Thirty staffers of Westside Children’s Therapy and Turning Pointe Autism Foundation are beginning coursework this fall toward NIU’s M.S.Ed. in Special Education: Behavior Analysis – with tuition covered by their employers.
Following completion of their master’s degrees in May 2026, the graduates will have met the requirements (and are prepared) to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA) examination.
Delivered fully online and synchronous, classes are scheduled two nights per week over five semesters, including Summer 2025. Students pay only for books and supplies.
Brandon Perez, coordinator of NIU’s BCBA program, says the launch of this new contracted cohort will help the field and the families it serves.
“Our certification board is constantly looking at the number of BCBAs and registered behavior technicians required to meet the growing need in the country. There is a graph that demonstrates how many jobs there are, and how many BCBAs we have, and they’re never meeting,” says Perez, assistant professor in the Department of Special and Early Education.
Equipping employees of Westside and Turning Pointe with that certification and the master’s degrees that qualify them to obtain it will then provide much-needed options for parents whose children’s schools lack the credentialed staff because of that shortage.
“My ideal situation would be that there is a BCBA in every school, and right now, that’s not the case,” Perez says. “Unfortunately, what happens is that BCBAs are largely overworked – especially BCBAs working in schools because, many times, they’re supporting multiple schools – and they just don’t have the bandwidth to give individual students they support they need.”
As a result, Perez says, “this gives special education teachers and other providers kind of a sour taste about behavior analysts because they just don’t have the time to devote.”
“I think it’s really important to grow the number of BCBAs and to make behavior analysis like any service that’s provided in a school,” he says. “Just as we have occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists who are recognized as needed supports, I think it would be wonderful to have behavior analysts seen that way as well.”
Until then, he adds, “having the Westside cohort also allows us to increase the number of BCBAs in the area providing care in clinical settings, which typically have extensive waitlists due to the shortage of BCBAs and high turnover in staffing, possibly due to heavy caseloads.”
Leaders of Westside and Turning Pointe are excited for the partnership.
Westside offers physical, occupational, speech, applied behavior analysis, feeding and counseling therapies in family-owned clinics located for more than a quarter-century throughout the Chicago suburbs as well as in DeKalb and Rockford.
Established by volunteers in 2007, Turning Pointe is dedicated to creating best practice learning environments to increase independence and to improve communication and socially appropriate behaviors for individuals on the autism spectrum.
“Westside Children’s Therapy has a history of investing time and financial resources in our team members to support their career goals and to promote great outcomes for our clients,” CEO Mark Cassidy says.
“NIU’s Department of Special and Early Education shares our goals of personalized attention, engaged professionals, authentic teaching experiences and appropriate use of technology,” he adds. “This cohort model mirrors Westside’s collaborative work environment, providing emotional, academic and professional support that leads to close, lifelong friendships.”
Twenty-two of the cohort students work at Westside, which signed the agreement with NIU and is subcontracting with Turning Pointe for its eight students. “This partnership is a natural fit and addition to our professional development offerings,” Cassidy says, “and we are excited about the opportunities for the cohort participants and the children they serve.”
Bianca Frost, associate director of Practice at Turning Pointe, says the coursework provides “team members with the opportunity to continue to learn and grow within the field of special education and behavior analysis.”
“NIU’s educational cohort for ABA represents a significant leap forward in enhancing the quality of special education,” Frost says.
“Through its comprehensive teaching program, NIU provides invaluable opportunities for students and professionals to develop expertise in behavioral interventions and support for individuals with special needs,” she adds. “This initiative not only supports education advancements but also directly impacts the quality of life for individuals receiving our services. The partnership with the faculty has been seamless, and Turning Pointe values this relationship in our continued pursuit of best practices programming for those within the autism community.”
NIU faculty bring a diverse set of professional backgrounds to the classroom, Perez says, including public schools and special education populations in Chicago and California as well as clinic-based services.
That combination will empower cohort students to not only enhance their current work but also to acquire the tools to design, assess and provide consultation regarding behavioral interventions and learning environments for children and adults in school and agency settings.
“We feel this is a really great example of the kind of partnership that we develop with many different kinds of organizations,” says Tim Dohrer, director of Educator Leadership and Partnerships and research specialist in the College of Education and the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development.
“It is exciting to see organizations who are interested in upskilling their employees while they continue to work in their current positions,” he adds. “Not only does this deepen their expertise but it also can lead to greater income and positions within the organization.”
