Behavioral Support Specialist I, II

This announcement is intended to recruit for Behavioral Support Specialist roles that deliver assistance to students across various educational institutions as required and designated by the administrative office.

The authorized designation for these roles is Behavioral Support Specialist II. Applications are also being accepted for the Behavioral Support Specialist I level to address potential recruitment challenges.

Compensation Range:

Behavioral Support Specialist I, SR-14: $3,730.00 per month Behavioral Support Specialist II, SR-16: $4,038.00 per month Executes ABA programs and BIPs with precision by employing suitable behavior management strategies for students displaying significant and challenging behaviors.

Develops and sustains connections with students by positioning oneself as a supportive figure to enhance value and promote social engagement.

Encourages safe and socially acceptable alternative behaviors to cultivate a range of communication, social interaction, and problem-solving abilities, gradually reducing prompts to foster successful and independent responses.

Enhances the frequency and duration of safe and appropriate alternative behaviors by providing access to reinforcers (desired actions, attention, or alleviation of demands/aversive behavior). Collects, documents, analyzes, and maintains various program and behavioral data, including A-B-C, count, frequency, duration, latency, interresponse time, or event- and interval-based recording.

Offers instructional support tasks in alignment with the IEP and/or ABA program by utilizing evidence-based practices for individuals with ASD and other developmental disabilities.

Supervises independent study activities or small group instruction, as designed and prescribed by the licensed professional, by delivering clear instructions, modeling, assessing understanding, guiding practice, providing feedback, and monitoring progress.

Instructs, assists, and accompanies students off-campus as part of individual instructional programs, encompassing various academic, social, vocational, daily-living, and life-skill training.

Reports observations regarding student progress, behavior, or instructional requirements to the licensed behavior analyst and educator, offering recommendations for follow-up activities.

Engages in meetings, workshops, and other training sessions to stay informed about current behavioral and instructional methodologies, strategies, and/or techniques.

Essential Educational Qualifications:

Candidates must possess a high school diploma, General Equivalency Diploma (GED), or equivalent AND one of the following minimum educational qualifications, established in accordance with the Federal Government's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: 48 semester credits of baccalaureate-level courses from an accredited institution recognized by the Hawaii Department of Education.

The forty-eight (48) credits may be derived from various programs or academic disciplines.

Additionally, of the 48 credits from baccalaureate-level courses, 3 must be in mathematics and 3 in English.

An Associate in Arts (AA) or Science (AS) degree or higher from an accredited institution recognized by the Hawaii Department of Education.

The credits earned for the degree must include a minimum of 48 credits for courses that are baccalaureate-level.
Successful completion of the ParaPro Assessment provided by the Education Testing Service (ETS).

Experience Requirements:

Except for the substitutions provided below, candidates must have progressively responsible work experience of the kind, quality, and quantity described.

Class Title General Experience (years)* Specialized Experience (years)* Technical Experience (years)* Behavioral Support Specialist I 1 2 0 Behavioral Support Specialist II 1 2 1 *One (1) year of general, specialized, and technical experience is defined as a school year of approximately 180 "teacher duty" days or approximately 38 weeks per year.

General Experience:

Experience that involved direct interaction with individuals and demonstrated the ability to provide and elicit information, observe, evaluate, take action, or report accurately on various situations.

Additionally, either concurrently or separately, there must be evidence of demonstrated ability to organize materials, maintain records, and write descriptions consisting of a few sentences detailing occurrences and observations.

There must also be a demonstrated awareness of basic educational programs, goals, functions, and activities which may have been gained through involvement in activities such as serving on school/community committees, advising youth groups, or participating in parent/teacher/student meetings and activities.

Specialized Experience:
Work experience that involved direct contact with students/children and included managing activities, ensuring order, etc.

The experience must have provided familiarity with common behavioral, academic, social, and developmental challenges of students/children and the opportunity to observe the resolution of these challenges by professional staff or participate in problem resolution under the guidance of professional staff.

The experience must have also involved using a variety of instructional materials, techniques, equipment, and performing specific instructional, counseling, or guidance tasks and testing routines.

This type of work experience is typically gained in a school, clinic, home, or community setting with positions performing a variety of supportive services to professional personnel directly engaged in the behavioral, academic, personal, social, communicative, adaptive, and/or vocational development of students.

Technical Experience :
Progressively responsible work experience comparable
to that of the class, Behavioral Support Specialist I.

This experience must have included providing one-to-one behavioral intervention services by employing appropriate behavior management practices and techniques in accordance with intervention/assessment plans to students exhibiting severe behavior.

This experience must have involved the performance of the following core task skills:
measurement, assessment, skill acquisition, behavior reduction, documentation and reporting, and professional conduct and scope of practice.

Comparable work is of equivalent difficulty and responsibility that provided the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities found in the referenced class.
Allowed Substitution of Education for Experience:

Successful completion of coursework in a curriculum leading to an AA or AS degree from an accredited community college may be substituted for General Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester credits for one-half (1/2) year of experience.

Successful completion of coursework in a curriculum leading to an AA or AS degree from an accredited community college which included completion of a practicum involving instruction-related activities may be substituted for General and/or Specialized Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester credits for one-half (1/2) year of experience.

Possession of an AA or AS degree from an accredited community college may be substituted for all of the General and Specialized Experience requirements.

Possession of a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university may be substituted for all of the General, Specialized, and Technical Experience requirements.

Excess Technical experience may be substituted for General and Specialized experience on a year-for-year basis.

Quality of Experience:

Possession of the required number of years of experience will not in itself be accepted as proof of qualification for a position.

The applicant's overall experience must have been of such scope and level of responsibility as to conclusively demonstrate the ability to perform the duties of the position.

Registered Behavior Technician Requirement:

Candidates must be a Registered Behavior Technician with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) or other nationally certified behavior analysis organization approved by law and must maintain annual recertification upon hire.

Driver's License Requirement:
Candidates must have a current, valid driver's license.

Compensation:
The advertised salary is based on full-time employment and includes shortage and school year differentials, if applicable.

Requirements:

Candidates must meet all the requirements for the position they are seeking as of the date of the application, unless otherwise specified.

Unless specifically indicated, the required education and experience may not be gained concurrently. Calculation of experience is based on full-time, 40-hour workweeks. Part-time experience is pro-rated.

Example:
Twelve months of experience at 20 hours/week is equivalent to six months of experience, not one year. Also, hours worked in excess of 40 hours/week will not be credited.

Example:

Twelve months of experience at 60 hours/week is equivalent to one year of experience, not one and a half years.

Temporary Assignment:
Claims of Temporary Assignment (TA) experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements must be verified and attached to the application using one of the options below: A copy of the applicant's TA History Report or equivalent system-generated report;
A signed letter from the applicant's supervisor that includes the applicant's name, his/her TA job title, the TA start and end dates (from mm/yy to mm/yy), his/her specific TA duties performed, and either the TA hours worked per week or total TA hours worked; or,
Copies of the applicant's signed SF-10 Forms.

Documents:
Attach all relevant supporting documents to your application.

Documents that were attached to applications submitted before November 16, 2023 do not automatically attach or transfer to applications submitted on and after December 16, 2023.

All submitted documents become the property of the Hawaii State Department of Education.

Information about Temporary Positions:
Temporary positions may be extended year to year, dependent upon funding and departmental needs. Making yourself available for temporary positions increases your employment possibilities and may lead to permanent opportunities.

A person hired for a temporary position may also become a temporary employee upon satisfactory completion of the initial probation period of at least six months.

Once a temporary employee, you would be eligible to apply for promotion and transfer opportunities to permanent as well as other temporary positions.

You may also enjoy other rights and benefits as afforded to an employee in a permanent position, with the exception of return rights and placement rights associated with a reduction-in-force.

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