Towards a Meaningful Analysis of Behavior Analyst Preparation Programs

Abstract

Numerous universities and colleges offer coursework approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Despite uniform requirements for approval, many differences exist among programs. To provide the field of behavior analysis with information about these differences, we conducted an initial analysis of programmatic variables and their relationship to pass rates on the Board Certified Behavior Analyst examination.Given the variety of preparation programs currently approved by the certification board, behavior analysts from different programs will likely differ with regard to their training and experiences.It is imperative that graduates from programs preparing behavior analysts are passing the examination to become board certified to fill specified jobs.Statistically significant variables associated with increased examination pass rates for programs include on-campus course delivery and accreditation by the Association for Behavior Analysis International.Variables lacking statistical significance with regard to impact on examination pass rates include the provision of supervision experience and the number of individuals from a program sitting for an exam.

Program Characteristics and Certification Examination Pass Rates: A Statistical Analysis of BACB-Published 2015–2019 Data

“…A negative correlation was found between number of firsttime candidates and pass rates, consistent with the findings of Shepley et al (2018), though it should be noted that this correlation was extremely weak. Comparisons of the mean number of first-time candidates, mean pass rates, and mean number of passing candidates revealed a number of statistically significant differences.…”

“…One possible explanation is that the practice of in-person learning (in the case of a fully inperson program or a hybrid program with in-person elements of instruction) is more effective at preparing students for the BCBA examination, but another possibility is that there are characteristics of students who select a distance versus an on campus program that are responsible for the difference in pass rates. Shepley et al (2018) also found higher average pass rates for campus programs, but in the absence of a controlled experiment, the exact nature of the relation between program mode and pass rate is unclear.…”

“…Using the published BACB pass rate data and delving deeply into additional data across VCS programs, Shepley et al (2018) conducted regression analyses of program characteristics as they may predict examination pass rate data. In particular, the program characteristics evaluated were: (1) provision of supervision experience, (2) ABAI accreditation, (3) departmental affiliation, (4) course delivery methods, (5) course topics, and (6) number of first-time test-takers in 2014.…”

“…In particular, the program characteristics evaluated were: (1) provision of supervision experience, (2) ABAI accreditation, (3) departmental affiliation, (4) course delivery methods, (5) course topics, and (6) number of first-time test-takers in 2014. These data were gathered in an initial article (Shepley et al, 2017) and were coded for analysis in a subsequent article (Shepley et al, 2018). The results of these analyses hold valuable implications for the field, such as statistically significant increased pass rates for on-campus course delivery versus online course delivery, and ABAI-accredited programs versus nonaccredited programs.…”

“…In addition, Shepley et al (2017Shepley et al ( , 2018 conducted complex analyses using data that were gathered following moderate to high response effort. The publicly available BACB pass rate data provide a narrower range of variables than what was included in the Shepley et al studies.…”