What Is the RBT Competency Assessment & How to Pass It?

Want to be a Registered Behavior Technician? One of the many steps in that road is the RBT Competency Assessment.

In the ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) field, the role of the RBT Competency Assessment is a prominent one. It assesses your behavioral and practical skills in ABA domains to ensure that you’re the right fit.

However, the assessment is also one of the trickiest parts of the whole process. And unless you complete it entirely and submit the results, you cannot sit for the RBT test. 

That means, you cannot become a Registered Behavior Technician without completing the competency assessment. Hence, it’s really important that you do well in it.

In today’s article, we’ll try our best to explain the finest details of the RBT Competency Assessment and how you can pass it with flying colors on your way to be an RBT!

So, without further ado, let’s get right to it.

What Is the RBT Competency Assessment?

First up, let’s see what the RBT Competency Assessment actually is.

The RBT Competency Assessment is an integral part of the RBT journey. The entire process of turning into an RBT is handled by the BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board). The competency assessment validated by the BACB as well. 

The RBT Competency Assessment is a practical one. That is, you will need to virtually showcase the skills you have learned via the 40-hour required training. It covers a total of 20 practical tasks. Tasks include real life scenarios such as client-technician interactions, problem simulations, roleplay activities, etc. 

But what’s the purpose of this assessment if you’re going to sit for the RBT exam anyway?

Well, the answer’s pretty simple. The exam exists to check how well you know your course materials and behavioral codes. And the competency assessment checks your practical knowledge of the behavioral field by exposing you to real-life problems.

So, can you accurately perform the tasks that an RBT has to tackle on a daily basis? The assessment allows you to find out how competent you actually are for the role!

Prerequisites For the RBT Competency Assessment

Before you can take the RBT Competency Assessment, you need to complete certain prerequisites first. These prerequisites are instructed upon by the BACB itself. 

Here’s a brief overview of the prerequisites if you want to get assessed:

• You have to be 18 and up. 
• You have to have a high school diploma (or an equivalent/higher).
• You have to complete the required 40-hour RBT course and training.
• You will need to show proof of a Level 2 background clearance. 

Note: If you have completed the background clearance six months before the RBT Competency assessment, you’ll need to clear it & submit the results again. 

Detailed Structure of The RBT Competency Assessment

The RBT Competency Assessment covers 20 questions in total. Well, 20 tasks, to be more precise. These tasks involve practical and field tasks to test a candidate’s skillset. 

The tasks are further categorized into 4 primary domains. They are:

1. Measurement
2. Assessment 
3. Skill Acquisition & Behavior Reduction 
4. Professionalism & Requirements 

In the 40-hour training, you’ll receive written instructions of up to 34 tasks. From those tasks, a total of 20 are selected for the RBT Competency Assessment. 

Here’s a detailed overview of the four primary categories you’ll need to cover:

Measurement

You’ll need to complete a total of 3 tasks from the measurement section of the competency assessment. Your supervisor will assign a client for roleplay sessions.

In these sessions, via interviewing your clients, you’ll need to compare and assess continuous behavioral measurement such as frequency, duration, etc. You may also need to figure out partial or discontinuous measurement from the client’s info. 

Furthermore, you’ll need to chart and update graphs based on the findings. This will help you to identify the behavioral patterns by studying the logistics. 

Assessment 

A total of 2 questions will come from this domain. As the domain name suggests, you’ll need to engage in role-play sessions with the client and extract behavioral information from them to succeed. 

You’ll need to get the primary ABC data and assess their behavioral preferences, likings, and dislikings, from the dialogues. 

Skill Acquisition & Behavior Reduction 

Skill Acquisition and Behavior Reduction – this domain comprises a total of 10 tasks in the RBT competency assessment. This domain gives you a practical taste of the upcoming day-to-day job duties. 

The ten tasks respectively assess the following must-have skills of an RBT:

1. DTT (Discrete Trial Teaching)
2. Naturalistic Teaching 
3. Chaining 
4. Shaping 
5. Discrimination Training 
6. Stimulus Control Transfer
7. Prompting 
8. Token Systems
9. Crisis Procedures
10. Naturalistic Teaching/Antecedent Interventions/Extinction

For the last skill, you can choose to showcase your expertise in any one of three mentioned skills. 

However, your supervisor can choose to ascertain a particular one. Hence, it’s best to prepare for all these anyway!

Professionalism & Requirements 

Lastly, the professional domain covers the remaining 5 tasks of the RBT Competency Assessment. Like the measurement section, these tasks are conducted via role-play sessions and interviews as well.

For this, the assessor can sit in as the client himself or assign a sub-assessor/assistant assessor to role play as the client for the applicant. 

The tasks are generally based on how well you can take session notes during an interview, how you can respectfully maintain professional boundaries, and how skilfully you can preserve client’s privacy and dignity. If a client doesn’t feel respected, they will not feel comfortable enough to share their issues after all. 

Additionally, the tasks cover the broader area of supervision requirements and clinical direction to assess the applicant’s knowledge on professional code of conduct with at-risk clients. 

Who Conducts the RBT Competency Assessment?

Moving on, let’s find out about the person who actually conducts these assessments. The RBT Competency Assessment isn’t a self-assessment by any means. It needs to be conducted by a trained professional to avoid discrepancies & incredulity. 

First off, you’ll need an approved BACB professional who’ll conduct and supervise the assessment. This particular supervisor is also known as the Responsible Assessor. 

Here are some important and helpful tidbits about the Responsible Assessor:

• They have to get approved and certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board itself. 
• He has to complete 8 hours of supervision training before he can conduct a competency assessment. 
• They don’t have to be employed at the applicant’s organization i.e. applicants can outsource supervisors for their assessment.
• The primary Responsible Assessor can have one or more sub-assessors to help with the assessment.
• The primary assessor is wholly responsible for the assessment, and the assistant assessors bear no responsibility in this case. 
• The assistant assessors do not require any board certification.
• In the case of any pre-existing relationship between the assessor and the applicant, the applicant has to choose a different conductor for the competency assessment. Otherwise, it is prohibited as it may cause biased outcomes. 
• The applicant cannot choose a different organization for provision of the assessment. They can only choose an external conductor/supervisor if needed.
• Payment received for external services will not count as the organization’s employment. 

How Can You Find a Responsible Assessor for The Competency Assessment?

Usually, the organization that provides you the 40-hour RBT training plays a part in providing the assessment assessor as well. However, if you don’t have a responsible assessor lined up already, here’s what you can do:

Hit Up BACB’s official website

BCBA refers to Board-Certified Behavior Analysts. It’s a sub-domain under BABC where you can find information about all the certified behavior technicians near you. Alongside BCBA, you can find BCaBA’s as well and they can all help you out. 

It’s quite simple, really. Search by the zip code to get the location of nearby behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts. Afterward, reach out using the info given in the website to see whether they’d like to conduct your assessment. 

An assessment takes a long time and as such, it’s important to ensure that you both have got the free time for it. Upon recruitment, the primary assessor can further hire assistant assessors for help.

However, as mentioned earlier, the total responsibility of the assessment will fall on the primary assessor only. So, if anything goes wrong, only the primary assessor will be held accountable, not the assistants. 

And if you are recruiting assessors externally like this, they may charge you for the sessions. Or, if they want to, they can do it free of cost in exchange for future assistance with their work. 

Find ABA-associated companies nearby

Find any company that works in the Applied Behavior Analysis aka ABA field. For instance – special schools and training centres for kids with Autism, ADHD, etc. 

Usually, these companies employ in-house BCBA’s and BCaBA’s to handle the at-risk children. You can request these board certified professionals to take your assessment before the RBT exam. 

However, there’s a catch. Oftentimes, these companies use this to plan an employment contingency in return. That is, once you get certified as an RBT, you must come and work for the company.

In exchange, they will help you to complete the assessment. If you choose wisely, this can work out in your favor. 

Find A Dedicated RBT-Training Organization 

The process of becoming an RBT involves a ton of steps. Alongside the 40-hour training, you have to pass the security clearance, sit for the assessment, and finally, the MCQ exam itself. 

Hence, it’s a good idea to sign up with an organization that can help you to complete all these steps systemically and in time. 

Most of these organisations employ dedicated behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts. Once it’s time for your competency assessment, they can assign these analysts to supervise your session.

Additionally, you can prepare for the RBT exam with Autivic, an online learning platform featuring comprehensive study guides, interactive flashcards, and realistic mock exams to help you build confidence and improve your chances of success.

What Takes Place After The RBT Competency Assessment?

Once you’ve completed the RBT Competency Assessment successfully, you need to collect the results from the supervisor/primary assessor. And the next step is to sit for the RBT exam itself. 

Remember that, once your assessor signs off on the assessment, you have 90 days to get your RBT certification. If it goes over that timeframe, you’ll have to sit and demonstrate the essential 20 skills again!

Tips to Pass The RBT Competency Assessment With Flying Colors!

Now that you know all about the structure of the assessment, here’s a short list of the tips that’ll help you to ace the assessment:

Prioritize The 40-Hour Training

Without completing the initial training, you’ll not be able to sit for the assessment. So, complete it as soon as you can.

Revise The Course Materials

The 40-hour training covers all the skills you need to acquire. Additionally, it supplies the course materials for further enrichment. If you want to do well in the assessment, you need to study these materials thoroughly and practice them.

Test Your Own Behavioral Skills

As the assessment is a practical test, you need to develop your interaction skills first and foremost. If you have trouble communicating or if you get stuffy during roleplay scenarios, you won’t do well. 

So, practice with your friends and family to get over the stage fright. Test your communication skills over and over again to improve your behavioral conduct.

Don’t Give Up If You Don’t Pass All 20 Tasks 

Even if you don’t do well in one of the tasks, don’t give up or waste your energy. Complete the rest of the assessment, and schedule a meeting for another time to try out the failed task again with the assessor. 

Don’t let the tension get to your head and end up doing a bad job in the other tasks. Instead, calm yourself and carry on. Remember that you can retake as many times as you need to. So, no pressure!

Use Memory Tricks & Flashcards

To remember the complex ABA terms, use flashcards to organize and memorize them. You can also use memory tricks to remember definitions and formulas easily. 

Dress Professionally 

Remember that you’re training to be a Registered Behavior Technician. Hence, the way you dress up should reflect your professionalism accordingly. 

Furthermore, dressing well will also encourage you to maintain a positive attitude throughout the assessment.

Ask For Clarifications If Needed

If you’re unable to understand a particular task, always ask for clarifications. Don’t be nervous to ask questions about the tasks to the assessor. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Is the RBT Competency Assessment a one-time test?

No, the assessment results stay valid for up to 90 days. After 90 days or 3 months, you’ll need to take it again if you wish to become a registered behavior technician. 

Is the RBT Competency Assessment a written test?

No, the assessment is a practical test that covers four domains of behavioral skills. 

Can I retake the exam as many times as I want to?

Yes, you can only retake the components you failed in previously. There is virtually no limit on the number of retakes. 

Will I pass if I get 99% in the RBT Competency Assessment?

No, you will need to have a 100% if you want to pass the competency assessment. 

Can I take the RBT Competency Assessment online?

Some organizations may allow you to sit for the assessment online via Zoom calls. However, it’s a bit frowned upon. 

How Long Does It Take to Complete The RBT Competency Assessment?

It may take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to complete the RBT Competency Assessment. If you fail at any task, you can retake it, and it’ll take longer in that case. 

Final Words

To sum up, the RBT Competency Assessment is an integral component of the entire RBT process. Hence, you have to complete the prerequisites, find a qualified conductor, and lastly, have a good preparation. Even though you can retake the assessment multiple times, we’d highly recommend completing as fast as you can to avoid professional delays. 

With that, it’s time to wrap up today’s write-up on the details of the RBT Competency Assessment and tips on how to pass it effectively. Hopefully, our tips will help you to do great during your assessment. Stay tuned to find out more knacks and quirks of the RBT journey!