal is to improve the Korean school environment.