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K–12 Penn State Outreach and College of Education effort pays off with national award By Deborah A. Benedetti
During the National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute, Dr. John T. Neisworth (right), professor emeritus of special education, is honored with the University Continuing Education Association’s Outstanding Credit Program Award for Penn State’s Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education Certificate Program. Neisworth is academic director of the program. With him is Dr. Fran James Warkomski, director, Bureau of Special Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education. Photos by Dave Shelly—Campus Photography “Focused applied behavior analysis is one of the most effective approaches for children with autism.” —Dr. John T. Neisworth Professor Emeritus of Special Education Dr. Duane F. Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, presents the keynote address for the National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute. He discussed the latest autism research developments and the progress of national autism programs and research centers. Dr. Nancy Minshew, director, Collaborative Program of Excellence in Autism, University of Pittsburgh, discusses New Developments in Research and What They Mean to You during a research symposium of the National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute. Dr. Brian Iwata, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Florida, presents a research symposium on Current Themes in Behavior Analysis Research in Autism during the National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute. “The number of identified cases of autism is really growing very rapidly, yet many teachers do not feel equipped to handle the special needs of these children. Penn State’s program is designed to meet this need.” —Dr. Pamela S. Wolfe Associate Professor of Special Education	The Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education Certificate Program has been honored with the national Outstanding Credit Program Award from the University Continuing Education Association.   The University Continuing Education Association is the principle organization for continuing higher education in the United States. The association presented the award to Penn State’s program during its national convention.   The College of Education and Shook & Associates developed the certificate program in response to a request from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The department wanted an educational program that would prepare individuals for certification as Board Certified Behavior AnalystsTM. The program was designed for professionals who work in the field of applied behavior analysis, including special education teachers, behavior analysts, mobile therapists, educational consultants, speech-language pathologists, school counselors, social workers and directors of human services. “   The driving force behind the Department of Education’s emphasis on applied behavior analysis was the growing demand by parents of children with autism and other forms of disordered behavior for behaviorally based procedures for their children,” Dr. John T. Neisworth, professor emeritus of special education, said. He is academic director of the Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education Certificate Program. “Focused applied behavior analysis is one of the most effective approaches for children with autism.”   According to Neisworth, there were few certified applied behavior analysts working in Pennsylvania prior to Penn State’s launch of a pilot program in 1998, in cooperation with the Department of Education and Shook & Associates.   He pointed out that applied behavior analysis is employed in many areas in addition to autism and disordered behaviors, including effective reading programs, direct instruction, workplace incentive programs, marriage counseling and many other applications.   “Just as medical practice is the application of principles from the sciences of biology and chemistry, and civil engineering applies principles from the science of physics, applied behavior analysis employs principles from the science of behavior,” Neisworth said. “Anyone interested in understanding human behavior from the standpoint of the natural scientist should take a serious look at the principles and procedures that have been developed and applied by behavior scientists, from B. F. Skinner to today’s professionals in experimental and applied behavior analysis. The Penn State program has courses in applied behavior analysis, courses that are designed to meet the course work requirements set by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (http://www.bacb.com).”   The Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education Program is a 12-credit graduate program that prepares professionals for credentialing examinations offered by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®. Courses are delivered through a combination of video-taped lectures and demonstrations, the Web and e-mail. One course, Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education: Extended Applications (3 credits), is offered during the summer National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute at University Park campus.   This year’s conference and institute was held in August at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. The final course in the four-course series focuses on current and emerging advanced topics in applied behavior analysis and provides participants with face-to-face interaction with Penn State instructors and national experts.   To date, more than 700 special education teachers and other professionals from around the nation have enrolled in the program, and 260 students (167 from Pennsylvania) have earned certificates from Penn State. Currently, there are 207 students enrolled in the certificate program (137 from Pennsylvania). The program has served students from Alabama, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia and Jamaica.   The certificate program is offered by Penn State’s College of Education, Special Education Program, Outreach Office of Statewide Programs, Continuing Education at University Park and the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education and Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network.   The faculty members who teach courses in the program include Dr. John T. Neisworth, professor emeritus of special education; Dr. Charles A. Hughes, professor of special education; Dr. Richard M. Kubina Jr., assistant professor of education; Dr. Jose Martinez-Diaz, adjunct instructor in special education; Dr. James K. McAfee, associate professor of special education; Dr. Kathy L. Ruhl, professor of special education; Dr. Gerald L. Shook, adjunct associate professor of education; and Dr. Pamela S. Wolfe, associate professor of special education, all from the College of Education; and Dr. Kathryn D. R. Drager, assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, College of Health and Human Development; and Dr. David L. Lee, assistant professor of special education, Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies.   Penn State is one of only four higher education institutions that offer graduate course sequences in applied behavior analysis using distance education technologies that are approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®. The other institutions are Southern Illinois University, St. Cloud State University and the University of North Texas. Penn State also offers on-campus programs at University Park campus and Penn State Harrisburg.   After developing the Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education Certificate Program, College of Education faculty members established a similar training program focused on autism. The Professional Development Certificate in Autism is for special education teachers and other professionals who work with children.   “The number of identified cases of autism is really growing very rapidly, yet many teachers do not feel equipped to handle the special needs of these children,” Dr. Pamela S. Wolfe, associate professor of special education and academic director of the Certificate in Autism, said. “Penn State’s program is designed to meet this need. The program is available through an independent continuing education format, which makes it very accessible for teachers working in the field now.”   The Certificate in Autism is a 12-credit program that emphasizes speech and language and augmentative communication areas, Wolfe said. The program shares courses with the Applied Behavior Analysis program and, like Applied Behavior Analysis, offers participants a chance to apply what they are learning to actual classroom settings during a special course at the summer National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute.   Information about the Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education Certificate Program and the Professional Development Certificate in Autism is available online at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/StatewidePrograms/. An outreach program of the College of Education, Outreach Office of Statewide Programs, Penn State Continuing Education and the Pennsylvania Department of Education More than 1,500 people attended the National Autism Conference and Pennsylvania Autism Institute at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. In the photo at left, Michelle Smith visits the Penn State Continuing Education display in the conference exhibition hall. In the photo at right, Dana Vandergrift picks up literature at the Pennsylvania Child and Adolescent Service System Program Training and Technical Assistance Institute display. The institute is part of the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education at Penn State Harrisburg.