Opening the Educational Leadership Door: Promoting the Collaboration of OBM and Education

Starling et al. (2021) wrote a position paper. They asked: what if we teach principals and teachers the same OBM tools BCBAs use?

The authors mapped out where OBM could plug into education. They focused on three pain points: teacher burnout, low treatment fidelity, and weak leadership training.

The paper does not give new data. Instead, it argues that adding OBM modules to principal-prep and in-service courses could cut burnout and raise fidelity.

Their core idea: train education leaders with performance feedback, task clarification, and data-based decision making—then let them coach their staff.

Bao et al. (2017) already tested one piece of the puzzle. They showed that teachers who got BST could coach paraprofessionals to 90% DTT fidelity. This real-world success supports the paper's call for teacher-as-coach OBM training.

Neely et al. (2020) added cultural tailoring. They gave Latinx educators BST with local examples and saw fidelity jump. Starling's plan can borrow this tweak to keep equity in view.

Gravina et al. (2019) supplied the scaling lens. Their Teaching-Family Model commentary warns that leader coaching and fidelity checks must be built into the system, not tacked on. Starling echoes this by urging schools to embed OBM inside leadership courses from day one.

If you train teachers or support school teams, treat this paper as your roadmap. Swap one hour of the usual lecture-based PD for a compact BST package: clarify the target skill, model it, have staff practice, and give immediate feedback. Track one fidelity measure weekly and share the graph with staff—simple OBM moves that cut burnout because teachers see their impact. Start with a single grade or department; once fidelity holds, expand.