What are the responsibilities and job description for the {Summer 2025} ESY BCBA/ABA Consultant position at Holyoke Public Schools?
The HPS Extended School Year (ESY) Program is for students in grades PK- 12 who qualify for extended year services per their IEP’s. The goal of the program is to prevent regression of learned and/or progressing skills during the Summer months.
Locations for this summer are: Donahue School (Preschool, K-2 ABL/RISE), Kelly School (3-5 ABL/RISE), Morgan (1-2, 3-5) Sullivan School (6-8 ABL, TIP, SHINE), Jericho (Inclusion), or Transitions Academy depending on students’ IEP needs, district needs, and/or grade level. The HPS ESY Program runs from Monday, 7/7/25-Thursday 8/7/24 from 8:45 am-1:15 pm. There will be a required staff orientation day on Thursday, 6/26/25, with an optional additional prep on Friday, 6/27/25 from 9:00 am-1:00 pm.
*Hiring will be staggered throughout the Spring, based on student enrollment*
*All Summer Positions are expected to be in-person this school year*
Goal: The primary role of the BCBA/ABA Consultant is to support the development, implementation, and refinement of programmatic and individual behavioral supports, using strategies based on applied behavior analysis (ABA). The Autism Specialist/BCBA will function in a consultative role, whose expertise will increase the capacity of all team members to effectively provide behaviorally-based supports to students throughout each school day.
Responsibilities:
- Participates in Staff Orientation Day on Thursday 6/26/25, with option for additional prep on Friday 6/27/25.
- Using expertise in evidence-based best practices, collaborate with staff across the school district to develop comprehensive and individualized behavioral and learning plans
- Observe students in ESY settings, consult with pertinent school staff to ensure coordination of strategies/goals and to facilitate communication between school, home, and wraparound services regarding behavior intervention and learning support plans.
- Assist in creation and carryover of antecedent and consequence based strategies to est students up for success in their ESY settings.
- Record and analyze data to provide feedback to school staff and parents regarding interventions success and/ or discuss changes to BSPs based on data and discussion.
- Model applied behavior analytic intervention and data collection techniques for direct service providers and classroom teachers, review data regularly to inform instruction and track progress.
- Model various strategies and techniques to assist staff in the implementation of behavior intervention plans, social skills facilitation, and strategies to promote independence and optimal learning across various school settings.
- In conjunction with school staff, develop discrete trial programming for maintenance skills, train teaching staff to implement discrete trial programming, analyze data, and make recommendations based on data analysis.
- Consult with parents and home-based providers to develop effective programming for students that will generalize across settings.
- Develop, implement and support training of paraprofessionals that includes applied behavior analytic techniques for supporting students in the general education classroom while at the same time maintaining high expectations for them.
- Provide crisis intervention, as needed, including but not limited to verbal discussion/ processing of events with students and staff, and the application of physical intervention methods to reduce risk of injury to students or staff.
- Supervise Registered Behavioral Technicians (RBT) as assigned
- Other duties as assigned by the ESY Site Supervisor, Special Education Director of Intensive Services and/or the Chief of Pupil Services.
Candidate must have experience with the writing of IEP goals and objectives/benchmarks. Working knowledge of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The candidate will be required to effectively communicate and collaborate with all staff to support the needs of students and insure implementation of accommodations, modifications and BSP's across school settings. Candidate must also effectively communicate with parents and outside agency providers.
Job Requirements:
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) & State Licensed Applied Behavior Analysts (LABA) Preferred
- Bilingual Preferred
- Experience working in an urban setting preferred
- At least 2-4 years of relevant experience preferred
- Master degree preferred
- Teaching license preferred, but not required
- Citizenship, residency or work VISA in United States req