BACKGROUND AND PROCESS

Standards of Practice PDF

Approximately two years ago, the APBS board made the decision to develop standards of practice for PBS. The board recognized the need for standards of practice given the widespread use of PBS, the multiple disciplines that utilize PBS procedures, and the various theoretical perspectives that professionals bring to their respective PBS practices. Drs. Jacki Anderson, Fredda Brown, and Brenda Scheuermann were assigned as co-chairs of a new committee to organize and coordinate the process of developing and drafting the Standards of Practice (SP) document.

As part of this process, a request to participate in various aspects of the development process was sent to the APBS membership. Numerous responses were received with a few individuals agreeing to invest substantial time in the committee's activities. The committee identified and reviewed published recommendations for PBS practice, reviewed standards from state-level PBS training programs (e.g. Kansas and Florida), and developed an initial draft of Standards of Practice for PBS. The consensus that emerged after many lengthy discussions was that this first SP document should focus exclusively on individual-level PBS practices. The committee collected feedback and continued to refine the document over a two year time frame.

A draft of the SP document was presented in an open session at the 2006 APBS conference. Recommendations from participants in that session were incorporated and further refined to ensure consistency in wording and format. Each generation of the SP document was reviewed by the APBS board in tandem with the working committee. This document became titled the Standards of Practice -Individual Level - Iteration I (SP-I). The APBS board approved the final version at their meeting at the Boston APBS conference in March 2007.

As stated in the introductory paragraph of SP-I, this document is but a first step in articulating standards of practice that reflect the comprehensive scope and the unique aspects of PBS.

Even though SP-I is a work in progress, the goal is to disseminate the standards as they currently exist and to periodically disseminate each iteration as it is created. This document was developed through a collaborative effort of many individuals who have committed themselves to research and development of PBS over many years. To date, no validation data exist, however the face validity of the document appears strong. APBS is confident that the SP-I will be of value and support in a variety of professional and personal activities, including but not limited to:

• Encouraging dialogue about PBS within the field
• Encouraging dialogue about PBS with professionals of different philosophical orientations
• Development of ABA and PBS course competencies in higher education
• Development of ABA and PBS course competencies for professional development
• Guidelines (for professionals and families) for evaluating the quality of the assessment and program development process provided for any given individual
• Guidelines (for professionals and families) for evaluating the quality of the supports provided for any given individual
• Guidelines (for professionals and families) for evaluating the quality of the outcome and associated processes of positive behavior support
• Guidelines (for professionals and families) for evaluating the competence of PBS experts/consultants
• Guidelines for selection of university or in-service training programs
• Guidelines for individuals considering careers as advocates or consultants in the area of PBS
• Guidelines for schools, districts, or agencies for developing job descriptions for special education teachers, PBS intervention specialists or behavior specialists
• Guidelines for grant evaluators to assess quality of proposed training/intervention programs for individual-level supports
• Guidelines for policy makers relevant to the provision of behavior support in schools, homes and communities

COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS OF PRACTICE:

• Jacki Anderson, co-chair
• Fredda Brown, co-chair
• Brenda Scheuermann, co-chair


• Candy Baker
• Randy DePry
• Charles Dukes
• Jennifer McFarland
• Meme Hieneman
• Steve Kroeger
• Sharon Lohrman
• Christopher Oliva
• Chris Reeve
• Carol Schall

In addition, the following APBS members provided feedback and comments that helped guide the development of the Standards of Practice - Individual Level - Iteration I:

• Linda Bambara
• Ted Carr
• Rob Horner

APBS Board Members at time of approval of APBS Standards of Practice - Individual Level - Iteration I:

• Glen Dunlap, President
• Jennifer Zarcone, Vice-President
• Cindy Anderson, Treasurer
• Rachel Freeman, Secretary
• Tim Knoster, Executive Director
• Jacki Anderson
• Linda Bambara
• Fredda Brown
• Randall DePry
• Lucille Eber
• Don Kincaid
• Tim Lewis
• Bobbie Vaughn