Who Counts as an Expert? Reflections on the New BACB® ACE Provider Requirements

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board^® (BACB^®) recently released updates to the Authorized Continuing Education (ACE) Provider requirements, effective July 1, 2026. These changes directly affect who can teach continuing education events for BCBAs^® and BCaBAs^®.

At the heart of these updates is a new expectation: ACE Instructors must now demonstrate topic-specific expertise.

This shift is important, not only because it will shape who delivers continuing education in our field, but also because it connects to a broader and ongoing debate in ABA about what it really means to be an “expert.”

The New ACE Instructor Requirements

Starting July 1, 2026, ACE Instructors must show expertise in the area they teach. According to the BACB^®, this can be demonstrated through:

• A track record of published peer-reviewed research or books on the subject, OR
  
• At least 5 years of practice in the area, OR
  
• At least 3 years of teaching the content.
  

Importantly, the BACB^® also allows combinations of these experiences. For example, someone with three years of practice and two years of teaching could add them together to meet the requirement.

At first glance, this seems straightforward. But when paired with the ongoing debate in our field about who gets to be considered an “expert,” this update carries much deeper implications.

The Debate: What Makes Someone an Expert?

Recent articles in ABA journals (e.g., Boggs et al., 2025) have argued that conference presenters and CE instructors should be required to have peer-reviewed publications on the topic they are presenting. The reasoning is that publication signals rigor, quality, and credibility.

But there’s a problem with using publication as the sole marker of expertise: it excludes many voices who are doing groundbreaking, socially valid work in practice but who don’t have the institutional support, time, or resources to publish. It risks turning expertise into a gatekeeping tool reserved only for academics.

Kranak et al. (2025) counter this argument, showing how conference speaker selection often reinforces inequities by disproportionately rejecting practitioners and nontraditional voices, even though these professionals bring critical expertise to the field.

A Closer Look at the Publication Pathway

One of the BACB^®’s approved routes is to have “a track record of peer-reviewed publications or books on the subject.”

The problem? That phrase is vague. In a field that prides itself on operational definitions and measurable standards, “a track record” is anything but precise.

• Does one article count?
  
• Five?
  
• Ten, all published during graduate school as part of a prolific research lab?

Many graduate students leave school with multiple co-authored publications, not necessarily because they independently developed expertise, but because they were part of a productive lab with a prolific advisor. These papers may show strong research exposure, but they don’t always reflect applied experience or the capacity to train practitioners.

Meanwhile, many seasoned clinicians with decades of practice-based wisdom may have no publications at all, often because they prioritized service delivery over academic writing. Their absence from journals does not make their expertise any less valuable.

This is why the other pathways: years of practice, years of teaching, or a combination, are so critical. They balance the scale, ensuring that expertise is not equated with publication alone.

What the BACB^® Got Right

It is heartening to see that the BACB^® did not go the route of defining expertise by publications alone. By offering multiple pathways, they’ve taken a step toward inclusivity and flexibility.

Even more importantly, the BACB^® allows experience across categories to be combined. Someone with three years of practice and two years of teaching can add them together to qualify. This acknowledges the layered, nonlinear way that many of us build expertise in this field.

What Still Gives Me Pause

Even with these improvements, I remain cautious. There are still voices that risk being left out.

• What about newer practitioners who have vital insights but may not yet have five years of experience?
  
• What about lived-experience experts: autistic adults, parents, or advocates, who may never meet the practice or teaching thresholds but whose contributions are essential to our growth?

Personally, I remember when I first certified as a BCBA^® in 2007. With only three years of experience, none of it yet as a BCBA^®, I often found myself teaching others because there was no one else to do it. By 2008, I was presenting and training out of necessity, not because I had checked all the boxes.

Thankfully, the BACB^® includes an “out” for students and newer professionals: they can still contribute by co-presenting with an instructor who meets the requirements. My hope is that newer voices will take advantage of this, ensuring that fresh perspectives and lived experiences remain part of our professional development spaces.

The Bigger Conversation: Who Gets to Be an Expert?

At the end of the day, this is about more than CE policies. It is about how we define expertise as a field.

If we reduce “expert” to publications or years of service alone, we risk losing sight of what really matters: impact, relevance, and the ability to inform socially valid practice.

Expertise can come from:

• Research and scholarship.
  
• Decades of practice.
  
• Running a business.
  
• Parent advocacy.
  
• Lived experience in navigating systems of support.

The strongest communities of practice are those that value and weave together all of these perspectives.

What This Means for ACE Providers

If you are currently an ACE Provider or planning to apply:

• Review your roster of instructors and ensure they meet one of the three qualifications.
  
• Consider how to include newer professionals or lived-experience voices by pairing them with qualified co-instructors.
  
• Remember that expertise is not one-size-fits-all—this is your chance to model inclusive definitions of who gets to teach and lead.

Moving Forward

The BACB^®’s updates are a step in the right direction. They broaden the definition of expertise and make space for multiple pathways. But we must also keep pushing to ensure that equity, lived experience, and emerging voices are not overlooked.

If we truly want our field to grow, we cannot afford to gatekeep expertise behind vague publication standards or arbitrary checkboxes. Instead, we must build systems that honor the diverse ways knowledge is created and shared.

And that, ultimately, is the heart of what the Do Better Collective stands for.

Do Better, Together

At the Do Better Collective, we believe expertise is found in many places. That is why our CEU content features not only academics, but also practitioners, interdisciplinary professionals, and individuals with lived experience.

As the BACB^® raises the bar for ACE Providers, we remain committed to inclusive, compassionate, and socially valid professional development.

Whether you are a BCBA^® preparing for renewal, an RBT^® navigating new professional development requirements, or an ACE Provider adapting to 2026 changes, our community is here to support you.

Ready to learn more or share your expertise? Join the Do Better Collective, a community where research, practice, and lived experience come together to push our field forward.

Recommend Reading

BACB Upcoming Changes to ACE Provider Requirements

References

Boggs, M. A., Rapp, J. T., Cook, J. L., Richling, S. M., & Mohamed, R. (2025). Are Keynote and Invited Speakers at State Behavior Analytic Conferences Experts on Their Presentation Topics?. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1-12.

Kranak, M. P., & Onofrio, O. (2025). Selecting speakers for behavior-analytic conferences: Policy review and recommendations. Behavior and Social Issues, 1-24.