Association for Behavior Analysis International Accreditation Board

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Accreditation Board's mission is to establish and implement standards for the accreditation of educational programs in behavior analysis.

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Accreditation Standards

Accreditation Standards

In 2015 the ABAI Accreditation Board approved the Accreditation Standards outlined below. The standards remain in effect for all behavior analysis training programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. 

 

 

1. Mission

The program has a mission which is its specific purpose for existing.

 

1-100

The program articulates its mission, together with a set of objectives to accomplish it, in a mission statement.

1-101

The mission of the program is congruent with the mission and goals of ABAI and the institution where it resides, and appropriate to the science and practice of behavior analysis.

1-102

The mission statement of the program is readily available to the public. The mission statement must be readily understandable by prospective students, parents, the public, and other educational programs.

 

2. Curriculum

The program implements a clear and coherent curriculum plan that provides the means whereby all students can demonstrate substantial understanding and competence in areas pertinent to the program’s mission, and recognize the value of life-long learning.

 

2-100

The curriculum promotes knowledge of contemporary issues in the field, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and mastery of technologies necessary to conduct research.

2-101

The program’s education, training, and socialization experiences are characterized by mutual respect, courtesy, and professionalism.

2-102

The faculty regularly reviews student learning outcomes to evaluate student progress.

2-103

The faculty regularly reviews student learning outcomes to evaluate and improve the program.

2-104

Program duration is appropriate for the level of degree offered.

2-105

The program encourages the faculty’s innovation and creativity in the methods of instruction and modes of delivery.

2-106

Practicum environments, including arrangements for supervision, are sufficient in number and quality to support the achievement of student learning outcomes and program objectives.

2-107

Written agreements for practicum agencies are current, specify expectations for all parties, and ensure the protection of students.

2-108

Research environments are sufficient in number and quality to support the achievement of student learning outcomes and program objectives.

2-109

The program provides adequate training and supervision by behavior analysts with expertise in the subject and methods of the research.

2-110

The program evaluates and considers awarding proper academic credit for courses taken at institutions that are accredited by organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or other international authorities that satisfy current program course requirements.

2-111

The program makes its policies on transfer of credit readily accessible to prospective and enrolled students.

 

3. Outcomes Assessment

Essential to the accreditation review process are the outcomes of the program’s training efforts. Fair and reasonable outcomes assessment protects the interests of the program and the public. The program’s overall outcomes are assessed in the context of various outcome measures.

 

3-100

Time to completion for all students entering the program.

3-101

Graduation rates and attrition.

3-102

Success rate on Behavior Analyst Certification Board examination.

3-103

Success rate on state licensing examinations.

3-104

Admissions data: numbers of students who applied, were admitted, and enrolled. For admitted students, scores on standardized tests and undergraduate grade point average.

3-105

Job placement of graduates.

3-106

List of final projects (if required by the program), undergraduate or master’s theses (if required by the program), and dissertations (if required by the program), including the title, and the supervising faculty member. If the work is in a language other than English, provide an English version of the title and abstract. 

3-107

List of publications (in APA format) with students as authors or co-authors. If the work is in a language other than English, provide an English translation.

3-108

List of conference presentations (in APA format) with students as authors or co-authors. If the work is in a language other than English, provide an English translation.

3-109

Public online posting of items 3-100 through 3-104 is achieved in a format provided by the ABAI Accreditation Board.

 

4. Administration

The program is an integral part of its sponsoring institution and it is governed by its faculty as led by a qualified core member of the faculty.

 

4-100

The program is an integral part of the mission of the academic department, college, school, or institution in which it resides.

4-101

The program may consist of, or be located under, a single administrative entity (institution, agency, school, department, etc.) or may take the form of a consortium. A consortium is comprised of multiple independently administered entities which have, in writing, formally agreed to pool resources to conduct a training or education program. Written consortial agreements should articulate:

4-101-00

The nature and characteristics of the participating entities.

4-101-01

The rationale for the consortial partnership.

4-101-02

Each partner’s commitment to the training/education program, its philosophy, model, and goals.

4-101-03

Each partner’s obligations regarding contributions and access to resources.

4-101-04

Each partner’s adherence to central control and coordination of the training program.

4-101-05

Each partner’s commitment to uniform administration and implementation of the program’s training principles, policies, and procedures addressing trainee/student admission, financial support, training resource access, potential performance expectations, and evaluations.

4-102

The program has an organized administrative structure and decision-making process that incorporates the program faculty and input from its students.

4-103

The coordinator is a doctoral-level behavior analyst and a full-time member of the core faculty, whose training and experience equip them to lead the program. The coordinator has adequate time and resources to fulfill the role’s responsibilities.

 

5. Resources

The program has fiscal, physical, and learning resources adequate to fulfill its mission.

 

5-100

Fiscal resources are sustainable, sufficient to ensure the achievement of the student learning outcomes and program outcomes, and commensurate with the resources of the governing organization.

5-101

Physical resources, including research, teaching, and practical training facilities, are sufficient to ensure the achievement of program outcomes and meet the needs of the faculty and students.

5-102

Stipends for student assistantships and fellowships, if available, are awarded on a fair and consistent basis.

 

6. Faculty

Program faculty are sufficient in number and quality to fulfill the program’s mission.

 

6-100

The faculty consists of behavior analysts who document their expertise in the applied, experimental, or conceptual analysis of behavior. The core faculty consists of full-time doctoral-level behavior analysts. Other program faculty, full- or part-time, have master’s or doctoral degrees in behavior analysis or a related field.

6-101

Faculty obtain appropriate student evaluation of teaching for the purpose of course development and program improvement.

6-102

Faculty engage in ongoing professional development.

 

7. Student Services

Students enrolled in the program have the academic credentials, experience, and skills necessary to successfully complete the program in a timely fashion. Policies and procedures facilitate completion of the program.

 

7-100

The program provides students with accurate information about admission, retention, financial obligations, disciplinary procedures, and program accreditation status prior to enrollment. If the program trains professional behavior analysts, the information provided to prospective students includes the alignment of the program’s offerings with applicable certification and licensing standards.

7-101

Programs offering master’s or doctoral degrees give students offered stipends an April 15 deadline to accept them, if the program institution is a signatory of the April 15 Resolution of the Council of Graduate Schools.

7-102

The program policies for students are publicly accessible and consistently applied. Justification for variances is documented.

7-103

The program offers academic advising services to students: students receive meaningful feedback about their progress in the program at regular intervals; the program assists students who are experiencing difficulty in progressing satisfactorily. In master’s or doctoral degree programs, the advisor is a member of the program’s core faculty.

7-104

The program encourages students to participate in professional development activities. 

7-105

The program ensures that student complaints receive due process and maintains records of resolution.

7-106

The program abides by institutional policies with respect to diversity and nondiscrimination of ethnicity, gender, disability, and veteran status. 

 

8. Public Disclosure

The program demonstrates its commitment to public disclosure by providing written materials and other communications that appropriately represent it to the relevant parties.

 

8-100

The program makes public its goals, objectives, and training model; its requirements for admission and graduation; curriculum; its faculty, students, facilities, and other resources; its administrative policies and procedures; the kinds of research and practicum experiences it provides; its education and training outcomes; and if the program trains professional behavior analysts, the alignment of the program offerings with the applicable certification and licensing standards.

8-101

This information should be presented in a manner that allows applicants to make informed decisions about the program.

8-102

As stated in the Mission Standard, the mission statement of the program, its purpose, and its supporting objectives are readily available to the public. The mission statement must be expressed in terms that can be readily understood by prospective students, parents, the public, and other educational programs.

8-103

The program discloses information about the achievement of learning outcomes and the success of graduates.

8-104

Accredited programs disclose their accreditation status in advertising and all relevant materials. Programs undergoing review for accreditation do not disclose their status as indicated in the Policy on Advertising of Accreditation Status.

 

9. Degree Programs

Programs are accredited at the doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s level. Each program has objectives appropriate to its level as well as requirements for instruction in specific content areas. In each area the scope of training is expressed in terms of hours of contact with the instructor. Programs are allowed flexibility in terms of how they achieve the prescribed contact hours.

 

9-100

Faculty provide descriptive syllabi including learning objectives, methods of assessment, and assignment of grades for all the components in the curriculum. Distance education components meet the same standards as conventionally delivered components.

 

Doctoral Degree Programs

 

9-101

Standards.

9-101-00

The students demonstrate a systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of the skills and methods of research associated with that field.

9-101-01

The students conceive, design, implement, and adapt a substantial process of research with scholarly integrity.

9-101-02

The students contribute through original research that extends the frontier of knowledge by developing a substantial body of work, some of which merits national or international refereed publication.

9-101-03

The students engage in critical analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of new and complex ideas, and can communicate with their peers, the larger scholarly community, and  society in general about their areas of expertise.

 

9-102

Content Areas.

The program requires 585 hours of instruction, including course work and supervised experience. The work done in a master’s program may be counted in fulfillment of these doctoral degree requirements. For the doctoral degree, a dissertation is required; a thesis or equivalent is optional.

 

Principles of Behavior

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop students’ competence in the use of technical terminology pertaining to the concepts and principles of behavior analysis.

 

Research Methods

Contact hours: 90                                            

Purpose: To develop competence in measurement of behavior, data collection analysis and graphic representation, experimental design with particular emphasis on single subject design, and applicable statistical procedures.

 

Conceptual Analysis

Contact hours: 90

Purpose: To develop competence in the history and philosophy of behaviorism, theoretical approaches to understanding behavior, and interpretation of behavior in terms of the concepts and principles of behavior analysis.

 

Applied Behavior Analysis

Contact hours: 90

Purpose: To develop competence in the application of the principles of behavior and multiple areas of investigation and practice.

 

Basic Behavior Analysis

Contact hours: 90

Purpose: To develop competence in understanding how principles of behavior are discovered and described in the context of basic research.

 

Ethics

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To understand legal constraints and ethical guidelines as pertinent to behavioral research and practice.

 

Specialized Elective

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in one or more specialized areas of behavioral investigation.

 

9-103

Supervised Experiential Learning.*

Hours of supervised experience: 90

Purpose: To develop skill in professional practice or research. Work to complete a thesis (or equivalent) and/or a dissertation may fulfill this requirement.

 

9-104

Thesis or Equivalent (Optional for Doctoral Degree Programs).

Contact hours as required by the institution.

Purpose: To develop competence in defining a research problem, designing a method to address the problem, and conducting and reporting an investigation that carries out the method to conclusion. 

See the Board's guidance document (revised August 2023).

 

9-105

Dissertation.

Contact hours as required by the institution.

Purpose: To demonstrate independent scholarship in the context of an investigation that produces an original contribution to the basic, applied, or conceptual analysis of behavior.

 

Master’s Degree Programs

 

9-106

Standards.

9-106-00

The students demonstrate knowledge and understanding founded upon bachelor’s-level studies.

9-106-01

Program extends and/or enhances knowledge typically associated with bachelor’s-level degree programs, and provides a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often within a research context.

9-106-02

The students apply their knowledge and understanding and problem solving abilities in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their field of study.

9-106-03

The students communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously.

9-106-04

The students study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous.

 

9-107

Content Areas.

The program requires 405 hours of instruction, including course work and supervised experience.

 

Principles of Behavior

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop students’ competence in the use of technical terminology pertaining to the concepts and principles of behavior analysis.

 

Research Methods

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in measurement of behavior, data collection analysis and graphic representation, and experimental design with particular emphasis on single subject design.

 

Conceptual Analysis

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in the history and philosophy of behaviorism, theoretical approaches to understanding behavior, and interpretation of behavior in terms of the concepts and principles of behavior analysis.

 

Applied Behavior Analysis

Contact hours: 90

Purpose: To develop competence in the application of the principles of behavior and multiple areas of investigation and practice.

 

Basic Behavior Analysis

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in understanding how principles of behavior are discovered and described in the context of basic research.

 

Ethics

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To understand legal constraints and ethical guidelines as pertinent to behavioral research and practice. 

 

9-108

Supervised Experiential Learning.*

Hours of supervised experience: 90

Purpose: To develop skill in professional practice or research. Work to complete a thesis or equivalent may fulfill this requirement.

 

9-109

Thesis or Equivalent.

Contact hours as required by the institution

Purpose: To develop competence in defining a research problem, designing a method to address the problem, and conducting and reporting an investigation that carries out the method to conclusion. 

See the Board's guidance document (revised August 2023).

 

 

Bachelor’s Degree Programs

 

9-110

Standards.

9-110-00

The students demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds upon their general secondary education, supported by advanced readings. 

9-110-01

The students apply their knowledge and understanding in a manner that indicates a professional approach to their work or vocation, and have competencies typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study.

9-110-02

The students gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to inform judgments that include reflection on relevant social, scientific, or ethical issues.

9-110-03

The students communicate information, ideas, problems, and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.

9-110-04

The students have learning skills necessary to continue further study with a high degree of autonomy.

 

9-111

Content Areas.

The program requires 315 hours of instruction and supervised experience.

 

Principles of Behavior

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop students’ competence in the use of technical terminology pertaining to the concepts and principles of behavior analysis.

 

Research Methods

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in measurement of behavior, data collection analysis and graphic representation, and experimental design with particular emphasis on single subject design.

 

Conceptual Analysis

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in the history and philosophy of behaviorism, theoretical approaches to understanding behavior, and interpretation of behavior in terms of the concepts and principles of behavior analysis.

 

Basic Behavior Analysis

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in understanding how principles of behavior are discovered and described in the context of basic research.

 

Applied Behavior Analysis

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To develop competence in the application of the principles of behavior and multiple areas of investigation and practice.

 

Ethics

Contact hours: 45

Purpose: To understand legal constraints and ethical guidelines as pertinent to behavioral research and practice. 

 

9-112

Supervised Experiential Learning.*

Hours of supervised experience: 45

Purpose: To develop skill in professional practice or research. 

 

*Supervised Experiential Learning (standards: 9-103, 9-108, 9-112) 

Experiential learning can take place on or off campus, for example, in laboratories, educational settings, clinical settings, or organizations. It can take the form of basic or applied research or it can involve interventions that change behavior. The experiential learning requirement can be met through the student's professional employment if an appropriate level of supervision or oversight is provided by the program faculty and the experiential learning is a requirement for obtaining the degree - that is, if the experiential learning occurs before the degree is awarded. Regardless of the location or nature of the experience, it is incumbent on the program to show how it meets the Standards 2-106 through 2-109. 

 


 

References:

The above standards were originally developed from an ABAI Task Force on Accreditation in 2015; this also includes the self-study, which outlines and specifies the requirements for programs to demonstrate they meet each of the above the standards. Some administrative elements of the above standards, as related to the administration of academic programs, were adapted from APA’s "Policies for Accreditation Governance." APA’s current Standards of Accreditation are located here. Other elements were adapted from the Dublin Descriptors, which is a widely used framework for the European Higher Education Area, as outlined in the "General Report to the Bologna Follow-Up Group to the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education" located here. 

 

 

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