Practical Takeaways for School-Based Behavior Analysts

What 1,680 Teachers Said About Working With BCBAs

Dr. Ellis opened with data, not advice. Her team at the University of Florida surveyed 1,680 teachers across the state. The survey asked what teachers knew about BCBAs (board certified behavior analysts). It covered shared work, behavior assessments, plan writing, and the wish to work together again. The paper is still being written. Treat the numbers as early, but useful.

Some findings were better than you might guess. 82% of teachers said they knew the terms their BCBA used. Jargon is the usual complaint, so that is a good sign. 64% said they felt supported. Most teachers who had worked with a BCBA wanted to do it again. They said the BCBA brought real skill. They said plan writing got easier. They liked the second set of eyes.

The other half of the data is where the work is. Teachers who did not want a repeat gave clear reasons. The plans were not realistic for their room. The tools never showed up. A BCBA would say to use a first then board or a token board. Then no one built one, and the teacher did not know how. Teachers also named overstepped boundaries. And they named plans that nobody followed. The BCBA wrote it, left, and never came back to check.

One role finding is worth sitting with. About 27% of the sample said their BCBA collected data on student behavior. Very few said their BCBA led staff training. If you work at the district level, that gap may be an opening for you.

So 79% of teachers who worked with the BCBA wanted to collaborate again.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

Set Up the Work Before You Walk Into the School

Most of the trouble she described starts before the first observation. Her fix is a pre-meeting. Sit down with the admin who asked for you. Ask to review student data and past plans. Ask what has already been tried. Ask the teacher what is working and what is not. Fifteen minutes is enough. If there is no time to meet, send an email or a short form.

Then write a contract. Spell out your role, your limits, and what you will deliver. She suggests building your own matrix of what you can and cannot do in a school. Schools do not run on the BACB code, and most staff have never read it. A written scope gives you a calm way to say no later. You can point back to the meeting instead of arguing in the moment.

Ask two more setup questions. Does the school run PBIS (a school wide plan for behavior)? If not, do they run something like it? Then ask for the school's restraint policy (rules for holding or blocking students). Only a few staff are trained for that. Schools must report restraints to the state. Even holding a hand while a child pulls away can count. Know what you may do, and who to call instead.

The must knows come last, and they gate everything else. Does the student have an IEP (a legal school services plan)? If not, does the team want to start that process? Have the parents been told? Has consent been signed? Handle all of this by phone or email before you drive over. District BCBAs can build these questions right into the request form.

So that's my giant caveat here is you need to be listening to the school professionals before you do anything.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

The PBIS Tiers and Why You Get Called So Late

Dr. Ellis framed the tiers with a parable. Two people are fishing. Kids keep floating down the river, so the fishermen keep pulling them out. One of them walks upstream to find out why. The bridge is broken. So they start fixing the bridge.

PBIS is a framework for that upstream work. It sits inside MTSS (the umbrella for tiered supports). The goal is a school that is safe, steady, and easy to predict. At the universal tier, 80 to 90% of students do fine with what everyone gets. Targeted supports are for the 5 to 10% who need more. Intensive supports are for the 1 to 5% who need a plan of their own.

Two rules matter here. First, each tier adds on. It never replaces the tier below it. So when a school says a student gets Tier 3 help, ask a follow up question. What Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports are still running? Second, tiers label behavior, not kids. No one is a Tier 3 kid. A student may need Tier 2 help with organizing, Tier 3 help in math, and nothing extra in reading.

This is also why the phone rings so late. BCBAs are rarely in the room for the early, simple fixes. By the time you arrive, staff are worn out and the student is in crisis. The room hopes you are the hero who saves the day. You are not, and she said so plainly. What you can do is find out what the school already built, then help them stand back up.

We want to fix that bridge before the kids are falling down the river.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

Tier 1 Look Fors: Routines, Visuals, and Stated Rules

Read the room before you read the student. Look for structure. Are there routines the kids already know? Is the space set up so adults can see everyone? She warned about cute reading nooks built from cabinets and curtains. One blocked sight lines so well that a student slept inside it. Check lines of sight before you write a word about one child.

Look for posted visuals. Her second grade room had the class schedule on the wall. The specials schedule was up too, so kids stopped asking when PE was. Morning routine steps were posted as pictures. That gives the whole class a visual schedule. A few students will still need their own. Many will not, and that is the point of Tier 1.

Then listen for expectations. Each room should have three to five rules. They should be positive, short, and easy to see happen. They should be taught with examples and non examples. They should be prompted right before the hard moment. Note how the teacher gets the class to look up, too. A call and response signal beats shouting. Some teachers will say kids should just know the rules.

How many of us know what to do, but don't do it?

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

Watch the Peers, Not Just Your Student

Half of a good observation is watching everyone else. If a rule was never stated, you cannot fault one student for breaking it. If most of the class is up and moving, that is a Tier 1 problem, not a Tier 3 one. She once watched a class lick crumbs off snack plates while the referred student sat and waited. That tells you where to start.

She offered a rough test you can use out loud. Picture a class of 20. If 16 or more meet the expectation, Tier 1 looks like it is working. If fewer do, that piece of Tier 1 needs to change. You can ask an admin the same question: how many students in here do you think are meeting this expectation? It moves the talk off one child.

Write context into your notes. A line like student fell out of the chair tells the next reader nothing. Say what came before, what the adult did, and what happened next. If you want a handoff tool, the free classroom assistance tool on pbis.org walks a teacher through these pieces. You do not have to score it. You can hand it over as a self check.

Count Opportunities to Respond and the 5 to 1 Praise Ratio

Opportunities to respond (chances for kids to answer) are easy to count. One happens when the teacher asks one student, the whole class, or partners to respond. More chances to respond means less open time for problem behavior. Match the response type to what the student can actually do. That matters most in intensive special education rooms.

So bring a tally. Fifteen minutes of teacher talk with zero chances to respond is data. You do not have to grade anyone for it. You can say what you counted and stop there. That is the inquiry stance: report what you saw, and let the team draw the line.

Praise is the other count. Behavior specific praise (praise that names the exact action) was her favorite move. It is quick, needs no prep, and it lands right after the behavior. She also runs a praise assessment, much like a preference assessment (a check of what someone finds rewarding). Some kids love being called out in front of the class. Others hate it. Ask first, then write the answer into the plan.

Ratios tell the story fast. She watched a kindergarten room for 15 minutes. She counted 35 negative statements and 3 behavior specific praise statements. The research she cited supports five positive statements for every correction. If a room is far off that mark, say so before you write anything intensive.

And so my magic intervention plan is not going to work if the classroom environment does not feel safe and positive.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

Classwide Reinforcement and Token Economies Done Right

Group contingencies (a shared reward for the group) come in three shapes. In the all for one shape, the class works toward one goal together. Her second grade class filled in pieces of a superhero poster, then voted on the reward. She used it for hallway, cafeteria, and specials behavior.

The second shape rides on one student. That is the secret student setup. The teacher watches one student whose name the class never hears. That last part is the whole rule. She saw a teacher name the secret student after a rough day and tell the class they lost the sticker. The student threw something. Of course they did. If the student does earn it, ask in private whether they want it shared.

The third shape is each student earning their own reward. Behavior contracts fit here, and so do token economies (earning tokens to trade for rewards). She had a warning about those.

So walk the steps with the teacher. Explain what a token economy is in plain words. Define what earns a token. Check that the target is worth reinforcing, not just something the student should already do. Set the trade rate. Set a plan for who monitors it. Schools use tickets, class apps, and punch cards. Her favorite rewards were coupons: class DJ for a brain break, or a drawing left on her board. The reward does not need to be a party. It needs to matter to that student.

Just because a teacher has a token economy doesn't mean it's going correctly.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

Tier 2: Performance Deficit or Skill Deficit

Tier 2 adds targeted help for a smaller group. The school should have a menu of options, not one default. Dr. Ellis sorts students by the type of gap. A performance deficit (the student knows how but is not doing it) means the gap is about will, not skill. A skill deficit (the student does not know how yet) means the gap is about ability. The support has to match the gap.

For performance gaps, she leans on simple motivation systems. Behavior contracts. Chart Moose, where a student fills in dots around a picture of something they like, such as basketball or pizza. Dots for motivation, where finishing a set of work earns a sticker. Check in check out (a daily goal check with an adult) is the classic one. Mystery motivators hide the reward. That is fun for some kids and rough for a student who needs to know what is coming.

One caution on the work itself. If the number of problems gets cut, the teacher picks which ones stay. Students still need access to the standards. Do not hand that call to an RBT (a behavior tech you supervise). Choosing academic work sits outside our scope.

Skill gaps need teaching, not a sticker. That usually means small group instruction from a counselor, social worker, or school psychologist. A BCBA is not the default person to run those groups. A district BCBA might, if the school asks and it fits your skill set. Either way, ask the same questions at every tier. What does the data show? Is the plan being run the right way? Is the student better off?

So holding people accountable in an inquiry way is really important.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis

Tier 3, Consent, and Staying Inside Your Scope

Tier 3 is where most of us get the call. IDEA (the federal special education law) says a school must build a behavior plan when behavior blocks a student's learning. The same rule applies if the behavior blocks other students from learning. The law does not say how. So practice varies a lot. Some schools ask teachers to run the FBA (a study of why behavior happens). In her survey, 67% of teachers felt they could carry one out. She was blunt about that number. She would not want a surgeon who felt 67% ready.

Consent is the question she hears most. The BACB code says you must know and follow every condition for informed consent (written parent okay before you start). Under IDEA, schools need parent consent before a first evaluation. They need it before a reevaluation. They need it before special education services start. And they need it before any assessment of a student with a disability.

So the answer to can I just pop in and watch is usually no. If the student has an IEP, get consent first. If the student has no IEP but is getting tiered supports, parents should still be told what is changing. She errs toward consent every time. If someone says the parents do not know because this is just a planning tool, wait for consent.

Two more limits keep you safe. Never write the behavior plan by yourself. It should come from the school team, and the family should get the results of the FBA and the plan. And no one should be alone with a student who is escalating. She described an RBT who walked a student outside alone while the teacher watched from a window. Decide in advance who gets called and how. Learn the school's response team before you need it.

There has to be parent consent before an FBA happens, which means that you have to have parent consent before you go in and do your observation.

From the talk — Dr. Kaci Ellis