We Have a Training Problem in ABA
I recently saw a post on Instagram talking about declining pass rates for first-time test takers. They made the connection between pass rates and problems with training and supervision. I completely agree. We have a training problem in ABA, and we need to fix it.
Failing the Exam is Not a Moral Failure
Let’s be clear: if you don’t pass the BCBA exam the first time, it says nothing about you as a person. In fact, one of my favorite behavior analysts (who has written for our blog) didn’t pass the exam the first time. It says nothing about who you are now or who you can become in the future.
AND, passing the exam should be our goal. I took my exam in 2023, and I think it cost me around $300 just to sit for my exam. That’s a lot of money that, luckily, I only had to pay once. Not to mention the stress of sitting for your exam. The goal should be to pass on the first time.
Let’s Talk About Scope
I’m not a university professor or administrator. I recognize that this is a multifaceted problem, and I can’t fix everything. Certainly, coursework needs to be adjusted to account for declining pass rates. I can’t do anything about that, so let’s talk about what I can do.
How Supervision Impacts Understanding
Coursework functions to teach concepts. Supervision functions to apply those concepts to a variety of applications. Forward Found specifically aims to apply behavior analytic concepts to nonclinical applications.
To that end, the mission of Forward Found is to prepare students, aspiring behavior analysts, and others to work outside the clinic. A major part of this purpose involves building fluency with behavioral concepts.
We’re Not Training for Fluency, We’re Training for Completion
Here’s where I think part of the problem lies. In many cases, supervision becomes about completion. Completing hours. Completing forms. Completing tasks.
But completing something is not the same as understanding it.
It’s possible to finish supervision having “done” a lot of things (written programs, collected data, run sessions) without being able to consistently identify when and why to use those skills. When that happens, we shouldn’t be surprised when someone struggles to apply those concepts in a new context… like an exam.
What Do We Mean by Fluency?
When I say fluency, I don’t just mean accuracy. I mean accuracy and flexibility.
Fluency shows up as the ability to take a concept and recognize it across settings, across examples, and under pressure. It’s the difference between being able to define reinforcement and being able to identify it in a therapy session, a classroom, a workplace, or your own behavior.
That kind of responding doesn’t come from a single exposure or a single example. It comes from repeated practice, varied examples, and feedback that helps shape responding over time.
Why This Shows Up on the Exam
The BCBA exam doesn’t ask you to memorize definitions, it asks you to apply concepts. Often in ways that feel unfamiliar.
If your training primarily involved completing tasks in a narrow context, those questions can feel completely new. And when everything feels new, it’s much harder to discriminate what matters in the moment.
So when someone fails the exam, it’s not just about how much they studied. In many cases, it reflects the types of learning opportunities they had during supervision.
What Effective Supervision Could Look Like
If we want different outcomes, we need to create different learning conditions.
That might look like:
Programming for generalization by using examples across settings, not just within one clinical context
Prioritizing active responding, where trainees are explaining, identifying, and applying concepts regularly
Providing immediate, specific feedback that actually shapes performance
Bringing in nonclinical examples (business, systems, everyday behavior) to strengthen concept fluency
Measuring more than completion; looking at whether someone can respond accurately and flexibly
None of this requires a complete overhaul of the system. But it does require us to shift what we pay attention to.
Why This Matters to Us
At Forward Found, our focus on nonclinical applications isn’t just about expanding career paths. It’s also about strengthening understanding.
When you can apply a concept across multiple contexts, your responding becomes more flexible. More durable. More fluent.
And that matters whether you’re sitting for an exam or making decisions in the real world.
We Still Have a Training Problem
The good news is this is fixable. When we design supervision for fluency, variation, and real-world application, we don’t just improve exam outcomes, we build behavior analysts who can actually behave like behavior analysts in any context.
