An Evaluation of a Professional Development Programme in Functional Behavior Assessment for Educators in Australia

Abstract

The efficacy of delivering autism-focused Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) training within a six-session professional development (PD) framework was investigated with 23 Australian educators. FBA knowledge, selfefficacy (SE), and confidence were measured pre-to-post-PD series as markers of educator ability to address the challenging behaviours associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A significant relationship was found between confidence, SE, and overall performance in various aspects of the educator’s job role. These results suggest that this form of PD may be used to train educators in the skills necessary to improve both their own working experience and their students’ learning opportunities.