Standards for
Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst™ (BCaBA®)

Also see: BCBA Standards

Acceptance of "Old" Experience To Be Phased-Out  Effective 10/01/10 "Old" experience will not be accepted to qualify for examination and only "new" experience will be accepted.  All applications for examination using "old" experience must be complete applications and be received before 10/01/10.

Acceptance of Florida Non-University Classes To Be Phased-Out Effective 10/01/10 Florida Non-University classes will not be accepted to qualify for examination and only university coursework will be accepted.  All applications for examination using Florida Non-university classes must be complete applications and be received before 10/01/10.

CHANGES IN THE STANDARDS
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that they apply under the current BACB Standards. The current BACB Standards will be posted on the BACB website. The BACB Standards are subject to revision in the sole discretion of the BACB Board of Directors. Whenever possible, advance notice of any substantial standard changes will also be posted at this website.

Eligibility to sit for the BCaBA certification examination requires completion of Sections A, and B below and compliance with all other rules and requirements of the BACB.
 


A. Degree Requirement: Possession of a minimum of a bachelor's degree from any of the following:

  1. United States or Canadian institution of higher education fully or provisionally accredited by a regional, state, provincial or national accrediting body; or
  2. An institution of higher education located outside the United States or Canada that, at the time the applicant was enrolled and at the time the applicant graduated, maintained a standard of training equivalent to the standards of training of those institutions accredited in the United States.

B. Coursework and Experience Requirements

  1. Coursework: The applicant must complete 135 classroom hours of instruction (see Definition of Terms below) in the following content areas and for the number of hours specified:
      1. Ethical considerations – 10 hours
      2. Definition & characteristics and Principles, processes & concepts - 40 hours
      3. Behavioral assessment and Selecting intervention outcomes & strategies - 25 hours
      4. Experimental evaluation of interventions, & Measurement of behavior and Displaying & interpreting behavioral data - 20 hours
      5. Behavioral change procedures and Systems support 40 hours

    Acceptable Coursework: Instruction of the type(s) specified in either a, b, or c, below, will be accepted toward the coursework requirement.

      1. College or university courses in behavior analysis, that are taken from an institution that meets the requirements specified in Section A.
      2. Non-college or university courses approved for this purpose by the State of Florida (subject to rules).
      3. A combination of college or university courses and approved courses.
        One semester credit is equivalent to 15 hours of instruction and one quarter credit is equivalent to 10 hours of instruction.

     

  2. Experience:

New experience standards for qualifying for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCABA) examinations were adopted and posted on BACB.com on March 17, 2005.   The new standards will be phased-in as follows:

 

In General:  Individuals may not mix experience accumulated under the old standards with experience accumulated under the new standards to qualify for examination – all experience must be obtained either under the old standards or under the new standards.

 

Prior to July 1, 2006:  Individuals may begin accumulating experience either under the old experience standards or under the new experience standards.

  • Individuals who begin accumulating experience under the old standards prior to July 1, 2006 must complete their experience under the old standards by July 1, 2007.  This means that individuals may need to accumulate their experience under supervision rather than mentoring to accumulate the required amount of experience by July 1, 2007.  Individuals accumulating experience under the old standards may use a mixture of Supervision and Mentoring as long as they have sufficient experience by July 1, 2007.

  • Individuals who begin accumulating experience under the new standards prior to July 1, 2006 will not have the abovementioned time limits imposed on completing their experience.  Individuals accumulating experience under the new standards may use a mixture of Supervised Independent Fieldwork, Practicum, and Intensive Practicum.

On July 1, 2006 and Thereafter:  Individuals who begin accumulating experience after this date must do so under the new standards.  Individuals accumulating experience under the new standards may use a mixture of Supervised Independent Fieldwork, Practicum, and Intensive Practicum.

OLD EXPERIENCE STANDARDS - BCaBA

NEW EXPERIENCE STANDARDS - BCaBA

 

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Also see: BCBA Standards



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