LSGurdin Consulting BCBA Series: Everything You Didn’t Learn in School About Conducting Behavior Assessment in Schools (Apr. 4, 2025)

For this webinar series, participants will automatically be enrolled in all 8 LSGurdin Consulting BCBA webinars.

April 4, 2025 @ 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Registration closes April 2, 2025 @ 12:00 pm

Speaker

Maeve Donnelly,  BCBA-D, LABA

Description

When applied behavior analysis (ABA) services are delivered as part of an Individualized Education Program (IEP), practitioners must comply with federal mandates established by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It is important to recognize that these mandates, particularly those related to functional behavior assessment (FBA), may be the basis for School Board-Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA) positions. This is because IDEA mandates the use of FBA when students engage in problem behavior at a level and rate that may necessitate a change in setting or result in suspension/expulsion. When conducting FBA in school settings, BCBAs sometimes encounter setting – and stakeholder-barriers to commonly accepted best-practice procedures for functional behavior assessment. This talk will provide an overview of historical and current federal mandates that affect ABA service delivery in publicly-funded elementary and secondary education settings in the United States, ethical considerations for service delivery in these settings, and recommendations for providing effective, ethical, comprehensive, and compliant behavior assessment in schools.

About the Speaker

Dr. Maeve Donnelly (she/her) is a core faculty member and the Director of Supervision in the Applied Behavior Analysis programs at Northeastern University. She is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral and a licensed Applied Behavior Analyst (MA). She also holds professional licensure as a Special Education Administrator (MA – all levels). Dr. Donnelly maintains the qualifications to serve as a BACB® Supervisor. She has 20 years of clinical and applied research experience with children and young adults diagnosed with developmental disabilities, including assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior. Dr. Donnelly has supervised and worked within multidisciplinary teams to provide comprehensive services for her students and clients across public and private educational settings as well as in homes and local communities. Dr. Donnelly is a past recipient of the Student Research Award from the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy (BABAT) and the B.F. Skinner Foundation. She was nominated for the 2023 Bouvé College of Health Sciences Distinguished Educator Award. Her research interests include practitioner-related topics such as evaluating behavioral technology for teaching self-care skills; assessing variables that affect application of evidence-based technology in practice; and training of parents, staff, and graduate students to implement assessment, intervention, and educational protocols.

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.