Can the Behaviour Intervention Plan Quality Evaluation, Version 2, be simplified for use by stakeholders with limited experience of positive behaviour support?
Shortening the BSP audit tool does not remove the need for expert PBS knowledge.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team trimmed the full Behaviour Support Plan Quality Evaluation tool into a shorter form called the BSPA-tool. They wanted to see if staff with little PBS training could still score plans reliably.
Raters with different PBS backgrounds audited the same set of behavior support plans. The study checked whether the short form gave the same scores no matter who used it.
What they found
The BSPA-tool worked only when the scorer already knew PBS well. Novices gave plans very different scores, so the tool did not solve the training gap.
Validity stayed acceptable, but reliability stayed tied to expert knowledge. Making the form shorter did not make it beginner-friendly.
How this fits with other research
Bigham et al. (2013) showed the original BSP-QEII is reliable in adult ID services when trained staff use it. The new paper keeps that strength but shows the shortcut loses reliability for novices.
Rojahn et al. (2012) shortened the 49-item BPI-01 to 30 items and kept strong psychometrics. Their success contrasts with the BSPA-tool failure, because the BPI-S kept its full scoring rules while the BSPA-tool tried to strip complexity out.
Reid (2020) warns that PBS plans should be written and audited by credentialed staff. The current study supports that warning: simplified paperwork alone cannot replace deep PBS knowledge.
Why it matters
If you hoped a quick checklist would let new RBTs audit plans, this study says no. Keep the full BSP-QEII and invest in solid PBS training instead. Pair novices with credentialed BCBAs during audits and teach the 12 quality domains first. A shorter form saves minutes, but lost reliability can cost client safety.
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Join Free →Check who on your team scores plans; if they lack PBS training, schedule paired audits with a credentialed BCBA before switching to any short form.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Behaviour support plan (BSP) quality auditing tools like the Behaviour Intervention Plan Quality Evaluation, Version 2 (BIPQEII), assess the quality of a BSP from the perspective of technical compliance with behavioural principles. However, these principles may be inaccessible to interested stakeholders with limited experience and knowledge of positive behaviour support (PBS). The aim of this study was to test if a simplified version of the BIPQEII [the Behaviour Support Plan Audit Tool (BSPA-tool)] offers a reliable and valid assessment of a BSP's technical compliance with behavioural principles when used by professional stakeholders with varying levels of PBS experience and knowledge. METHODS: Four scorers rated 50 de-identified BSPs using the BSPA-tool, with one scorer also rating the BSPs using the BIPQEII. Four weeks later, each scorer rated 25 of the 50 BSPs again using the BSPA-tool. Prior to BSP scoring, a group of PBS practitioners provided feedback on the BSPA-tool's content validity. RESULTS: The BSPA-tool was found to have acceptable content and parallel-form validity; however, acceptable internal consistency and inter-rater and intra-rater reliability were dependent on PBS experience/knowledge, that is, scorers with more experience/knowledge achieved more acceptable levels of reliability. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that even with simplification, BSP quality auditing tools based on technical compliance with behavioural principles are still only accessible to stakeholders with extensive experience/knowledge of PBS. To engage less-experienced stakeholders in BSP quality auditing processes, new audit tools need to be developed that focus on other aspects of BSP quality (e.g. readability and consultation).
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2023 · doi:10.1111/jir.13020