Greetings! In this issue of the BACB Newsletter, we’d like to let you know about a number of new developments, both recent and upcoming.
ACCREDITATION
Last summer, the BACB’s BCBA and BCABA credentialing programs were accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). NCCA is a Commission of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA). The NCCA accreditation process was challenging and exhilarating for the BACB in many ways.
As you may recall, the BACB did not have a typical growth cycle for credentialing organizations. Rather than evolve as a subcommittee of the national professional organization (what typically happens), the BACB evolved out of the certification program administered by the State of Florida. The BACB was able to develop and expand the Florida certification program to meet the local, national and international demands for certified professionals. This evolution put many strains on the BACB’s resources, including the BACB’s assumption of a great deal of the resources needed to conduct the most recent update to the Job Analysis.
The BACB’s consultants (psychometric and legal) advised the BACB to wait on applying for accreditation until such time as completion of the Job Analysis (2002-2003) update and implementation of the revised update in the examination specifications (2003-2005). Once the updated specifications were in place and the exams were
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modified accordingly (October 2005), the BACB was then ready to select an accrediting organization.
In the field of accreditation of professional certification programs, there are two major accrediting organizations. The first is NCCA, identified above. The second is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). On the advice of its consultants, the BACB began by applying for and ultimately obtaining NCCA accreditation for the BCBA and BCABA certification programs. It is possible that we also may apply for ANSI accreditation some time in the future.
So why is the BACB spending so much time and so many resources on being accredited? The answer is as simple as why professionals become certified. As noted by NOCA.org:
NCCA accreditation is a means of demonstrating to your board, your profession and your certificants that your certification has been reviewed by a panel of impartial experts that have determined that your program has met the stringent standards of NCCA. (See www.noca.org, emphasis added).
Accreditation is an important means by which the BACB can demonstrate the superior quality of its credentials to consumers, legislators, insurance companies, government agencies, and others. We hope that you will be as proud of the BACB’s accreditation as you are of your own professional credential.
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