Behavior Therapist

                        -      Hiring Deadline - October 24th at 12:00PM       -

Behavior Therapist

Full-Time, Exempt, 210 Work Days

Reports to: SPED Coordinator

Summary Description:  The Behavior Therapist provides leadership and direction to design, implement, coordinate and evaluate a comprehensive behavior support program for specifically identified students. The Behavior Therapist works closely with Culture and Special Education teams on campuses to help support all students.  In addition, the Behavior Therapist works directly and intentionally with identified students, parents, and staff to create plans, teach and model behaviors that substantially increase behavioral, academic performance, personal/social development, and ultimately lead to student success in all school settings.

Major Responsibilities and Duties:  

• Supervise and support identified students to ensure a safe, non-threatening, nurturing environment where students can thrive
• Assist staff in defining and measuring behavior for specifically identified students; teaching adaptive behaviors; implementing strategies for maladaptive behavior
• Lead and oversee the development and implementation of Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP)
• Work cooperatively with teachers and leadership to promote positive student behavior by providing professional development that targets research, strategies and modeling of instructional practices to support staff (ex: ABA principles, positive behavior interventions, and data-driven decision making)
• Engage parents in the behavior planning processes (ex: FBA/BIP/Student Support Plans) and empower parents by providing them with skills and techniques to support the positive behavior development of their child
• Facilitate team meetings with the identified students’, teachers, and parents for the purpose of completing behavioral assessments.
• Work with individual teachers and leadership on issues such as crisis intervention, learning and collaboration issues, and factors that can affect development and implementation of interventions
• Promote highly specialized positive behavior interventions (PBIS)  in which “at risk” students thrive
• Model for and coach staff to facilitate behavioral interventions that are explicit, intensive, accelerated and provides ample practice
• Responsible for providing intensive behavior intervention service minutes when part of a student’s IEP.
• Attend Individualized Education Plan meetings (IEP) where applicable
• Use ongoing assessments to maintain a record of student progress
• Develop assessment strategies consistent with instructional goals, teaching methods, and individual student needs to more accurately assess student behavior skills and understandings
• Create fair and equitable assessments to assess higher-order thinking and problem solving as well as individual skills, knowledge, and understandings
• Model good assessment processes that assist students in assessing their own work and behavior
• Provide recognition of a variety of student accomplishments and positive behaviors
• Attend professional development opportunities to maintain high level of skill and knowledge of current research and practices
• Organize and schedule time commitments to meet demands of the job
• Comply with all safety policies, practices and procedures; report all unsafe activities to supervisor and/or Human Resources

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of applied behavior analysis (ABA) methodologies, including functional communication training, reinforcement strategies, and skill acquisition
• Ensures all behavioral practices are in alignment with BACB ethical guidelines and legal regulations (IDEA, Section 504, FERPA)
• Knowledge of function-based intervention planning for developing behavior change strategies that focuses on reducing problem behavior and increasing more appropriate behavior
• Knowledge of techniques needed to successfully complete effective Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP)that coincide with Individual Education Plans (IEP) for those students that receive intensive behavioral intervention services.
• Knowledge in the use of assessments and assessment data to inform instruction and prescribe work plans for individual students
• Ascribes to the philosophy that all children can succeed and demonstrates the commitment to do what is necessary to achieve this goal
• Demonstrates exceptional skill in the roles of a teacher leader, collaborator, action researcher, reflective practitioner, and learner advocate. 
  
  

Required Education and Experience:

• Post-graduate degree required (ideally in Applied Behavior Analysis, Education, Psychology, or related field)
• An RBT, BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) or a BCABA (Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst) is highly preferred
• Experience and trained in Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS)
• 1-2 years’ experience in a Behavior Specialist role 
• 3-5 years’ experience working at a school site
• Experience implementing proactive strategies
• Experience providing frequent monitoring and fidelity checks with students and staff
• Experience in collecting and teaching staff in the practices of ABC data 

Salary : $80,000 - $104,382