Unit 7 Assignment: Ethical Decision-Making for BCBAs in Public School Behavior Intervention Cases

Purdue Global students pursuing BCBA certification apply the official Behavior Analyst Certification Board standards directly to school-based scenarios involving self-injurious behavior through a structured PowerPoint presentation and Kaltura video that covers professional responsibilities across four key code sections.

Ethics Codes

For this week’s assignment, you are playing the role of an experienced Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who has been working in the field for several years. The principal at Soundview Elementary School has called you to discuss a student in need of behavioral services. Because of the complex nature of working in public schools, and the nature of the behavior, you must consider your ethical responsibilities in taking on this case.

Practitioners in school districts frequently navigate limited staffing and diverse student needs that shape how ethical standards translate into daily practice.

Scenario

Ali is a 5-year-old child diagnosed with autism that engages in several problem behaviors in a public-school classroom setting. The current classroom includes one teacher, a teacher’s assistant, and a paraprofessional with 12 students in the class. This is a self-contained classroom, and all of the students in the classroom have various needs.

Ali’s most severe problem behavior includes self-injurious behavior of hitting herself in the forehead. This behavior is often mild in magnitude but sometimes more forceful to the point that it leaves a mark. Currently, the behavior occurs about 15 times per day. Ali’s parents are concerned that this behavior may be causing headaches and other pain.

You have been hired by the school district to create a plan for Ali’s behavior and to train staff on the intervention. After observing the behavior, you meet with the principal and classroom teacher to discuss your findings. You notice that the behavior mostly occurs during group lessons or when the teacher is not attending to Ali. The function of the self-injurious behavior is hypothesized to be attention.

Recent data on attention-maintained behaviors in classroom settings confirm that functional hypotheses like this one guide safer and more effective plans when teams collaborate closely from the start.

You determine that the most appropriate behavior intervention is a Differential Reinforcement of Other behaviors (DRO) procedure for the absence of head hitting. Since the function is hypothesized to be attention-seeking, you also believe that extinction should be combined with the DRO. You understand that there is a potential for an extinction burst in cases like Ali’s. Therefore, before proceeding, you want to make certain that you have informed consent from all relevant parties and that everyone involved is well trained in the intervention.

Current guidelines continue to highlight the value of proactive training protocols that prepare paraprofessionals for possible bursts while maintaining student safety and dignity throughout implementation.

Assignment Directions

Using the Unit 7 Assignment Template , develop a professional PowerPoint presentation. Then, use Kaltura Capture to record a 5–10-minute video presentation that further supports the information on your slides as if you were presenting. Please read the assignment requirements for details on the guidelines and expectations.

To prepare for this assignment, refer to Sections 1 and 2 of the code to discuss your professional responsibility and your responsibility in practice in Ali’s case. Then, refer to Sections 3 and 4 to discuss your ethical responsibility to supervise and train the staff. To help with the video portion of your project, the Unit 7 Video Template is available as an optional resource.

Many instructors note that cross-referencing the most recent BACB handbook updates helps clarify how supervision volume and performance monitoring apply in resource-constrained public school environments.

Please respond to the following:

Slide 1: Title Slide

• Title of PowerPoint presentation, your name, course and section number, instructor name, and date.

Slide 2: Sections of the Ethics Code

• Introduce yourself and describe, in detail, the case, your role in it, and the four relevant Sections of the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts that you will be elaborating on.

Slides 3 & 4: Section 1

• Identify the ethics code(s) from Section 1 that are relevant to the scenario.
• Using specific information from the scenario, describe how the relevant code(s) apply to the situation.
• Explain how you will ensure your adherence to the code(s).

Slides 5 & 6: Section 2

• Identify the ethics code(s) from Section 2 that are relevant to the scenario.
• Using specific information from the scenario, describe how the relevant code(s) apply to the situation.
• Explain how you will ensure your adherence to the code(s).

Slides 7 & 8: Section 3

• Identify the ethics code(s) from Section 3 that are relevant to the scenario.
• Using specific information from the scenario, describe how the relevant code(s) apply to the situation.
• Explain how you will ensure your adherence to the code(s).

Slides 9 & 10: Section 4

• Identify the ethics code(s) from Section 4 that are relevant to the scenario.
• Using specific information from the scenario, describe how the relevant code(s) apply to the situation.
• Explain how you will ensure your adherence to the code(s).

Slides 11: Summary

• Summarize the main points of your presentation.

Slide 12: References

• Include a minimum of two scholarly, academic sources listed in APA format.
• One should be your text, and the other should be the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.

Please review and follow the assignment requirements in the next tab titled Assignment Details.

Sample Response Excerpt for Slides and Video Script

As the experienced BCBA called to Soundview Elementary, I open my presentation by sharing my five years of school-based practice and then detail Ali’s case including the 15 daily instances of forehead hitting that parents worry may cause headaches. From Section 1 I highlight 1.05 Practicing within Scope of Competence and 1.07 Cultural Responsiveness and Diversity because the self-contained classroom serves 12 students with varied needs and the team includes paraprofessionals who may hold different cultural views on intervention. These standards apply directly when I hypothesize attention as the function and select DRO combined with extinction since I must stay within my training to avoid overstepping into medical advice on potential headaches. I ensure adherence by scheduling weekly fidelity checks with the teacher and documenting every consent conversation in my notes. Turning to Section 2 I address 2.11 Obtaining Informed Consent and 2.15 Minimizing Risk of Behavior-Change Interventions to explain the extinction burst risk and how I will prepare the full team through role-play sessions before starting. My Kaltura video expands each bullet with real classroom examples while the optional template keeps narration concise and engaging for the 5- to 10-minute limit. Recent systematic reviews confirm that transparent consent processes like these improve staff buy-in and reduce implementation errors in similar school settings (Pokorski & Barton, 2021; see https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0741932520918859).

 Guidance on Ethical Practice in School-Based ABA

Ethical practice in cases like Ali’s extends far past selecting the right code numbers and calls for genuine partnership with teachers and families who already juggle multiple demands each day. Systematic reviews of punishment-related procedures show that researchers who document consent and training details more thoroughly achieve stronger long-term reductions in challenging behavior while protecting vulnerable young children. When BCBAs incorporate feedback from autistic self-advocates and monitor supervision volume as required in Section 4, interventions appear more sustainable and respectful in public school environments where resources stay tight. Data from recent studies suggest these layered approaches may lower the chance of staff burnout and help schools maintain continuity even after the BCBA steps back.

References

• Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) (2022) Ethics code for behavior analysts. Available at: https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ethics-Code-for-Behavior-Analysts-240830-a.pdf (Accessed: 16 March 2026).
• Pokorski, E.A. and Barton, E.E. (2021) ‘A systematic review of the ethics of punishment-based procedures for young children with disabilities’, Remedial and Special Education, 42(6), pp. 377–390. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932520918859 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).
• Johnson, J.F. (2025) ‘From harm to healing: building the future of ABA with autistic voices’, Societies, 15(3), p. 72. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15030072 (Accessed: 16 March 2026).

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Assignment: Unit 8 – Data Collection and Intervention Evaluation in School Settings

Course: BEH-504 Ethics and Professional Conduct in Applied Behavior Analysis

In the following weeks students will extend the ethical foundation from Unit 7 by selecting one intervention component from their Ali plan and collecting baseline plus intervention data through a single-subject design. You will graph the results, calculate fidelity for the DRO and extinction procedures, and write a 2-page reflection on how Sections 2 and 4 of the code shaped your measurement choices and staff training adjustments. Submit your initial data summary and reflection by Wednesday and respond thoughtfully to at least two classmates by Sunday to discuss real-world school barriers that could affect ongoing evaluation.

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