Special education MA with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis
Program summary/mission
The Master of Arts in special education with an emphasis in ABA is designed to prepare masters-level practitioners to serve individuals with behavioral support needs in a variety of contexts and prepares students to sit for the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) certifying exam. Students take 12 total courses that include evidence-based and best practices in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and complete fieldwork experience at one of UMN’s fieldwork partner sites. Cultural responsiveness/humility, anti-racism, and anti-ableism topics are embedded throughout the curriculum. In addition to coursework, students in the program participate in multi-level mentoring designed to provide support to students at the individual, group, and program levels.
The mission of the MA in ABA program is to deliver a graduate research and training program dedicated to facilitating the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge and practice pertaining to behavioral approaches that foster more inclusive and equitable socially valid, culturally responsive, person-centered, and evidence-based practices.
Vision: We seek to put action to our values as applied behavior scientists and practitioners. Our values include collaborative reciprocal relationships with participants and communities and across disciplines, socially valid research goals and methods, dissemination of effective interventions and support for change agents, and advocacy for communities and change. In addition, we uphold the Baer et al. (1968) notion of applied behavior analysis as a “self-examining, self-evaluating, discovery-oriented research procedure for studying behavior.”
To learn more about our ABA program, please visit our CARE ABA lab site. Click here to watch a recent info session.
Careers
Graduates of the MA with applied behavioral analysis degree will find careers as:
- board certified behavior analysts
- clinical behavior therapists
- education behavior support specialists
- intensive behavior therapists
- residential and vocational specialists
Why study at the U of M?
- Get your master’s degree in only four semesters and prepare to become board certified as a behavior analyst.
- Conduct research with faculty who are leading the way in behavior analysis.
- Gain real world experience working alongside board certified practitioners.
- Make lifelong connections with other students and faculty who share your passion for making a difference.
- Feel confident and knowledgeable in a high-need field.
- Prepare for a career where your work will have lasting change on people’s lives and wellbeing.
Program background/culture
The MA in ABA program was started in 2018 in an effort to increase behavior analytic practitioners with special education experience working in the state. In the state of Minnesota, individuals in need of behavioral services outnumber providers, with many families in need of services on waitlists. Program founder (Jennifer McComas) and coordinator (Becky Kolb) both joined the field in an effort to create a more equitable world for disabled individuals.
In 2019, the CARE-ABA lab was established in response to witnessing continued inequity in the ABA field, stagnated growth, and movement away from the field’s core values. The mission of the CARE-ABA Lab is to create a platform dedicated to facilitating the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge in all its forms pertaining to behavioral approaches that foster more inclusive and equitable practices and lead to the dismantling of ableism within our community. The vision includes taking collaborative action for equity in the science and practice of applied behavior analysis. At this time, we also redeveloped the MA in ABA program by critically examining content through a culturally responsive, anti-racist, & anti-ableist lens. This redevelopment is a continual process with courses reevaluated and updated each year.
Given the foundation, mission, and objectives of the program, the following are core components of all aspects of the program (many of these of outlined in more detail in the McComas Lab mentoring statement & the CARE ABA disposition expectations statement):
- Fostering bi-directional relationships that seek to upend power differentials
- Practicing cultural responsiveness and humility in applied work
- Open respectful communication and dialogue
- Holding each other and ourselves accountable to maintain a respectful and inclusive environment (through self-reflection and calling in and out)
- Upholding necessary dispositions for success in the program and larger field
- Maintaining a growth mindset
- Multifaceted mentoring that seeks to meet the needs/demands of each situation/individual
Program culture: In the MA in ABA program students are primary stakeholders and clients and other relevant parties at fieldwork placements (e.g., caregivers, site supervisors, etc.) are secondary stakeholders. Given this, student success is centered within the program. Through multilevel developmental mentorship across faculty and instructors in the programs, students are provided support in a variety of contexts with inclusion and individualization at its core. Learning is expected to be iterative and both the learning process and final results are valued and evaluated. Although the majority of work in the program is completed independently by students, lab participation and the cohort model seek to build collaborative and supportive relationships across peers with a non-competitive atmosphere focused on individual development and improvement. Both positive and corrective feedback are provided consistently. Corrective feedback is primarily provided privately and occasionally publically when relevant (typically with permission, and when the group benefits from feedback; e.g., feedback on thesis presentation practice). Issues are avoided proactively whenever possible and when necessary resolved collaboratively across relevant parties with a focus on empowering students to lead in identifying steps to resolution.
Students who are successful in the program are self-directed, self-reflective, organized, foster a growth mindset, and consistently accept and implement feedback. Successful students also proactively seek support/resources as needed, initiate dialogue and communicate openly about concerns, prioritize wellness, and actively seek to balance personal life with program requirements. Importantly, successful students are dedicated to supporting and serving their clients. Finally, successful students take learning seriously and complete classes with above-average grades, and meet semester-by-semester multi-level mentoring goals and dispositions or are self-reflective and troubleshoot when goals are not met.
The program objectives
The MA in ABA Program at the University of Minnesota uses the following goals as guiding principles for the program:
- Provide comprehensive training in behavior analysis and special education that serves as a foundation for evidence-based, inclusive, culturally responsive, and socially valid applications of applied behavior analysis, in continued graduate education or service delivery after graduation.
- Students will develop foundational knowledge of behavior analytic concepts, principles, and the theoretical underpinnings.
- Students will apply their foundational knowledge base to understand theoretical, conceptual, and applied issues in behavior analysis.
- Students will apply their foundational knowledge base to applied settings and troubleshoot applied issues.
- Students will develop a knowledge base of empirically supported behavioral applications relevant to a variety of applied settings and problems.
- Students will develop knowledge of research methods and statistical analysis.
- Students will apply their knowledge, understanding, and problem-solving abilities in new or unfamiliar environments within multidisciplinary contexts.
- Students will undertake study in a manner that is largely self-directed (Association for Behavior Analysis International Standards 9-106).
- Students will develop foundational knowledge of behavior analytic concepts, principles, and the theoretical underpinnings.
- Promote professional and ethical behavior.
- Students will understand and commit to behaving in accordance with the relevant BACB and ABAI ethical codes.
- Students’ language and conduct will espouse respect, humility, accountability, integrity, and ethicality across professional contexts.
- Promote growth in students’ awareness and responsiveness toward individual differences and cultural diversity.
- Students will acquire knowledge of individual differences and cultural diversity.
- Students will demonstrate a respect for and ability to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
- Students will be aware of the impact of their behavior and identity on their clients.
- Students will demonstrate cultural humility.
- Students will apply principles of social validity to all assessment, intervention, and research.
- Students will apply principles of cultural responsiveness to all assessment, intervention, and research.
- Students will take a person-centered/community-informed approach to all assessment, intervention, and research.
- Promote growth in students’ professional identity that fosters lifelong learning and engagement in the larger behavior-analytic and special education community.
- Students will engage in professional development through participation in regional, national, or international organizations as members.
- Students will engage in professional development through attending and participating in the community partner poster day (annually during the spring semester), conferences, workshops, colloquiums, and professional training.
- Promote growth in students’ skills for consuming and conducting rigorous empirical research.
- Students will be engaged in an active research community with an identified mentor.
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of and behave in accordance with human subjects protections.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to comprehensively review and evaluate an area of the research literature relevant to their thesis project.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific literature in a specific area, create a research question based on that evaluation, and develop a research design to effectively answer that question.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze and integrate research findings into the larger scientific literature in a targeted domain.
- Students will use scientific literature to identify evidence-based practices, including specifics pertaining to context (e.g., for whom, and under what conditions).
- Prepare students to obtain the necessary preparations to apply for certification and successfully pass the BACB examination
- Students seeking BACB certification will take courses required to obtain the applied and professional skills designated by the BACB 6th Edition Test Content list.
- Students seeking BACB certification will learn the skills necessary to work effectively in a service setting during fieldwork.
- Students will orally communicate their research and applied projects in professional settings.
- Students will orally present case conceptualizations in a concise, organized, and comprehensive manner.
- Students will orally present research in a concise, organized, and comprehensive manner.
- Students will disseminate behavioral approaches through effective communication/collaboration in multidisciplinary contexts across various professionals with various backgrounds.
Coursework
For students who joined our program prior to the 2024-2025 school year, the Association for Behavior Analysis International® has verified the following course sequence as meeting the coursework requirements for eligibility to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst Examination®. Applicants will have to meet additional requirements to qualify.
This is an in-person program; we do not offer an online program. Students are required to complete 33 credits and a capstone research project. Students are required to participate in up to 20 hours per week of fieldwork experience in one of our partner sites during each of the four semesters. Students who intend to take the board certification exam must complete 1,500 hours of concentrated supervised fieldwork (or 2,000 hours if accruing under supervised fieldwork) after beginning the MA in ABA program to qualify for the exam. Many of our practicum partners provide paid supervision in paid positions.
Note: At this time, Minnesota does have licensing requirements specific to the state. Visit the Minnesota Board of Psychology site for more information on how to apply once you have passed your BCBA certifying exam.
The program is currently in the process of pursuing accreditation at the Tier 2a level (expected by Spring 2025). Incoming students for the 2025-2026 school year will take the following courses:
Summer term
In the summer session prior to Fall enrollment OR in the summer session between year 1 and Year 2 students are strongly encouraged to take:
- EPSY 5631 - Introduction to Augmentative and Alternative Communication (2 cr) - online
This course allows students to begin accruing BCBA hours summer before starting the in-person program.
Fall term
- EPSY 5659 - Foundations in Behavior Analysis (L&C Req) (3 cr)
- EPSY 5614W - Assessment and Due Process in Special Education (3 cr)
- EPSY 5261 - Introductory Statistical Methods (3 cr)
Spring term:
- EPSY 8994 - Applied Behavior Analysis: Behavior Assessment & Intervention in Applied Settings (4 cr)
- EPSY 5663 - Methods in ASD (3 cr)
- EPSY 8706 - Single-Case Design (3 cr)
Fall term
- EPSY 8707 - Principles of Learning & Behavior (3 cr)
- EPSY 5623 - Ethics in Applied Behavior Analysis (3 cr)
Spring term
- EPSY 8708 - Functional Behavior Assessment (3 cr)
- EPSY 5851 - Engaging Diverse Students and Families (3 cr)
- EPSY 5157 - Social and Developmental Psychology (3 cr) OR
- EPSY 8819 - Emotion & Childhood Psychopathology (3 cr)
As part of the program, students are required to participate in up to 20 hours per week of fieldwork experience in one of our partner sites during each of the four semesters. Students who intend to take the board certification exam must complete 1,500 hours of concentrated supervised fieldwork (or 2,000 hours if accruing under supervised fieldwork) after beginning the MA in ABA program to qualify for the exam. Many of our practicum partners provide paid supervision in paid positions.
Note: At this time, Minnesota does have licensing requirements specific to the state. Visit the Minnesota Board of Psychology site for more information on how to apply once you have passed your BCBA certifying exam.
Tuition, funding, and financial aid
Visit the College of Education and Human Development's Tuition and Financial Aid page for information on tuition.
Visit OneStop Student Services for more information on available financial aid.
Faculty
Jennifer McComas
Professor and head of special education MA with emphasis in ABA