Guidelines for ABA Tier 1 Continuing Education Hours for Continuing Education Providers & Presenters

The American Board of Audiology™ (ABA) is a professional certification body for audiologists. ABA certificants are professionals committed to a quest for excellence through lifelong learning and professional development.

The ABA is not, however, a continuing education provider. As a certification body, it can and does require continuing education for recertification but cannot provide continuing education opportunities. ABA certificants will continue to obtain professional education from membership associations, rather than certification bodies, at conventions, focused conferences, seminars, preapproved educational opportunities through outside agencies, and through journals or on-line courses that meet certain criteria.

Effective January 1, 2008, in order to encourage ABA certificants to pursue lifelong and intensive learning, all ABA certificants seeking recertification must have obtained 6.0 continuing education hours during a three-year certification period, or 60 clock hours of continuing education. The ABA has also implemented a two-tiered system for recertification, outlined as follows:

During a three-year certification period, forty-five (45) of the required 60 clock hours of continuing education can be Tier 2 continuing education hours, or typical continuing education hours. Fifteen (15) of those 60 clock hours of continuing education hours during the three-year certification period must be Tier 1 continuing education hours. Tier 1 continuing education hours derive from educational activities of a minimum of three hours’ duration followed by a form of outcome measurement. Such activities will be high level in content and focused on one subject area or on various aspects of one subject. Additionally, three (3) clock hours (of the required 60 total clock hours) must address professional ethics and can be either Tier 1 or 2 of continuing education. Additionally, those certificants who hold ABA’s specialty certification in cochlear implants must earn 30 of the requisite 60 clock hours in continuing education activities pertaining to cochlear implants; these 30 hours may also be either Tier 1 or Tier 2 types of activities.

Guidelines for Tier 1 Continuing Education Providers

• In planning a continuing education activity, a CE provider should inform the authorized provider (which approves continuing education) that it would like to offer Tier 1 continuing education hours as part of the CE activity. (Currently, the American Academy of Audiology is the sole authorized provider. Starting January 1, 2007 the Academy will work with its CE providers to offer Tier 1 continuing education hours. The ABA will be encouraging other authorized providers, such as the ASHA and the AMA, to make Tier 1 continuing education activities available).
• Once a CE activity is approved by the authorizing provider for Tier 1 continuing education, promotional materials for the activity, including pamphlets, programs or brochures should include the following verbiage: This Continuing Education activity represents _______ [include appropriate number based on clock hours] Tier 1 continuing education hours toward the American Board of Audiology™ recertification requirements.
• The CE provider should develop a clear plan which notifies any participants interested in the Tier 1 hours of the all of the requirements including completion of the learner assessment following the CE activity and the minimum requirements for passing. It is recommended that the plan be announced at the beginning of the activity to ensure compliance.
• The specific activity or presentation must be a minimum of three hours’ duration with a form of outcome measure or assessment to valuate learner knowledge (see below for specific information).
• Multiple-part sessions are permissible; however, each segment must be a minimum 1.5 clock hours. The material must be focused on one subject area or on various aspects of one subject, e.g., a course on tinnitus management might include presentations on the psychological aspects of tinnitus, tinnitus treatment options and the assessment of tinnitus.
• As presenters are selected and invited to participate, they will be furnished with the Presenter’s Guidelines for Tier 1 Continuing Education (see below).
• The presenter or designer of the substantive material must develop an outcome measure, e.g., devise assessment questions specifically and clearly based on the material presented in the course. As a general guideline, five questions per clock hour of material presented is optimal.
• Emphasize to all presenters that the outcome assessment must correspond directly with the material presented. The CE provider will review the assessment in conjunction with the material to be presented in advance of the activity to ensure that the assessment corresponds with the presentation or CE activity.
• The question/answer format for the learner assessment may be multiple choice, true/false or both. There must clearly be only one correct answer for each question. If the assessment questions are multiple choice, there must be a minimum of four choices per question.
• Sufficient copies of learner assessments will be provided for each Tier 1 CE activity.
• The assessment completed by ABA certificants will be turned in to the CE provider at the conclusion of the activity.
• The CE provider will review and score the assessment. A minimum passing score of 80% is required to count towards ABA Tier 1 recertification. 
• Within 30 days following the activity, the CE provider will submit a list of the ABA certificants who participated in the CE activity along with the assessment scores. The CE provider must retain the assessments based on their authorized provider’s requirements.

Guidelines for Presenters

• The activity must be a minimum of three hours’ duration with a written form of outcome measurement to assess learner knowledge.
• Multiple part sessions are permissible, however, each segment must be a minimum of 1.5 clock hours.
• The material presented must be focused on one subject area or on various aspects of one subject area.
• The outcome measure should fairly assess a participant’s opportunity to learn as reflected in the outcome measure questions and answer choices.
• The presenter or designer of the substantive material must develop the assessment questions. As a general guideline, five questions per clock hour of material presented is optimal.
• The assessment questions may be multiple choice, true/false or both. However, there must be only one correct answer to the question posed.
• If the assessment questions are multiple choice, there must be a minimum of four choices per question.
• It is critical that the outcome measurement content accurately reflects the material presented in the continuing education activity.
• A presentation outline of the presentation or a Powerpoint presentation must be submitted to the activity organizers at least 30 days in advance of the continuing education activity together with the assessment tool.