Peer Feedback: Recommendations for Behavior Analysts’ Training and Supervision
Add peer-feedback drills to supervision class so new BCBAs graduate already skilled at giving performance notes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Fraidlin and colleagues wrote a how-to paper, not an experiment. They studied the supervision coursework that board-certified behavior analysts must take. They asked: where do trainees ever practice giving feedback? Their answer: almost nowhere.
The team mapped each required supervision class against real-world tasks. They found a hole. Trainees rarely rehearse the main job of a supervisor: telling staff what to do better.
What they found
The paper argues that current courses over-teach paperwork and under-teach people skills. New BCBAs leave school able to write a behavior plan but unsure how to correct a rookie RBT.
The fix, they say, is built-in peer feedback. Let trainees trade roles: one plays therapist, one plays supervisor, both give each other notes. Repeat until it feels normal.
How this fits with other research
Mulder et al. (2020) already proved short behavioral-skills workshops work. Their five-session program lifted teacher confidence and student behavior. Fraidlin takes that model and adds the missing loop: trainees practice giving, not just getting, feedback.
Aguirre Mtanous et al. (2026) interviewed educators who said "we need ongoing, individualized coaching." Peer-feedback rounds are a cheap way to give that daily coaching before the real job starts.
Gasiewski et al. (2021) showed BCBAs and OTs stumble when they don’t share a language. Fraidlin’s peer drills could double as cross-training so new analysts learn to speak and listen at the same time.
Why it matters
You can plug this idea into any supervision course next term. Swap one lecture for a 20-minute peer-feedback circuit. Trainees leave able to correct gently, receive criticism without shutting down, and run smoother staff meetings from day one.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The increase in demand for behavior analysts in recent years has also increased the importance of effective supervision practices in the field of behavior analysis. A critical supervisory skill is performance feedback, which entails proficiency with two distinct, yet inseparable repertoires of technical and nontechnical skills. Supervisors report never receiving explicit training in feedback (Sellers et al., 2019) and graduate training programs provide little to no training in nontechnical skills (LeBlanc, Taylor et al., 2020b; Pastrana et al., 2018). As with any skill, to develop proficiency with feedback delivery and reception, trainees may require ample practice opportunities. One mechanism to provide trainees routine practice opportunities is to use peers as behavior change agents and peer feedback as an instructional method. The utility of peer feedback has been recognized in the organizational behavior management (OBM) literature (e.g., behavior-based safety interventions; Lebbon et al., 2012; Wirth & Sigurdsson, 2008), and has been used successfully in medical student training and evaluation for several decades. In the context of behavior analytic training and supervision peer feedback has yet to be established as a training method. Similarities in the behavioral and medical fields (e.g., significance of professional and interpersonal skills for successful therapeutic relationships) make the medical field a good model from which behavior analysts can learn. Using peer feedback in training and supervision for behavior analysts may provide trainees with similar benefits to those reported in medical student training literature. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-022-00761-1.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2023 · doi:10.1007/s40617-022-00761-1