40-Hour RBT Training, built for the 2026 curriculum
5+ hours of video across 11 video lessons, 58 interactive worksheets, and 8 module quizzes: 77 activities across the eight required BACB content areas. Built from the ground up for the 3rd Edition Test Content Outline, not retrofitted.
From $59 self-paced · $399 Full Certification path
At a glance
Total contact time
40 hours (5-day minimum per BACB)
Video instruction
5 h 18 m · 11 video lessons
Module quizzes
8 · multiple attempts allowed
Interactive activities
58 interactive worksheets · 33+ hours
Modules
10: 8 required + orientation + exam prep
Certificate of completion
Included with all tiers
If you apply in 2026 or later, a 2nd Edition certificate will not be accepted
Effective January 1, 2026, the BACB replaced the RBT Task List 2nd Edition with the 3rd Edition Test Content Outline. Any candidate applying for the RBT exam on or after that date must submit a training certificate from a program built to the new curriculum. Certificates from 2nd Edition programs result in a rejected application.
This program was built to the 3rd Edition standard, not retrofitted from older content. Every module maps directly to one of the eight required BACB content areas, with instructional hours that meet BACB minimums. Your certificate includes the exact attestation statement required for 2026 and later applications.
Eight modules, 77 activities, mapped to BACB Sections A-H
Every activity (case studies, worksheets, scenarios, reflections) puts you into real clinical decisions before you ever sit for a competency assessment.
Alongside the eight required modules you also get an orientation module and four exam-preparation lessons (1 h 45 m): RBT examination logistics, Test Content Outline study strategy, multi-factor scenario items, and post-approval scheduling and retakes. Every enrollment includes a detailed transcript showing modules, objectives, and time spent per activity.
Read our BCBA-authored guide to passing the RBT exam on your first attempt
Want full-length practice? The RBT Mock Exam Pack: 3 timed 85-question exams, $36.
Module 1
Module 1: Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (Section A)
2 hours (BACB minimum): 3 activities
Module 1
Module 1: Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (Section A)
2 hours (BACB minimum): 3 activities
- What ABA is and how it differs from other behavioral approaches
- Core principles: reinforcement, punishment, stimulus control, motivating operations
- The three-term contingency (A-B-C) and how to identify it in real time
- Functions of behavior: attention, escape, tangibles, automatic
- Verbal operants: mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal, and why the distinction matters in teaching
- The RBT role and scope of practice within the supervisory structure
- The BACB credentialing system: RBT, BCaBA, BCBA, BCBA-D
Module 2
Module 2: Preparing for Service Delivery (Section B)
1 hour (BACB minimum): 1 activity
Module 2
Module 2: Preparing for Service Delivery (Section B)
1 hour (BACB minimum): 1 activity
- Reviewing prior session documentation and the current treatment plan
- Preparing the physical environment and gathering materials
- Building rapport and pairing with reinforcement
- Gaining and maintaining assent: recognizing early, mid, and late signs of assent withdrawal
- Responding when a learner withdraws assent: what to do and what to document
Module 3
Module 3: Data Collection and Graphing (Section C)
3 hours (BACB minimum): 5 activities
Module 3
Module 3: Data Collection and Graphing (Section C)
3 hours (BACB minimum): 5 activities
- Describing behavior and stimuli in observable, measurable terms: writing operational definitions
- Continuous measurement: frequency, rate, duration, latency, interresponse time
- Discontinuous measurement: partial interval, whole interval, momentary time sampling
- Permanent product recording and when it is appropriate
- Calculating rate, percentage, and mean duration, including session-length adjustments
- Graphing conventions and reading level, trend, and variability across phases
- Data integrity: common errors and how to prevent them
- What data patterns require immediate reporting to a supervising BCBA
Module 4
Module 4: Assisting with Behavior Assessments (Section D)
3 hours (BACB minimum): 4 activities
Module 4
Module 4: Assisting with Behavior Assessments (Section D)
3 hours (BACB minimum): 4 activities
- The role of the RBT in assessment: what you do and what only the BCBA does
- Preference assessments: free operant, single stimulus, paired stimulus, multiple stimulus
- Conducting a paired stimulus assessment start-to-finish and calculating the preference hierarchy
- Assisting with VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R, and AFLS: matching the tool to the learner
- ABC data collection for functional behavior assessment
- Writing objective ABC entries and recognizing subjective language that must be rewritten
- Interpreting ABC patterns to form a function hypothesis (and when to hold the hypothesis loosely)
Module 5
Module 5: Behavior-Change Interventions (Section E)
20 hours (BACB minimum): 23 activities
Module 5
Module 5: Behavior-Change Interventions (Section E)
20 hours (BACB minimum): 23 activities
- Discrete trial training (DTT): building a complete trial: attention, SD, response window, consequence, ITI
- Prompting hierarchies: physical, gestural, model, verbal, visual, positional, selecting and fading
- Most-to-least vs. least-to-most prompting: when to use which
- Error correction sequences and how they change across response history
- Shaping: designing successive approximations with mastery criteria
- Task analysis and chaining: forward, backward, and total task, selecting the method
- Natural environment teaching (NET), incidental teaching, and mand training with motivating operations
- Token economies: design, exchange ratios, back-up reinforcers, and thinning schedules
- Differential reinforcement procedures: DRA, DRI, DRO, DRL, and when each is function-matched
- Function-based intervention planning across all four functions of behavior
- Extinction: procedure, extinction bursts, spontaneous recovery, and when extinction is NOT appropriate
- Antecedent interventions: NCR, high-probability request sequences, choice making, visual schedules, environmental modification, errorless learning
- Generalization and maintenance planning: across settings, people, and exemplars
- Reinforcement delivery across six dimensions: immediacy, magnitude, quality, variety, contingency, specificity
- Troubleshooting failing interventions: the four most common causes and how to diagnose them
- Designing and running a complete 60-minute session across multiple active programs
Module 6
Module 6: Service Delivery Documentation (Section F)
3 hours (BACB minimum): 4 activities
Module 6
Module 6: Service Delivery Documentation (Section F)
3 hours (BACB minimum): 4 activities
- The 12 elements of a complete session note
- Objective vs. subjective language: rewriting to survive an audit
- When a separate incident report is required and what fields it must contain
- Documenting contextual variables (sleep, medication, family events, sensory environment) that affect behavior
- Communicating changes in learner status to the supervising BCBA in a timely manner
- HIPAA basics for behavior technicians: confidentiality, PHI, and common documentation pitfalls
Module 7
Module 7: Ethics and Professionalism (Section G)
5 hours (BACB minimum): 7 activities
Module 7
Module 7: Ethics and Professionalism (Section G)
5 hours (BACB minimum): 7 activities
- The RBT Ethics Code: structure, application, and the expansion from 5 to 10 tasks under the 3rd Edition
- Boundary violations and dual relationships: identifying severity and deciding on disclose/avoid/manage
- Social media compliance: auditing posts against BACB and HIPAA standards
- Mandated reporting: reasonable suspicion, observable evidence, and the path from observation to report
- Cultural humility: identifying bias, adapting communication, and growth practices
- Responding to difficult supervisory feedback: in the moment and over the following sessions
- Ethical decision-making frameworks for the scenarios you will actually encounter
- Responding to organizational or insurance pressure that conflicts with the Ethics Code
Module 8
Module 8: Next Steps in Certification (Section H)
1 hour (BACB minimum): 2 activities
Module 8
Module 8: Next Steps in Certification (Section H)
1 hour (BACB minimum): 2 activities
- The full RBT certification pathway: training → Initial Competency Assessment → BACB application → exam
- Selecting a qualified supervisor
- The Initial Competency Assessment: structure and what assessors look for
- Background check, age, education, and eligibility verification
- Registering for and preparing for the RBT exam through Pearson VUE
- Professional Development Units (PDUs): the new 2-year recertification cycle and 12-PDU requirement
- Maintaining certification: supervision ratios, ongoing PDUs, and ethics compliance
The 40 hours are step one. Here's the whole path.
Complete the 40-hour training
Any tier includes the full curriculum and your certificate of completion.
Pass the Initial Competency Assessment with a qualified BCBA
Most providers stop at step 1 and leave you to find an assessor on your own. Our Full Certification plan includes it: conducted by our Clinical Director.
Apply to the BACB
We show you exactly what to submit and when.
Pass the RBT exam at Pearson VUE
Mock exams from the Standard plan up are built to prepare you for it.
How this course compares
| Comparison point | This course | Typical online RBT training |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start | This course$59 | Typical online RBT training$179-$300 |
| Full course in Spanish | This courseYes: built bilingual, not translated | Typical online RBT trainingRarely |
| Competency assessment available | This courseYes: conducted by our Clinical Director (Full Cert plan or standalone) | Typical online RBT trainingNo: you find your own assessor |
| Who teaches it | This courseA named, practicing BCBA | Typical online RBT trainingUnnamed course teams |
| Hiring pathway | This courseWe hire RBTs in Miami-Dade | Typical online RBT trainingNone |
| Refunds | This course75-90% within 48 hours of purchase | Typical online RBT trainingVaries; often none after access |
Typical-provider column reflects common practices among major online RBT training providers as of August 2026; individual providers vary.
Learn from a BCBA who started where you are
Yilan Fernandez Perez began her career in 2018, as an RBT. She became a BCaBA in 2019 while completing her bachelor's in psychology at Florida International University, earned her Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University in 2021, and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2022. In 2023 she founded Spectrum Analytics, where she leads clinical services specializing in early intervention for toddlers and children under 11. She has held every credential on this path (RBT, BCaBA, and BCBA) and serves as the Responsible Trainer for this course. For Full Certification students, she personally conducts the Initial Competency Assessment, in English or Spanish.
BCBA #1-22-60130: verify in the BACB certificant registry.
Your certificate: verbatim
The attestation statement the BACB requires on 2026 certificates
“This training program is designed to meet the 2026 training eligibility requirement for RBT certification. The training is offered independent of the BACB.”This attestation statement is required verbatim by the BACB on every 2026-compliant RBT training certificate.
Choose your tier
All tiers include the full 40-hour 2026-aligned curriculum and a certificate of completion. Premium and Full Cert add live BCBA support.
Taught by the BCBA who conducts your competency assessment.
BASIC
single payment
The essentials to complete your 40 hours on your own
- 40-hour BACB-aligned video curriculum
- Bilingual EN/ES content
- Module quizzes
- Certificate of completion
STANDARD
single payment
For individual candidates studying solo
- Everything in Basic
- Bilingual EN/ES content
- One Mock RBT exam
- Downloadable study guide
PREMIUM
single payment
For candidates who want live BCBA guidance
- Everything in Standard
- Plus access to an extra Mock Exam (2 in total)
- Monthly live group Q&A with a BCBA
FULL CERT
single payment
Everything you need through certification. Includes the $249 competency assessment, cheaper than buying separately.
- Everything in Premium plus an extra Mock RBT Exam, 3 simulated RBT exams in total
- 1:1 30-min session with Yilan Fernandez Perez, BCBA
- RBT Initial Competency Assessment included
- Employer referral to Spectrum Analytics network
Onboarding RBTs at volume?Contact us for agency pricing
Change your mind within 48 hours of purchase? Refunds of 75-90% depending on plan. The full schedule is in our Terms.
Who this is for
- Aspiring Registered Behavior Technicians applying in 2026 or later
- Career changers entering the ABA field
- Paraprofessionals working with children with autism
- Parents and educators deepening their ABA knowledge
Prerequisites
- Minimum 18 years of age
- High school diploma or equivalent (GED)
- No prior ABA experience required
- Reliable internet connection for video and interactive activities
- Ability to complete the course within 180 days of enrollment (and no fewer than 5 days)
- Access to a BCBA or BCaBA supervisor for the post-training Initial Competency Assessment (required before exam)
Every tier includes
- 11 video lessons across the eight required content areas: 5 h 18 m in the English course, 6 h 39 m in Spanish
- 58 interactive worksheets: 33 h 45 m of designed practice
- 8 module quizzes: multiple attempts allowed
- An orientation module and 4 exam-preparation lessons (1 h 45 m): RBT examination logistics, Test Content Outline study strategy, multi-factor scenario items, and post-approval scheduling and retakes
- A detailed learner transcript showing modules, objectives, and time spent per activity
- Complete BACB 2026 curriculum coverage across the eight required content areas
Common questions about the 2026 RBT training
Is this course aligned with the BACB 2026 3rd Edition Test Content Outline?
Yes. The curriculum is built to the 3rd Edition TCO that went into effect January 1, 2026. Modules map directly to the eight required content areas (A through H) with instructional hours that meet BACB minimums in each area. Certificates issued on completion include the exact statement the BACB requires for 2026 and later applications.
I have a 2nd Edition RBT training certificate from a different provider. Can I still use it?
No. Effective January 1, 2026, the BACB requires that all new RBT applicants submit a certificate from a program built to the 3rd Edition TCO. A 2nd Edition certificate will result in a rejected application for anyone applying in 2026 or later. If you are in this situation, you need to complete a 2026-compliant 40-hour training before submitting.
What is the difference between the four pricing tiers?
Basic ($59) is our entry tier for individuals completing the 40 hours on their own: the full 40-hour video curriculum, module quizzes, and the certificate of completion. Agency volume pricing is available separately. Standard ($99) adds one mock RBT exam and a downloadable study guide for individual candidates. Premium ($149) adds a second mock exam, 2 in total, and monthly live group Q&A sessions with a BCBA. Full Cert ($399) is the complete certification path. It adds a third mock exam for 3 in total, a 1:1 30-minute session with our BCBA, the RBT Initial Competency Assessment, and an employer referral through our network.
Does completing this course make me an RBT?
The 40-hour training is one of four required steps. You must also complete an Initial Competency Assessment with a BCBA or BCaBA supervisor, pass a background check, and pass the RBT certification exam through Pearson VUE. The Full Cert tier includes the competency assessment; other tiers require you to arrange that separately.
Can I complete this course at my own pace?
Yes. The course is self-paced. Per BACB requirements, training must be completed in no fewer than 5 days and no more than 180 days from enrollment. Your 180-day window begins the day you enroll.
What happened to the annual competency assessment and annual renewal?
Both changed in 2026. The annual Renewal Competency Assessment was eliminated, replaced with a requirement to complete 12 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every two years. Recertification itself moved from a 1-year to a 2-year cycle, aligning with other BACB credentials.
Can I upgrade tiers after enrollment?
Yes. You can upgrade from Basic to Standard, Premium, or Full Cert at any time before you pass the competency assessment. You pay only the difference. Contact our team for upgrade instructions.
How do the live sessions work?
Premium and Full Cert include a monthly 60-minute group Q&A led by a BCBA: first Tuesday in English, first Thursday in Spanish. Full Cert also includes the 1:1 30-minute BCBA session listed on its tier, scheduled within 72 hours of enrollment. Every session is recorded and stays available in your course library.
What is the refund policy?
Refunds are available within 2 days (48 hours) of a payment, provided no course content has been accessed or downloaded. The percentage refunded depends on your plan tier: Basic 75% of the price paid, Standard 80%, Premium 85%, Full Certification 90%; the remainder covers payment processing and administration. A plan upgrade is refundable on its own 48-hour window at the rate of the tier you upgraded to, and refunding it returns you to the previous tier. No refunds after 2 days, or once any course content has been accessed or downloaded. See Terms & Conditions, Section 3: Refund Policy, for the full terms.
Start your RBT pathway today
Pick the tier that fits. You can upgrade at any time before you pass the competency assessment.
See pricing tiers