|
| Accreditation and Licensure: Defining and Supporting the Future of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Monday, May 31, 2010 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| Texas Ballroom Salon F (Grand Hyatt) |
| Area: TBA; Domain: Theory |
| CE Instructor: Kristie Frissen-Thompson, Ph.D. |
| Chair: Charles T. Merbitz (Chicago School of Professional Psychology) |
| LINDA J. PARROTT HAYES (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| PATRICK M. GHEZZI (University of Nevada) |
| LIBBY M. STREET (Central Washington University) |
| MICHAEL J. CAMERON (Simmons College) |
| Abstract: People in a field accredit educational programs when they are judged to produce graduates who are seen as competent professionals. Such a judgment requires standards and a consensus that the standards provide for competent graduates. Then, evaluators must be trained to apply the standards, and a system must be operating to judge programs, produce reports, and resolve disputes. Finally, the standards must be made public and shared with educators, so that educational programs can be shaped to meet them. When the entire system is in place, State governments look to accreditation standards to guarantee minimum standards of competence and ethics, so that citizen-consumers are protected from incompetent and unethical practitioners. Prospective students can look for accredited programs to help assure that they will have certain competencies and qualify for known, accepted credentials before they enroll in a school. Finally, federal support for training needed professionals can be pursued.
ABAI is now in the process of revising its Standards and accreditation system. Members of the ABAI Education Board will discuss the importance of ABAI? accreditation of behavior analysis programs to the field. Issues of ?graduate and undergraduate accreditation and national recognition of? ABAI's accreditation program will be addressed. |
|
| |