Continuing Education on Continuing Education Units!

We would like to take a moment to revisit some of the responsibilities of CalABA and the Professional Standards Committee (PSC). The PSC is charged with reviewing presentations for continuing education units (CEUs). CalABA provides CEUs for several different professions. For example, in addition to providing CEUs for BCBAs and BCaBAs, CalABA also provides CEUs for Marriage and Family Therapists, Licensed Psychologists, and Speech and Language professionals. The boards that oversees the practice of each human service professional organization have their own criteria for what is necessary to be included in a presentation providing CEUs. The CalABA PSC is responsible for being familiar with each set of criteria and reviewing presentations that have elected to be considered for CEUs. That is, we need to know what the mandatory continuing education (MCEP) board requires in presentations that provide CEUs for licensed psychologists as well as what the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) requires for CEUs for BCBAs and BCaBAs.

Here's how the submission/review process works. Presenters visit the CalABA conference presentation website and submit their conference presentations for consideration for the upcoming conference. At that time, the website queries the submitting presenters if they are interested in providing CEUs for their conference submissions. If they select yes, the presenters are prompted to submit a Vita and some additional documentation. From here the presentations are reviewed for two purposes. First, the presentations are reviewed for appropriateness for the CalABA membership/conference (on occasion presentations do not seem to fall within the scope of what CalABA provides for its members). Second, the PSC reviews presentations that are deemed appropriate for the conference and that have also been selected by the presenting author to be considered for CEUs.

Some of you who have submitted presentations and have selected those presentations to be considered for CEUs may already have been contacted by a member of the PSC requesting additional information. Let us review some of the criteria that one of our oversight boards requires be met for each presentation providing CEUs. The following are the BACB's requirements. When the PSC reviews conference submissions for which the presenter has requested consideration for BACB Type 2 (i.e., completion of events sponsored by providers approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board) continuing education, we must evaluate both the qualifications of the presenter and the content of the presentation. We must determine if the presenter meets the following requirements specified by the BACB: "All presenters of Type 2 CE events must have ONE of the following qualifications: (1) is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in good standing; or (2) holds a doctorate and meets either the coursework or college teaching option for fulfilling BCBA eligibility requirements; or (3) has completed all requirements for a doctorate except the dissertation, meets the coursework option for BCBA eligibility, and has completed graduate coursework or has published research in the subject matter on which Type 2 CE instruction is provided. An individual who does not meet one of the approved continuing education (ACE) instructor criteria may serve as a co-instructor under the direct, inperson supervision of a fully qualified ACE instructor. All instructors and co-instructors of Type 2 CE events must have completed substantial formal training, independent study, or experiential training in the subject matter on which Type 2 CE instruction is provided. Multi-presenter events (such as conference symposia or paper sessions) may be offered for Type 2 CE if at least one presenter meets the CE instructor criteria specified above, PROVIDED that the qualified CE instructor actively and directly supervises the instruction presented by the co-instructors (e.g., by reviewing all presentation materials and providing feedback to the presenters in advance of the session). This allows type 2 CE to be offered, for example, for symposia in which only the discussant qualifies as a CE instructor but reviews the co-instructors' presentations in advance, or for symposia chaired by university faculty who meet the CE instructor criteria, with all instruction presented by that person's own graduate students." (see www.BACB.com). To make this determination, CalABA's PSC must review the vitae of all proposed CE instructors and co-instructors. So when submitting a presentation to be considered for BACB CEUs at future CalABA conferences, please be sure to include the vitae of the instructor/co-instructors and make sure they include information that clearly address the BACB's instructor criteria. The PSC would hate to reject a request for CEU consideration because the instructor's vitae did not enable us to assess their eligibility properly.

When the PSC reviews the content of a presentation, we evaluate the abstract that has been submitted to CalABA to determine if the presentation meets the following criteria specified by the BACB for Type 2 CE events: (1) The content must address behavior analytic theory, methods, and/or practice. (2) "Because these events are to provide continuing education and professional development for certified individuals, however, the content and level of instruction must go beyond what is required to become certified (emphasis added). That is, CE events should not merely rehash material from the BACB Task List and the coursework required to sit for the certification exam, because all BCBAs and BCaBAs should already have those basic competencies in their repertoires. (3) Similarly, CE instruction should be presented at a level of difficulty that is appropriate for certificants who already have degrees and have completed some coursework in behavior analysis, i.e., at least at a beginning master's-program level for BCaBAs and at the postmaster's level for BCBAs. (4) Finally, every effort should be made to ensure that the content of all CE events is as accurate and up-to-date as possible, i.e., that it represents the best available scientific evidence; current best practices in behavior analysis; extant laws, regulations, policies, ethical standards; and so on" (www.BACB.com). It will help the PSC if authors requesting BACB or other CE consideration will craft their abstracts and their Vitas so as to address all of these criteria.

Additionally, if you attend events at future CalABA conferences for which BACB CEUs are not offered, it is either because the submitting author did not request CE review, the author did not provide the information necessary for the PSC to determine if the instructor and content qualify for BACB CEUs, or the PSC determined that the event did not meet the BACB's requirements.

In conclusion, the PSC is extremely proud of CalABA and strives to make the conferences as fulfilling for its members as possible. The PSC would like to maximize the efficiency and availability for the continuing education process. To help us provide ample opportunity for continuing education, please take note of the criteria for continuing education and provide sufficient detail in abstracts and Vitas so that the PSC can evaluate your presentations. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions at jlubbers@cibainc.org. See you next year!

John Lubbers, PhD, BCBA
Committee Chair, 2006-2008
Professional Standards Committee