Let’s get something out of the way up front. Registered Behavior Technicians are not a universal solution, nor are they a substitute for comprehensive planning or systems-level support.
RBTs can be incredibly effective in public schools. They can also fall into roles that fall outside their intended scope, such as informal supervision, support, or data collection disconnected from active intervention. The difference is not the RBT. It is how the system chooses to use them.
That is why any conversation about best practices has to live in reality, not theory or idealized training environments. Real public schools, with real staffing shortages, real histories of hardship, and administrators who are managing competing demands and maintaining stability throughout the year.
Start With the Question Schools Dislike: Why Is the RBT Here?
The first mistake schools make is avoiding the question they like the least. Why is the RBT here in the first place? If the answer is some version of “because the student is dangerous,” “because we need eyes on them,” “because the parent requested it,” or “because this is what the district always does,” then the plan is already misaligned with best practice. Those are reasons for supervision or crisis response, not behavior intervention.
An RBT should only be assigned when there is a clearly defined purpose tied to skill acquisition or behavior reduction. That means observable, measurable target behaviors, specific replacement behaviors that go beyond “be nicer,” and a plan that clearly explains what the RBT is doing throughout the day. If the RBT cannot answer the question, “What am I actively teaching or reinforcing right now?” then they are not being used as an RBT. They are being used as additional personnel without a clearly defined instructional role, which is neither ethical nor effective.
Manny Huecias, RBT
RBTs Are Not 1:1 Forever
The BCBA–RBT Relationship Matters More Than the RBT–Student One
Manny Huecias, RBT
Manny Huecias, RBT
RBTs Should Support Systems, Not Replace Them
One of the most common and costly mistakes schools make is assuming that the presence of an RBT means the classroom no longer needs to change. That assumption does not hold up in practice.
RBTs should be embedded into existing structures, not operating as a workaround for systems that are not working. Teachers should still be teaching. Classroom expectations should still be enforced. School-wide behavior systems should still be used. When an RBT becomes the only person who knows how to support a student effectively, the system has not been strengthened. It has been bypassed.
When that RBT is absent, the entire plan often unravels. The goal should always be capacity building, not outsourcing regulation.
Clarify Roles Before Problems Escalate
Role confusion is one of the fastest ways to create frustration and burnout. RBTs are often pulled in different directions and given mixed messages about their responsibilities.
Before an RBT ever steps into a building, there should be a shared understanding around who they report to, what decisions they can and cannot make, how concerns are communicated, and how downtime is handled. Clear boundaries protect the RBT, the staff, and the student.
Manny Huecias, RBT
Clarify Roles Before Problems Escalate
If an RBT is collecting data that no one reviews, no one understands, or no one uses to make decisions, the process should be reconsidered. Public schools do not need more documentation - they need clarity.
Data should answer basic questions: Is this working? For whom? Under what conditions? What needs to change next? When data are not driving decisions, they become paperwork rather than a tool for improvement.
Train the Adults, Not Just the Student
This is often the difference between short-term support and lasting change. RBTs are most effective when they are part of a broader adult learning plan.
That includes modeling strategies for staff, supporting consistency across settings, and helping teams understand the rationale behind interventions. If the plan fails once the RBT is no longer present, the intervention did not achieve sustainable change, regardless of short-term data trends.
The most effective RBT models eventually lead teams to ask whether the current level of support is still necessary. Sometimes the most appropriate answer is that it is not, and that decision reflects success rather than failure.
Manny Huecias, RBT
RBTs Are a Tool, Not a Strategy
RBTs can be highly effective in public schools, and they can also be misapplied. Best practice is not about assigning more personnel. It is about building stronger systems, clearer plans, and shared responsibility.
Use RBTs to teach. Use them to fade. Use them to strengthen the system, not as a substitute for one. Over time, system gaps will surface, and those gaps cannot be resolved through 1:1 support alone.
written by
Manny Huecias
Manny Huecias is a school-based behavior technician specializing in social, emotional, and behavioral challenges experienced by elementary-aged student populations as well as augmented instructional design. He has been a community pop-up virtual learning facilitator and avid volunteer in his community who brings a practical, systems-aware perspective to supporting complex students and the adults doing their best to help them. Outside of his professional work, he has been a special needs inclusion summer camp counselor and an active youth leader in his church. Manny is a Registered Behavior Technician with college coursework in education and psychology.
University Product
product description in relation to blog post
Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.
Download our resource and start learning!
Learn the tools used by the world's top professionals. Boost your confidence, master the field, become a certified professional. We hope our guide provides you with valuable insights and practical tips.
Everywhere you listen to podcasts!
Little Bits of TLC Podcast
Join us for more!
Listen to [EPISODE TITLE] with [GUEST]
Project Thrive
Build an inclusive, proactive classroom that supports students with behavioral and mental health needs.
Join the next cohort to develop effective environments, behavior strategies, targeted instruction, essential collaboration skills, and more!
Project Onward
Build a transformative intensive program with your complex at-risk students.
Join the next cohort to develop your self-contained or alternative education program from design through implementation!
Project Bace
Build an effective, individualized functional skills program for your low-incidence students.
Join the next cohort to develop your instructional environment, responses to behaviors, functional academics, and more!
Project Thrive
Listen to this episode about HLPs in general ed. and resource!
Project Onward
Listen to this episode about HLPs in intensive EBD!
Project Bace
Listen to this episode about HLPs in life skills programming!