PAAC/PAATS Frequently Asked Questions
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This ground-breaking professional learning program involves one or two years of training, depending on whether you have a classroom or not. Year one content includes a first semester of instruction covering autism evidence-based interventions and applied behavior analysis for classroom teachers and a second semester of practice conducting informal functional behavior assessments and developing behavior support plans and behavior interventions. Year one is suitable for all professional education staff who have access to students in order to apply learning. This includes special education teachers, speech-language pathologists, psychologists, process coordinators, IDACs, etc. We plan to develop a companion program for paraprofessionals at some point in the future. There is also an administrator training program for building principals who are supporting an autism intervention team. After completing year one, each participant will have earned the Project ACCESS Autism Team Support designation. Year two involves intense classroom coaching and is designed for special education teachers who have classrooms or who are responsible for IEPs. Year two’s classroom coaching will focus on supporting teachers until they are able to use evidence-based interventions with fidelity independently. Completers of year two will receive the additional Project ACCESS Autism Credential.
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First and foremost, school districts that participate will be in a good position to leverage best practice to educate those students in their district who have an IEP with an autism special education eligibility or who have an IEP due to a related developmental disability. Helping students achieve goals and become independent benefits the student, families, the district, and the community. We believe that trained educators utilizing evidence-based interventions that are individualized to each student's needs is foundational to service models that are compliant with the law, support student independence and best-case life outcomes, and contribute greatly to parent/guardian satisfaction.
In addition, trainees will graduate from the program with a firm foundation in techniques of applied behavior analysis. School districts looking for ways to incorporate these strategies will benefit by having staff on board who have some skills in this regard.
In the future, Project ACCESS plans to train qualifying district staff as autism coaches. The PAAC curriculum will be made available to districts at no charge. In this way, districts will be able to continue to offer the PAAC credential to new-hires, transfers, refreshers, etc. in a cost effective way through an ongoing collaboration.
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In addition to the benefits to the district, the building, students and families cited above, teachers will realize additional benefits. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will publish a list on its website of those who have completed all modules and demonstrated the ability to use them with fidelity thereby earning the PAAC/PAATS designation. Teachers can also earn graduate college credit for each semester of the program as an option, and the credit is available at half of the regular rate through Missouri State University (MSU). MSU accepts nine of the twelve hours as elective credit toward an earned master’s degree and the MSU Office of Graduate Interdisciplinary programs has made available a 12-hour graduate certificate program with an autism emphasis for post-baccalaureate students who would like to have transcripted evidence of their advanced study of autism in educational settings.
In addition, Project ACCESS plans to bring relevant, dynamic presenters to the state to conduct hands-on training that results in workshop certificates for such skills as PECS®, Social Skills Interventions, Social Stories™, etc. Folks holding the PAAC certificate will have free access to these events for as long as Project ACCESS offers them. Ongoing support of PAAC graduates will include online help systems, regional peer networks, new resources, etc. Teachers will be able to take advantage of the constantly evolving field by accessing updated curricula without incurring additional expense.
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Every Missouri school district is eligible to participate and are encouraged to apply. The program uses a cohort model and participation is contingent upon Project ACCESS being able to assemble geographic sensible groups that makes coaching practical and minimizes driving for participants for those times when face-to-face meetings are necessary. If your district is interested in participating, you might want to encourage nearby districts that you think might also be interested to apply in order to make a cohort. Ideal numbers are in the range of 8-12 participants per cohort. It’s possible that your district might include enough teachers to be its own cohort. Cohorts will be equally distributed among five general population regions roughly similar to the five Department of Mental Health regions.
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There is an application process that begins by completing an online application located at the following links:
PAAC Applicationand PAATS Application
The commitment of the school district, the pledge of the participants to complete two years of training, as well as the number of students impacted will be considered, but the most important consideration will be our ability to assemble cohorts that include districts that are in close enough proximity that drive times to occasional meetings is not prohibitive and also so that coaching can be efficient. The program is most successful when participating school buildings have the support of the local administrators. District Special Education Administrators and/or Building Principals will be asked to meet with teachers and coaches periodically. In addition, we have designed a special short online workshop that a local administrator will need to complete that details what we believe administrator support should look like -
The PAAC/PAATS kickoff seminar will be in June 2021. Project ACCESS is hosting Sasha Long, the Autism Helper, on June 17th. This will be part of the PAAC/PAATS kickoff, please mark your calendars for this date!
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We will be bringing the training to you! Cohort schools will be hosting the meetings. We will use a “flipped” model. The first semester will include instruction in about two dozen scientifically validated evidence-based interventions. Much of this instruction will occur online using Blackboard course management software. We will also be taking advantage of AFIRM modules hosted by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina. There will also be some online check-ins using free Zoom Web Conferencing software. In addition, there may be some face-to-face cohort meetings from time to time. This schedule will be worked out by the members of each cohort.
We want to avoid interrupting the academic day as much as possible and most cohort face-to-face or Zoom meetings will happen in the evening. We have had single-district cohorts that meet for half-days during the day periodically instead of meeting during the evening, and either is acceptable to Project ACCESS. Again, this is something that local cohort members and their administrators will work out locally.
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The program time commitment is roughly equivalent to taking one 3-hour graduate course per semester, which is about a 3- to 5-hour per week time commitment outside of school (this will include reading, watching instructional videos, contributing to online discussions, participating in Zoom meetings, and completing AFIRM modules). Of course, participants will necessarily allocate work-day time to implementation of new skills, including some time meeting with an in-classroom coach--this is the essential feature of the program. This time, however, should not be “extra” time and should be integrated into sound teaching strategies.
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Training is competency-based and maps to a competency matrix of knowledge and skills, each aligned to CEC standards for advance practice in autism and developmental disorders. These competencies will include an emphasis on the evidence-based interventions outlined in the Missouri Autism Guidelines Initiative (MAGI).
Since many of these interventions fall under the umbrella of Applied Behavior Analysis, a foundation in ABA will be provided as well. Completing the Project ACCESS Introduction to the Education of Students with Autism is a prerequisite, but this workshop is free and can be completed online in about eight hours.
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Each participant will create artifacts to be collected in a portfolio. These products will be initiated in the instructional portion of the program, but will be completed in the classroom and should represent authentic products from the educators’ professional practice. Each new skill has an accompanying “implementation checklist.” Participants will work collaboratively with the assistance of a coach to ensure that the participant is able to use the skill with fidelity with students.
School administrators and IEP teams will notice results in student outcomes such as improved behavior, more independence, achievement of academic goals, and the like as have been targeted in each student’s IEP.
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The first year of training is now online! The price is now free for the year one credential. The complete two-year program is OPT-IN for the second year which is not free but is low cost (currently $500 for the year). Each year of training now offers an independent credential. You can choose to complete the first year and then make a decision/application for year two (year one participation is required for year two). Year two will include in-the-classroom coaching.
Project ACCESS has been providing training by consulting experts for years on a cost-recovery basis. The value of this component alone exceeds the cost to a district, especially given that program completers will be able to participate in this training for free on into the future.
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Yes! Participants may, at their own discretion, enroll for graduate credit from Missouri State University for each semester of program activities. This credit can be obtained for one-half of the regular tuition rate, so it is a bargain to boot! A portion of this credit can be applied to a Master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Autism. Lastly, there is a 12-hour graduate certificate that program completers who elect the for-credit option can earn.
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The training involves a comprehensive model of functional behavior intervention based on an understanding of applied behavior analysis and evidence-based interventions. Doing this to fidelity, in our experience, works best when educators complete the entire program and have coach support, administrator support, and master the fundamentals of data collection and analysis. However, having stated this, we are aware that not everyone will be able to participate at this level.
We are designing the training to be modular and correlated to competencies. We are dedicated to the mission of building local capacity in any way we can and offering professional development opportunities to all who need them. Individuals not specifically enrolled in the program will still be able to benefit: (1) Project ACCESS is continuing its commitment to provide regional autism training, and each of the PAAC lessons is being expanded into a one-day ad hoc training that will be offered in your area in the future. In addition, there is a plan to make many of these into online workshops that can be completed without traveling. (2) Project ACCESS will devote current resource development efforts into creating resources that specifically support this program. Resources would be available to everyone and available on our website. (3) Project ACCESS will leverage specific third party training (like PECS or VB-MAPP training, for example) to support the program. Such opportunities would be available to anyone who would like to attend. (4) An annual autism educators’ conference, open to all, but designed to be supportive of the program, is in the works. (5) A three-tiered system of child-specific consultation is being developed to integrate with the program and provide long-term support of program completers. This begins with a first level of peer support, extends to expert panels by Zoom, up to two in-person consultations. This will support PAAC but is, of course, open to everyone who needs it and is one of the services offered by Project ACCESS.
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Project ACCESS would love to hear from you. We have been presenting the program at state-wide and regional conferences. We also have endeavored to meet with and discuss it at LASE meetings around the state. You will find us at many of these venues. But we are more than happy to meet individually with you and your staff at a time that is convenient to you, either in-person or using live web-conferencing. Please contact us by emailing projectaccess@missouristate.edu or by calling 866-481-3841.