Association for Behavior Analysis International

This symposium introduces an actionable method of collaboration between behavior analysts and other professionals within special education. The presenter will review high level practices for students with disabilities which were identified by the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) to help close the research-to-practice gap in schools. The presenter will explicitly connect special education teacher training to standards in applied behavior analysis, establishing alignment and a common language between behavior analysts and teachers in early childhood through Grade 12.

Knowledge of special education in public schools Experience with school based behavior analysis Knowledge of behavior analytic teaching procedures

Only 5% of school-based BCBAs report addressing academic deficits according to a recent survey (Lyons, 2023), yet many evidence-based academic interventions in education have roots in behavior science. Despite the overlap between behavior analytic and typical educational academic interventions, a communication gap remains between behavior analysts and teachers. High leverage practices (HLPs) for students with disabilities, which were identified by the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) to help close the research-to-practice gap, are effective practices for students in all settings (McLeskey et al., 2019). HLPs are at the forefront of teacher training in special education though school-based behavior analysts are unlikely to have learned about them in their university training. The authors propose a crosswalk that aligns the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) test content items to HLPs for students with disabilities to increase collaboration between behavior analysts and special education teachers, address the research-to-practice gap in special education, and bridge behavior analysis and special education. Of the 22 HLPs for students with disabilities, the authors propose that 18 are highly aligned, one is partially aligned, and three are connected to the BACB test content items.