Application process
The high demand in Europe for competent behaviour analysts requires Higher Education Institutes (HEI) to develop verified Masters-level programmes, that keep abreast of the needs of the populations graduants are going to serve. This requires that behaviour analytic competences and qualifications are of the highest standard and transferable across Europe and further afield. The EABA therefore developed a system to verify programmes that meet minimum standards.
Application requirements and process for EABA Verified Programmes
The course/programme must minimally meet the criteria set out in the EABA-VP checklist and be delivered through a University/Higher Education Institution at postgraduate/Master’s degree level, with a minimum of 60 ECTS (or equivalent).
Application routes:
General submission:
- A letter from the university programme coordinator requesting the EABA-VP status. The letter should indicate how and where in the curriculum/syllabus (or elsewhere) the content is covered for each item on the EABA-VP checklist.
- A copy of the curriculum/syllabus of the programme for which the application applies.
- The course coordinator's signature serves as an attestation of the accuracy of the information provided.
Grandparenting:
- The course/programme provides evidence that it is/was verified/approved through the BACB, ABAI, or the relevant national professional behaviour analysis organisation, and within the last 5 years.
- The course coordinator's signature serves as an attestation of the accuracy of the information provided.
Applications will be reviewed by the EABA Programme Verification Committee.
Guiding principles and alignment of EABA-VP
The coursework delivered in an EABA-VP is taught by a programme director and course instructors with appropriate academic backgrounds in behaviour analysis. The course director should be employed by the university where the course is based. The competences to be taught were developed in collaboration with 22 countries who were part of the Professional Advisory Group (PAG) (Keenan et al., 2023). Note that these competences were modelled on the BACB 4th Edition Task list[1]. The EABA-VP level equates to Level 7 of the European Qualification Framework (EQF, 2020). The EQF defines core areas of knowledge, skills, and responsibility and autonomy for European professionals.
The EABA-VP competence checklist deliberately does not prescribe individual learning outcomes to allow course developers to adapt their courses to their local, structural, and cultural diversity. Course developers can use the competence descriptors as guides to develop specific learning outcomes that indicate how they intend to ensure that their students meet the competences. This approach is expected to enhance cultural sensitivity of the courses and promote staff mobility across Europe. Behaviour analytic definitions are provided in the Glossary (IO3).
The competence profile to be taught at EABA-VPs covers basic behaviour-analytic knowledge and skills that include measurement, experimental design, behaviour change methods, and fundamental elements of behaviour change, systems, assessments, implementation, management and supervision, philosophical, conceptual, and ethical issues. Client-centered competences and responsibilities, include skills such as ensuring social validity, cultural sensitivity and, when appropriate, cultural adaptations. The importance of knowledge-based competences covering concepts and principles understood by ethically competent behaviour analysts cannot be overstated. These areas are targeted to ensure that behaviour analysts are clear about their scope of practice and to build their personal scope of competence, and as such, be able to contribute to the overall objectives of the United Nations Convention for Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006) and related European and international disability rights action plans (EQF, 2020).
The competence profile to be taught at EABA-VPs lays the foundation for Higher Education Institutions to develop more Master courses in behaviour analysis across Europe (Roll-Pettersson et al., 2010, 2020a, 2020b). These courses should be aligned to local National Qualifications Frameworks and the EQF. They should target students from many backgrounds and disciplines, such as psychologists, speech and language therapists, special educators, to become qualified as behaviour analysts.
Guide for course developers at Higher Education Institutions
EABA-VPs will be delivered through universities. These courses should sufficiently prepare students for pursuing a subsequent practitioner or academic career in behaviour analysis. The competences are defined as learning outcomes to be achieved through theoretical training and supervised practice and assessed though a variety of assessment formats, e.g., case studies, reports, written exams (essay questions and/or multiple choice), oral presentations, and thesis.
Course developers, leaders, and teachers of EABA-VPs should be qualified behaviour analysts themselves, trained in ABA to Master’s or Doctoral level and employed by the institutions that deliver the courses. The EABA-VP coursework should include sufficient hours of face-to-face teaching time (e.g., on-campus, hyprid, or online) and sufficient practical experience under behaviour analytic supervision.
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