On-Line Courses

• Course Descriptions
• Course Applications

Students can choose from an on-line Graduate Certificate in PBS or a single class on School-wide PBS offered through SELECT course.

On-line Graduate Certificate in Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

This 15-credit graduate certificate through Northern Arizona University (NAU) prepares students to serve as behavioral consultants to parents, teachers, direct care staff or others who support children or adults with disabilities and challenging behavior.

Three distinct professional credentials can be earned by taking the on-line PBS courses offered at NAU. See the table of all options.

Full Completion of the Certificate (five classes)

Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) - The BCBA is a practitioner who may work as an employee or independent contractor for an organization. The BCBA conducts functional behavioral assessments and interprets the results from a behavior analysis perspective. The BCBA designs and supervises behavior interventions to help someone improve their behavior or their learning challenges. The BCBA teaches others to carry out ethical and effective behavior analytic interventions based on published research and designs and delivers instruction in behavior analysis.

The NAU Graduate Certificate in PBS was designed to meet the specific educational requirements by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, and is an authorized university program. The emphasis of our coursework is on the respectful and non-coercive use of behavioral technology to improve the lives and behavior of people with disabilities. In order to take the examination to become a BCBA, the certificate student must also have a master's degree and must have obtained significant supervised experience from another BCBA.

For detailed information on the requirements, professional standards and other details about the BCBA please go to www.bacb.com .

Habilitation, Behavioral - Masters (Hab – M) - is an expanded Habilitation service code through the Department of Economic Security, Division of Developmental Disabilities (DES/DDD) designed to help people with developmental disabilities and behavior challenges remain in their homes and their communities. The Hab - M is a professional with extensive training and experience in the use of positive behavior support. The Hab - M may conduct functional assessments, develop positive behavior support plans, demonstrate and train team members to implement the plans, monitor, and troubleshoot.

The Graduate Certificate in PBS meets the specific educational requirements by DES/DDD. However, in order to become a Hab - M the certificate student must also complete additional training and supervision. For service specifications see Qualified Vendor Agency information on the DES/DDD website www.azdes.gov/ddd/.

Partial Completion of the Certificate (three classes)

Positive Behavioral Consultant (PBC) - This sequence consists of three sequential courses (9 semester units, DIS 519, DIS 529, DIS 539). A PBC can assist schools in assessing behavior challenges and implementing positive behavioral interventions. The PBC program prepares educators to:

1. Understand the principles of effective teaching and behavior change,
2. Conduct functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) to discover how those principles ImpACT various (K-12) students,
3. Design behavior support plans to help those students improve their behavior,
4. Monitor those plans to make informed data-based decisions, and
5. Serve as a consultant to teams challenged by the behavior of a given K-12 student.

The Arizona Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services (ADE/ESS) encourages schools to use qualified professionals to conduct functional behavioral assessments and to develop and implement behavior support plans. One way that they do that is to require that each school receiving state funding to participate in the school-wide PBISAz project select one employee to take a series graduate classes. Our PBC program meets that criterion. Note that because this option only requires 3 of the 5 courses that make up the larger PBS Graduate Certificate, it does NOT result in a NAU Graduate Certificate on your transcripts.
For detailed information on PBIS in Arizona including a list of schools implementing this program, please go to http://www.pbisaz.org.

School-Wide PBS (one class)

SELECT courses provide training to persons seeking to expand their skills in working with children with disabilities and are recommended for regular and special education teachers, related service personnel, para-educators, and other interested individuals. Participants can take SELECT courses for professional growth (e.g., teacher re-certification) or to receive academic credit that can be applied towards teacher certification if the class matches the certification requirement.

SELECT classes are meant to meet Special Education emergency teaching certification and re-certification requirements. But the SELECT program is not only for Special Education teachers. Teachers that are not currently in the Special Education field can also take SELECT classes for re-certification.

There are also a number of Professional Certificates that accept SELECT Classes for re-certification. For more information about SELECT go to SELECT Project page

Table of all Certificates and Courses

Course #	Positive Behavioral Consultant (PBC)	Graduate Certificate in PBS	Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)	Habilitation Behavioral Consultant	SELECT
ESE 502					X
DIS 519	X	X	X	X
DIS 529	X	X	X	X
DIS 539	X	X	X	X
ESE 554		X	X	X
ESE 581		X	X	X

 

Please visit the Course Description page for details about each class.