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Program Overview

The Post-Master’s Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis develops mastery of the principles of behavior analysis and their application in clinical work and everyday life. Applied Behavior Analysis is the ethical design, implementation, and evaluation of environmental changes to produce socially significant improvements in behavior.

Learning Outcomes 

Upon completion of this certificate program students will be able to:

• Professional Practice
  • ​Analyze behavior, design interventions, and evaluate interventions, by applying basic behavioral principles and assessment techniques to effect socially significant behavior change.
• Diversity
  • Evaluate the impact of diversity issues on individuals and society (as a whole in domestic or international settings,) and demonstrate sensitivity and competence while working with diverse populations.
• Professional Behavior
  • Evaluate and resolve ethical dilemmas in accordance with behavior-analytic and psychological ethical guidelines.
  • Establish rapport and communicate effectively with clients, stakeholders, and other professionals.
• Scholarship
  • Conduct behavior-analytic research and evaluate behavior-analytic and other psychological research effectively and ethically.

Licensure

For information on where The Chicago School meets, does not meet, or has not determined if the program meets licensure eligibility requirements for the state in which you wish to be licensed, please visit: https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/admissions/licensure-disclosures/.

Admissions Requirements

*The Chicago School is not currently enrolling new students in this program at the San Diego Campus.

For information on where The Chicago School is currently authorized, licensed, registered, exempt or not subject to approval, please visit https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/why-us/state-authorization/

Application to The Chicago School’s Post-Master Certificate in ABA program is open to any person who has earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and who meets other entrance requirements. Applicants will be judged on their overall ability to do graduate work.

Factors and materials to be considered for admission will include:

• Completed application and $50 application fee • Generally, an undergraduate GPA 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
• Official Transcripts
  • Students must submit official transcripts from all schools where a degree was earned.
  • It is recommended that transcripts are submitted from all schools where credit was received to enhance their applications.

Applicants with a cumulative GPA below 3.0 are required to submit additional documentation:

• One letter of recommendation from academic professors or professional or volunteer experience supervisors
• Essay answering the following questions (approximately 500-700 words). Essay must specifically address the program/specialization for which you are applying.
  • In an essay format, please describe
    • Why you chose this particular program/specialization. Cite specific experiences and examples
    • Why it is important to you to study this discipline at a school that emphasizes cultural awareness, competence, and understanding of diversity
    • Your professional career goals as they relate to this specialization
    • Why you believe this program will assist you in reaching these goals

Prior to January 1^st 2022, the Behavior Analysis Credentialing Board (BACB®) requires all exam applicants to possess a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution that was conferred in behavior analysis, education, or psychology, or a related degree as defined by the BACB®. If you are uncertain whether your degree qualifies, you can request a preliminary degree evaluation online prior to submitting a BCBA® Certification Application.  

Applicant Notification 

The Chicago School reviews applications on a rolling basis. Once review begins, complete applications will be considered by the Admission Committee and applicants will be notified regarding the admission decision. The Chicago School does not share information or provide any feedback regarding admission decisions.

If a student is offered admission and in order to secure a place in the incoming class, a non-refundable tuition deposit of $250 will be required by the deposit deadline indicated in the offer of admission. The non-refundable deposit will be applied in full toward the student’s tuition upon enrollment.

Policies

The following policies are located under Academic Policies and Procedures : Academic Calendar, Admissions Requirements, Attendance, Satisfactory Academic Progress, Service Learning, and Transfer Credit/Course Waiver. Click the link above for detailed information.

Philosophy 

The mission of the ABA Department at The Chicago School is to provide state-of-the-art education and training in Applied Behavior Analysis that prepares graduates to be successful, committed, engaged scientist-practitioner colleagues who make a positive difference in our communities.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) procedures and principles can facilitate remarkable progress and have improved quality of life for many people. In addition to being the foundational procedures for early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) in autism, ABA has been used to teach children to read, to improve safety, productivity, and employee satisfaction in organizations, to decrease challenging behaviors such as tantrums, aggression or self-injury in a range of populations, to increase communication, to decrease symptoms in individuals with brain injuries and has reduced human misery and improved functioning and quality of life in many other areas. Behavior-analytic principles and procedures are applicable to virtually any behavior. Because all ABA work is validated with data about its effectiveness, each clinician generates a data set, and tests what they do. As clinicians review their outcomes, they modify and test procedures to get the maximum beneficial results for their clients. 

The goal of the ABA department is to facilitate this progress for many more people by training students to understand and implement behavior-analytic principles and procedures. This goal requires that the faculty measure students’ performance and ensure that students implement procedures correctly and ethically, and forward competent students to the next steps in the profession.

Ethics and Professional Behavior 

Students are expected to learn and to follow the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association and the Behavior Analysis Certification Board during and after their work at The Chicago School. A class in ethics is required, and student adherence to ethical codes is evaluated both formally and informally.

Practicum Criteria

Applicants in the Online and ground campus based programs are encouraged to gain experience in multiple sites and with multiple supervisors. Practicum courses are not required to earn the Certificate, so students can choose to either complete their experience independently or enroll in the university practicum courses to meet the experience requirements to sit for the certification exam. A student may start accumulating Fieldwork Hours after they have begun the coursework required to meet the BACB® requirements, but students at The Chicago School must have successfully completed AB540, AB545, in order to enroll in the Practicum courses. See www.bacb.com for appropriate experience activities and for more information about requirements. Students registered in practicum incur a one-time $195 Experiential Learning Technology Fee.

Online Practicum 

Practicum courses are not required to earn the Certificate, so students can choose to either complete their experience independently or enroll in the university practicum courses to meet the experience requirements to sit for the certification exam. A student may start accumulating Fieldwork Hours after they have begun the coursework required to meet the BACB® requirements, but students at The Chicago School must have successfully completed AB540, AB545, in order to enroll in the Practicum courses. 

Ground Campus Based Practicum 

Students in the ground campus based program who wish to complete the Fieldwork Hours through the Practicum option apply for a practicum position at an approved practicum site through the department’s Clinical Training office. If the student does not have a supervisor on-site holding the BCBA® credential, the student must enroll in one additional 0.5-credit online courses per term for eight terms (Individual Supervision). Students complete up to four semesters of Practicum Seminar while accruing hours of Supervised Experience at their site. Similar to the requirement for the online students, an applicant may not start accumulating Supervised Experience hours until they have begun the coursework required to meet the BACB® coursework requirements. All students must follow BACB® regulations.