For over eight years, the Customized Behavior Application Training (CBAT) project at VCU’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center provides division-directed training and technical assistance for educators and public school professionals. The project currently works with 42 school divisions across the Commonwealth. The project’s mission is to support the implementation of best practices in public school settings to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities in their homes, schools, and communities.
The large-scale CBAT model focuses on providing high-quality professional development to front-line staff. The project works with notable education directors in participating regions to set regional goals. This project is particularly unique because the school divisions fully fund it. “We are division-focused and division-driven by special education directors to guide our work. We meet with them strategically, usually monthly, if not bi-monthly, to ensure our goals align with their needs,” Palko explains.
Once those division-driven goals are designed, the CBAT team will implement four services: regional professional development, division-specific coaching, consultation, and intensive technical assistance for targeted special education classrooms. The throughline to these services is the customized, on-the-job coaching with accountability provided to selected public school professionals (i.e., division liaisons) who support students with intensive support needs. “One example would be a division that identifies an autism specialist, who is paired with university-level behavior analysts from the CBAT team, to participate in the training for one year,” Traylor explains. “We have them complete a self-assessment to identify their strengths and areas for growth to develop yearlong professional development goals related to our training.”
In addition to one-on-one coaching, the CBAT team provides an aligned training package that includes positive behavior support strategies. “We have a training package, which is small micro-learnings on behavior assessments and behavior interventions. After the division liaison views the assigned training content, we come and support the implementation of that practice in the context of the individual’s job.” As the division liaison progresses through the training, Palko says, “We have application checklists attached to the training modules. So once they go through and demonstrate proficiency in it, we will use those application checklists to guide the training and implementation of the skill.”
“We have a lot of division liaisons who have varying levels of skill. Some professionals are familiar with preference assessments, for example. However, they may need our help executing the actual assessment because there are always unique things that a student may do during those assessments that we didn't anticipate. So, that's where we talk through the assessment, support the execution of the assessment, and then shape them to be more independent with different students as time goes on,“ Traylor says. “Our real measure of success is if the individual can independently demonstrate the skills we are training them in, without support,” Traylor explains. “We have designed processes and procedures that we coach our division liaisons in to facilitate sustained independence in the trained skills.”
“I think one of our personal hopes is to look at other fiscal avenues to support our school divisions and sustain this type of support in their divisions. We're currently in a situation where we're having a high turnover with teachers and students' needs continuing to increase,” Traylor says.
“It's a passion project for both of us. We both are special education teachers by initial trade, who later became behavior analysts. We love being able to help set up a classroom to be as successful as possible. We also love helping school professionals enjoy their jobs by learning how to implement new skills with various students effectively,” said Palko.
The CBAT project continues to expand across the state to support additional school divisions that may be interested in partnering to receive these specialized services. Palko and Traylor share that their work is made possible through the relationships with school division leaders and the school division professionals they coach. “The honesty and transparency of our collaborative work in the school divisions make it successful.” Palko and Traylor explain that most of their services have evolved over the last eight years to continually meet the needs of the divisions they serve.