Evaluating supervisors in the UCLA treatment model for children with autism: Validation of an assessment procedure

We examined the validity of competency measures for supervisors of early, intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism by comparing 26 supervisors and 22 aides on a behavior observation of participants' therapy and written examinations on instructional programming, ability to critique others' therapy, and knowledge of EIBI and autism. A discriminant analysis based on these measures correctly classified 97% of participants into their respective groups. The correct classification rate for the programming examination (95%) exceeded that for the behavior observation (78%), critique (73%), and written examination (88%). The results indicated that the measures had validity and that the program examination was especially useful.