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West Virginia's yearly autism and behavior training for teachers' aides (W. Va. Code § 18-20-2): what the law asks, and where outside training fits

The short answer

Each West Virginia county board must make twelve hours of training available every year, during normal working hours, to all regularly employed teachers' aides. The training covers serving students who have shown, or may show, challenging or aggressive behavior, and serving children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and it satisfies the aides' continuing education requirements. Separately, before an aide is assigned to help teachers serve exceptional children, the county board must provide a four-clock-hour training program on the education of exceptional children.

What the law says

West Virginia Code § 18-20-2(d):

"The county board annually shall make available during normal working hours to all regularly employed teachers' aides twelve hours of training that satisfies the continuing education requirements for the aides regarding: (1) Providing services to students who have displayed challenging or aggressive behavior or have demonstrated the potential for challenging or aggressive behavior; and (2) Providing services to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder."

The same subsection requires the training to be structured to permit an employee to qualify as an autism mentor after thirty hours of staff development related to instructional support for students with autism, including prevention and de-escalation techniques with alternatives to restraint. The county board must notify all teachers' aides in writing of the location, date and time of training offered for autism mentor qualification. It must also consider partial or full tuition reimbursement for any regularly employed or substitute teacher's aide who elects to attend that training. Reimbursement is not guaranteed.

Subsection (c): "The county board shall provide a four-clock-hour program of training for any teacher aide employed to assist teachers in providing services to exceptional children under this article prior to the assignment." The program must cover areas specifically related to the education of exceptional children, follow state board rules, and take place during normal working hours. A service person must have an opportunity to be trained before filling a vacancy under § 18A-4-8b. This provision concerns exceptional children generally, not only children with autism.

Source: W. Va. Code § 18-20-2.

Where outside training fits

The law tells the county board to make the training available; it does not name a provider or require the board to buy an outside course. Subsections (c) and (d) do not explain how an outside course would be accepted toward these requirements. Before buying outside training for this purpose, ask your county board what training it makes available and how it evaluates outside courses. We offer this course as introductory ABA training. We do not claim that it satisfies subsection (c) or (d), counts toward the twelve hours or an aide's continuing education requirements, or qualifies a learner as an autism mentor. We do not claim a number of training hours for it.

What our Intro to ABA Level 1 course covers

The Intro to ABA Level 1 course teaches methods and techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for parents and caregivers, teachers, paraprofessionals and behavior technicians who work with a child every day. Topics include what autism is, what ABA is, pairing, errorless teaching and prompting, and active student responding. Complete the course and pass its 40-question final exam with a score of at least 80% to earn a certificate of completion. It is basic training in ABA methods for daily practice, not a professional credential, and the certificate is not a CE certificate. We do not claim West Virginia state approval or continuing education credit for this course.

A paraprofessional who took it wrote: "I want to learn everything I can to help my student succeed in the public school system. I found Special Learning's ABA level 1 course so fascinating and inspiring."

Two ways to start