For this webinar series, participants will automatically be enrolled in all 9 LSGurdin Consulting BCBA webinars.
June 4, 2027 @ 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Registration closes June 4, 2027 @ 12:00 pm
Speaker
Dr. Jaclyn Leotta
Description
School personnel working with students who engage in severe challenging behavior are expected to implement crisis management procedures accurately and efficiently during high-stress situations. Traditional crisis management trainings often rely on competency-based models in which staff demonstrate skills correctly following instruction; however, competency alone may not sufficiently prepare staff for real-world implementation demands. Fluency-based training, rooted in behavioral science and incorporating components of Behavior Skills Training (BST), may improve staff performance through repeated practice, immediate feedback, and performance-based fluency criteria.
This presentation reviews a research study examining the effects of fluency-based staff training on crisis management performance within a center-based educational setting serving students with intensive behavioral needs. Using a single-case multiple baseline design across skills, the study evaluated staff implementation accuracy, confidence, maintenance, generalization, and staff injury rates related to physical crisis management procedures. Implications for staff training, safety, and educational practice will be discussed, along with practical recommendations for incorporating fluency-based approaches into crisis intervention programs.
About the Speaker
Dr. Jaclyn Leotta (she/her) is a Pennsylvania-certified School Psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst–Doctoral (BCBA-D) with more than a decade of experience serving in center-based public school programs supporting students with complex emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs. Across her career, she has specialized in crisis prevention and response, staff coaching, and the implementation of evidence-based behavioral and instructional supports within highly structured, multidisciplinary educational environments.
Her bold professional focus includes leading crisis debriefings, designing and delivering refresher and booster trainings, and providing intensive consultation for low-incidence and high-risk disability cases. Dr. Leotta is deeply involved in school-wide systems development, where she creates and implements incident-reporting protocols, cross-team communication systems, and behavior- and safety-data tracking infrastructures. She is also specifically tasked with analyzing restraint frequency and trend data to guide training decisions, inform systems-level improvements, and support ongoing efforts to decrease restraint use and improve safety outcomes across programs. She collaborates closely with administrators, mental-health teams, and behavior support staff to ensure alignment between clinical practice, safety procedures, and instructional programming.
Her research focuses on improving crisis management in school settings through fluency-based staff training. Her dissertation examined how performance-based, precision-teaching-informed training models increase staff accuracy, confidence, team coordination, and safety outcomes during crisis events in center-based schools. This work advances best practices in staff training, organizational systems, and school-based crisis intervention.
Dr. Leotta holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the Pennsylvania College of Osteopathic Medicine, along with advanced training in applied behavior analysis. She continues to work at the intersection of behavior science, crisis-response systems, and school psychology, with professional interests that include crisis systems design, behavior-analytic staff training, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), program-wide data systems, and high-needs educational program consultation.
About LSGurdin Consulting CE Program
LSGurdin Consulting is an ACE Provider with an on-demand library on professional development topics including ABA and mental health, social validity, mindfulness, cultural humility, compassionate school ABA, neurodiversity, assent-based treatment, and ABA superpowers. Each event is presented live and also offered on-demand through Behavior Live.
About LSGurdin Consulting
LSGurdin Consulting also offers behavioral consultation to parents and school teams, school and home assessments, staff training and professional development workshops, educational consultation, and program evaluations.
Membership Information
Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.
Event Cancellation Policy
This program is being offered in partnership with LSGurdin Consulting. You will be receiving an email with instructions on how to view the training on Behavior Live. All cancellations or request for information should be directed to Lisa Gurdin at lsgurdin@lsgurdinconsulting.com.
This program is open to all MPY members. PDPs and CEUs are not being offered. BCBAs are eligible to receive CEs through LSGurdin Consulting.