What Is the Purpose of Fieldwork?

You may wonder, “Why is fieldwork even required?” or “Why does it have to be so complicated?” The truth is, supervised fieldwork is where academic learning meets the real world, making it a cornerstone of the certification process. It’s where you take what you’ve learned in your coursework and apply it in real-life settings, working directly with individuals receiving behavior-analytic services under the guidance of a qualified BCBA.

The term fieldwork was chosen intentionally; it’s all about gaining hands-on experience in real-world environments with actual clients, not simulated ones. During your fieldwork, you and your supervisor must have a formal relationship with these clients. This could occur in a few different ways. For example, you and your supervisor may work for the same organization that is providing behavior-analytic services, or you may both have a service contract with the same client or organization. The key is that the clients are real people receiving services, and your work with them is part of your supervised experience. It’s your chance to practice, collaborate, and grow while receiving meaningful feedback and support.

In this blog post, we’ll break down some common hot topics about fieldwork to help you feel more confident and informed. Let’s get started!

Unrestricted Hours

To become a BCaBA or a BCBA, you need to practice tasks that professionals in these roles perform every day. Because these are the activities you should be practicing the most during your supervised fieldwork, there is no maximum limit on how many hours you may accrue engaging in these activities; therefore, they are called unrestricted activities. Trainees pursuing BCBA certification must complete at least 60% of their supervised fieldwork hours as unrestricted activities, while those pursuing BCaBA certification must complete at least 40%. This ensures you are well-prepared for professional practice after certification.

You may be wondering which activities count toward this category of fieldwork hours. Instead of providing direct therapy to clients, unrestricted hours are the activities related to your clients’ care in which a BCBA or BCaBA would typically engage.

If we zoom in, this could include behavior-analytic activities such as:

• conducting intake interviews with clients and stakeholders
• designing or evaluating data collection systems for clients
• writing behavior intervention plans (e.g., skill acquisition or behavior reduction plans)
• conducting a risk-benefit analysis before implementing an intervention with a client
• providing feedback to RBTs on their implementation of a behavior intervention plan
• developing a discharge plan for fading services
• many other behavior-analytic activities directly related to client services

Zooming back out to the big picture, remember that both unrestricted and restricted fieldwork activities must be behavior-analytic in nature and must be related to your clients’ services. Activities such as coding, billing, studying for the certification exam, or non-behavior-analytic trainings such as CPR would not count as fieldwork hours. Other activities that do not count as fieldwork hours include:

• readings or research unrelated to current clients
• attending conferences or ACE events
• listening to podcasts
• reviewing case studies or hypothetical scenarios
• completing homework from a university training program
• teaching at RBT Professional Development events

For more examples of appropriate activities in the unrestricted hours category, check out the Fieldwork Checklist and Tip Sheet, which includes a list of potential fieldwork activities and how they are classified. Once you feel confident that you understand which activities fall into the unrestricted hours category, take our Fieldwork Self-Assessment and see how you do!

Finding a Good Supervisor Match

When choosing a supervisor, it’s essential to find someone who is competent in the specific areas of practice where you need guidance. A strong supervisor should not only have expertise in your focus areas, but also be able and willing to give meaningful, timely feedback that supports your learning and professional growth. Additionally, high-quality supervision depends on a supervisor who is organized, experienced, and intentional about how they structure your training.

It’s equally important that your supervisor communicates expectations clearly from the start and provides a thorough, well-designed supervision contract. This helps ensure that both parties understand their roles, responsibilities, and goals, and it sets the foundation for a productive and supportive supervision experience.

Remote Supervision

If you live somewhere with few supervision options, you might ask, “Do I have to move to earn supervised fieldwork hours?” The answer is: not always. In some cases, remote supervision can help you meet requirements without having to move or drive long distances. However, these cases are limited and certain restrictions apply. Here are the key requirements to keep in mind:

• Client Connection. All fieldwork hours and supervision must involve real clients. Remote supervision is allowed only if the BCBA supervisor already knows and oversees the clients you work with. Observations and meetings can happen online, but clients must know about and agree to any remote observation or other virtual activity during treatment.
• State Licensing. Some states require your supervisor to hold a license in the same state where you are providing services—even if the supervision happens remotely. For example, if you live in State A, you may not legally be able to receive supervision from a BCBA who is only licensed in State B.

For these reasons, trainees and supervisors should exercise caution when considering remote supervision of fieldwork hours.

Fieldwork Documentation Software

Before you start your supervised fieldwork hours, it is very important that you create a system to document your fieldwork hours. Your supervisor may help you or provide suggestions on how to most effectively track your hours. There are also many software trackers available to document your fieldwork hours.

Ultimately, you are responsible for meeting the supervised fieldwork requirements and creating and maintaining documentation that demonstrates that you met those requirements. If you purchase software to help with this task, double-check to make sure the calculations are correct because the BACB does not work with or endorse any of these products. If you create your own system, read through the documentation requirements carefully to ensure that your system tracks all required activities. Regardless of which system you use, be sure to review it with your supervisor and update it frequently.

Supervised Fieldwork and the Test Content Outline (TCO)

The Test Content Outline (formerly known as the Task List) describes the content covered on the certification examination. Although some of the content on the BCBA or BCaBA TCOs may be appropriate for fieldwork activities, they are not supervised fieldwork curricula. Although some tasks in the TCOs are appropriate for fieldwork, some are not, and there are many applied skills that should be taught during fieldwork that are not included on the TCOs. For more information about what the TCO is and is not, please check out the “Reconsidering the Task List” section of February 2022 BACB Newsletter.

Beyond what is stated in the fieldwork requirements, the BACB does not specify which tasks or skills need to be covered during fieldwork hours because the BCBA/BCaBA certification is in applied behavior analysis, and it is not population specific. Some trainees plan to work with individuals with disabilities, some in health and fitness, some with organizations, etc. This is why it is important to have a discussion with your supervisor at the beginning of the supervision relationship about opportunities available within the setting where you are accruing fieldwork hours and about your professional goals once you are certified. Your supervisor can then develop a competency-based plan to help you develop the skills you will need to achieve your professional goals. For example, if you want to focus on skills acquisition for young children with autism, you and your supervisor should create a list of skills that you need to develop and practice, such as specific skill assessments, etc.

Supervised Fieldwork Curricula

Speaking of fieldwork curricula, there are supervision curriculum products available to support supervised fieldwork. Like the fieldwork documentation software, be cautious of any curriculum that guarantees fieldwork hours will count or be accepted by the BACB, and only use curricula that meet the BACB requirements for fieldwork.

For example, a supervision curriculum should be structured so the supervisor can easily access content to help them guide you on topics related to your clients’ current needs and use it as a supplemental resource to help systematically evaluate your competencies. If something in the curriculum seems questionable—such as completing simulated client activities not related to your actual clients for fieldwork hours—always double-check the BCaBA or BCBA Handbooks to ensure the supervision is meeting the fieldwork requirements.

Keep in Mind

The purpose of fieldwork hours (and all the certification requirements) is to make sure you are prepared to practice as a BCBA or BCaBA. As a reminder, the requirements were developed by subject matter experts who have experience implementing them. They know what is feasible and which activities trainees should practice throughout the experience—they developed these requirements with the goal of helping you have a successful and meaningful experience. So, focus on making the most of the experience, and before you know it, you’ll be applying for the exam!