Central China ABA

By Dehua Guo & Kueyi Deng

On December 30, 2019, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) announced that starting 2023, they will no longer be providing an international professional qualification certification system to individuals who live outside of the U.S. and Canada. Therefore, Central China ABA (CCABA) established China’s Applied Behavior Analysis Teacher certification system. The system puts standardized requirements on the professional knowledge and practical ability that Chinese front-line teaching professionals engaged in applied behavior analysis should possess. In line with China’s educational development needs, establishing the teacher training program and certification standard is vital in building a team of qualified ABA professionals. Not only does the system focus on the learning of theoretical knowledge, but it emphasizes front-line teaching practice to train the “dual-qualified teachers” with a solid theoretical basis on the one hand and a perfect mastery of operational techniques on the other hand. Teachers certified under this system can truly solve problems for individuals in the front-line teaching environment, serving as a reference to parents looking for high-quality teachers. Approved by the China Association of Persons with Psychiatric Disability and their Relatives (CAPPDR) and supervised by CCABA, the certification system consists of three parts: certification training, qualification examination, and continuing education. Currently, we are actively communicating with ABAI, hoping that the certification system will be supported by ABAI and that the CNABA series of courses can become part of the VCS system. The certification training programs consist of a series of CNABA (China’s Localized Applied Behavior Analysis Teacher) training programs authorized by CCABA. A CNABA certificate of completion will be issued to trainees who have completed the training modules. CNABA training programs consist of training of CNABA (level D), CNABA (level C), CNABA (level B), CNABA (level A), and SBT.

CNABA (Level D) Training
To meet the needs of the majority of institutions to quickly train talents specialized in the concrete practice with certain professional skills and to effectively serve parents and students, CNABA (level D) Training provides students, parents, and teachers without any teaching experience the skills training at “threshold” level to help them achieve the “entry” level in line with industry standards. The training can provide professional teaching supervision for the trainees’ future main teaching tasks, such as individual training, group class, in-home therapy, and school-based therapy. The training period is about three months. There are no admission requirements. The trainees must complete theoretical training of 13 topics and 10 hours of supervised practical teaching experience. Those who have passed the assessment and obtained a certificate can apply for the CCaBA professional qualification exam.

CNABA (Level C) Training
To train front-line behavior analysis teachers with a wealth of practical experience, CNABA (level C) Training provides trainees systematic practice supervision in teaching and the assessment of language behavior, milieu teaching, and intervention for problem behavior. It will ensure that teachers’ teaching skills can be generalized with students at different levels of ability and for all kinds of courses. This type of teacher will become the backbone of the teaching staff of the majority of institutions. The main future teaching task of the trainees of this training will be individual training. The training period is ten months to 1 year. To be enrolled, applicants must have at least a college degree. Their educational institutions are required to issue a certificate of employment and an attestation of supervision conditions. The trainees must complete theoretical training of 24 topics and no less than 34 hours of direct supervised practical teaching experience. Those who have passed the assessment and obtained the certificates (preliminary, intermediate, and advanced level) can apply for the CCBA professional qualification exam.

SBT Training
The industry needs a group of teachers with professional supervision skills, which will make it possible for the institutions to build their echelon of teachers and train up front-line teachers at some professional level internally.

SBT training focuses on using ABA in group classes, consulting and supervision skills, behavioral skills training (BST), systematic problem behavior intervention, curriculum design, and lecture skills. The main future work of the trainees of this training will be training and supervising subordinate teachers or parents. The training period is ten months. Those who have obtained certificates of CNABA (Level C) (preliminary, intermediate, and advanced level) can apply for admission. Their educational institutions are required to issue a certificate of employment and an attestation of supervision conditions. Applicants with CCBA qualification will be given priority for admission. The trainees must complete theoretical training of 6 topics and no less than 26 hours of direct supervised practical teaching experience. Those who have passed the assessment and obtained a certificate of SBT can apply for CCBSA professional qualification examination. CNABA (level B) and CNABA (level A) training include the content of SBT training.

CNABA (Level B) Training
To be in line with the training courses of Board Certified (assistant) Behavior Analyst, CNABA (Level B) training serves as the equivalent training for Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA). From 2023, we will bring it into line with the VCS system of the Association for Behavior Analysis International(ABAI). CNABA (Level B) training aims to provide undergraduate-level professional training for front-line teachers in the Country. The training consists of credit courses with more in-depth theoretical learning, including professional ethics, basic introduction to applied behavior analysis, measurement and experiment, basic teaching methods of applied behavior analysis, and consulting and supervision skills. The main future work of the trainees of this training will be training and supervising subordinate teachers or parents. The training period is 1.5–1.8 years. To be enrolled, applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree with a certificate of employment and an attestation of supervision conditions issued by their educational institutions. Or they have a college degree and can apply for admission three years after completing the CNABA (level C) training. Part of the supervision hours obtained in CNABA (level C) and SBT training can be accumulated in this training, consisting of 5 courses, 36 topics, and more than 65 hours of direct practical teaching supervision.

CNABA (Level A) Training
To be in line with the training courses of Board Certified Behavior Analyst, CNABA (Level A) training serves as the equivalent training for Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). From 2023, we will bring it into line with the VCS system of the Association for Behavior Analysis International(ABAI). CNABA (Level B) training aims to provide graduate-level professional training for front-line teachers in the Country. The training consists of credit courses with the most comprehensive theoretical learning, including professional ethics, basic introduction to applied behavior analysis, measurement and experiment, and basic teaching methods of applied behavior analysis, all-round consulting and supervision skills, cutting-edge theory and skills of contemporary applied behavior analysis, and comparative research of the methods and strategies in applied behavior analysis. Trainees of this training will mainly be professional team leaders in the future. The training period is 2–2.5 years. To be enrolled, applicants must have at least a master’s degree with a certificate of employment and an attestation of supervision conditions issued by their educational institutions. Or they have a college degree and can apply for admission three years after completing the CNABA (level B) training. Part of the supervision hours obtained in CNABA (level B) training can be accumulated in this training, consisting of 7 courses, 48 topics, and more than 100 hours of direct practical teaching supervision.

Qualification Examination and Continuing Education
Having obtained the corresponding certificate of completion, the trainees can apply for the professional qualification examination. Those who have their professional qualification can get the right to be promoted and recommended by CCABA in the whole industry and across institutions. At the same time, to ensure that the practitioner maintains the professional skill level, qualified teachers must undergo supervision of professional ethics and continuing education provided by CCABA. There are three levels of the certification: CAPPDR Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (CCaBA), CAPPDR Certified Behavior Analyst (CCBA), and CAPPDR Certified Behavior Supervision Analyst (CCBSA). Candidates can apply for the examination held four times per year- in March, June, September, or December- within two years from the date they obtained the certificate of completion. Trainees who have completed the CNABA (level B) or CNABA (level A) training will automatically be the CAPPDR Certified Behavior Supervision Analyst-Bachelor (CCBSA-B) or CAPPDR Certified Behavior Supervision Analyst-Master (CCBSA-M) upon the examination of CCABA. Continuing Education refers to the training that “qualified” teachers must undergo continuously, which helps them stay up-to-date on developments of theories and techniques in the profession to maintain professional competency. Professional teachers who complete continuing education are recertified every two years. Within each 2-year recertification cycle, CCaBAs must obtain 4 credits in theory and 24 hours of supervised practical experience, CCBAs must obtain 8 credits in theory and 8 hours of supervised practical experience, and CCBSAs must obtain 12 credits in theory and attend 4 group supervision meetings. During the recertification cycle, practitioners who participate in higher-level certification training programs will automatically obtain professional qualifications.

Professional ethics
Qualified practitioners who violate professional ethics shall be subject to disclosure of information at the platform (the types of punishments include warning, suspension of license, revocation of license, and permanent revocation of license). For details, please refer to the CCABA Professional Code of Ethics.

Three-Year Plan for China’s Behavior Analysis Certification and Membership Development
To meet the needs of China’s behavior analysis development under the new situation, CCABA has created a three-year development plan 2021-2023 and accomplished the following tasks last year in 2021:

• Training Programs: CNABA training programs consist of training of CNABA (level D), CNABA (level C), SBT, CNABA (level B), and CNABA (level A). At present, the number of students graduated from the training of CNABA (level D), CNABA (level C), SBT, CNABA (level B), and CNABA (level A) are respectively 50, 374, 21, 81, and 3.
• Establishment of CCABA Behavioral Analysis Professional Certification System: If they have passed their qualification exams, students graduated from the CNABA (level D) can obtain the CCaBA qualification, students graduated from the CNABA (level C) can obtain the CCBA qualification, students graduated from the SBT can obtain the CCBSA qualification, students graduated from the CNABA (level B) can obtain the CCBSA-B qualification, students graduated from the CNABA (level A) can obtain the CCBSA-M qualification. At present, there are 17 CCBAs, 19 CCBSAs, 11 CCBSA-Bs, 3 CCBSA-Ms.
• CCABA has established a Professional Code of Ethics in line with the specific conditions of the nation, including regulations regarding punishment.
• CCABA has established a full-featured website and a WeChat official account for mobile terminals. At present, in addition to CCABA official website and its WeChat official account, internet users can also find relevant information on CAPPDR official website. Today, the number of CCABA members has grown to 301, and the membership fee is 200 RMB/person/year.
• Conferences/workshops: In 2021, due to the pandemic, CCABA did not organize the national annual convention but has held workshops (each attended by 30-50 persons) to promote ABA. The workshops have been held successively in Dalian, Liaoning Province, Xi’an, Shanxi Province, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, Linyi and Qingdao, Shandong Province, Bengbu, Anhui Province, Jingmen, Hubei Province, and Huizhou, Guangdong Province. What we did has killed two birds with one stone: prevented the spread of COVID-19 and increased attendance (decreasing the absence at the annual convention held in one place due to geographical reasons in previous years).
• Academic Research: China’s first university textbooks of ABA major have been published by Peking University Press in December 2021. The three textbooks are Basic Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis, Applied Behavior Analysis Strategies and Applications, and Applied Behavior Analysis Teaching Method. CCABA Secretary-General Dr. Guo Dehua is the editor-in-chief, and the deputy editors include CCABA Deputy Secretary-General Deng Xueyi (BCBA), Liu Linmei (BCBA), Zhang Jing (BCBA), Shen Mingcui (BCaBA), Xu Qinfang (BCaBA). The textbooks will be used in ABA courses offered by Guangxi College for Preschool Education and will be promoted in more university courses in the future.
• In the next two years, from 2022–2023, CCABA’s focus will be on the following areas:
• Developing continuing education courses that are carried out either as face-to-face workshops or live online courses and organized at least once a month
• Gradually authorizing qualified schools and institutions to carry out the CNABA series of training programs to promote behavior analysis in China and ensure that the number of students being trained and qualified professionals increases year by year
• Getting in touch with the majority of professionals such as BCBAs and BCBA-Ds to carry out workshops: let a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers bloom
• Conducting university-backed research on behavior analysis related topics
• Accelerating membership development

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