ABA Fieldwork Tracker
The short answer#
An RBT supervision log is your record of one month of supervision at one organization: the days and times you provided services, every supervision contact, and who supervised you. The BACB® publishes no official monthly RBT® supervision form, so the template is up to you, as long as it holds everything the RBT Handbook lists.
ABA Fieldwork Tracker is a free RBT supervision log template that fills itself in. You log each day in one form, the app adds up your service and supervision hours, checks the month against the four monthly requirements at each organization, and builds the record you and your supervisor sign. Below: what the log has to hold, how the app checks a month, and a filled-in example.
What every RBT supervision log has to record#
Whatever template you use, the RBT Handbook says your supervision documentation must show:
- Your services: the days and times you provided behavior-analytic services, and the hours they add up to. The 5% is figured from these hours.
- Each supervision contact: its date, start and end time, and duration.
- Its format: individual, with no other RBTs or trainees present, or a small group, and in person or on live video.
- Observations: the dates your supervisor directly observed you working with a client.
- Your supervisors: their names, and proof of their relationship to the clients you serve.
- Additional documentation where records disagree, such as session notes.
Keep one log per organization for each month, because the requirements are met separately at each place you work. In ABA Fieldwork Tracker, your entries hold the first four and your supervisors are named on every contact; keep the proof of their relationship to your clients, and any notes on records that disagree, wherever your organization keeps them. For why each item is on the list, see what an RBT supervision record must contain.
Log a day in one form#
A log is only as good as the day you write it down. In ABA Fieldwork Tracker a whole day is one entry: add your sessions, mark a session your supervisor attended as supervised, and add a supervision contact for each meeting. Mark each contact individual or group, flag a direct observation, and save the day together.
A session your supervisor observed counts in both places: as service hours, because you were providing services, and as supervision, because your supervisor was with you. A meeting after the session is supervision only.
Your month, checked as you log#
Every entry updates the month at that organization. The RBT dashboard shows the month’s four supervision checks, each with its own bar, and each turns to Met as soon as the month meets it. Until then it says what is missing, so a short month shows while there is still time to fix it.
The four monthly checks, one at a time#
These are the monthly RBT supervision requirements, as the app shows them, filled in with a real-looking month: Jordan’s October at ABA FT, with Sue Alvarez supervising. Jordan provided 86.5 hours of services that month and logged four supervision contacts.
Supervision percentage: at least 5% of your service hours
At least 5% of your service hours each calendar month must be supervised. Jordan’s 86.5 hours needed at least 4.325 hours, about 4 hours 20 minutes, and Jordan had 6.5, which is 7.5%. The app rounds the percentage down, so 4.96% shows as 4.9%, never 5%. The count starts over on the 1st: extra supervision in October does not carry into November. To see a month’s minimum before it ends, use the RBT supervision calculator.
Supervision contacts: at least two, face-to-face, real-time
A supervision contact counts only if it is face-to-face, real-time: in person or on live video. Phone calls and email are not contacts. Jordan met with Sue four times: October 3 twice, then October 15 and October 24.
Individual contact: at least one with no other RBTs present
At least one of the month’s contacts must be individual, with no other RBTs or trainees present. The others can be small groups of 2 to 10 RBTs, never more than 10, however many supervisors attend. For RBTs there is no rule that half of your supervision be individual; that 50% rule belongs to BCBA® and BCaBA® fieldwork.
Observation with a client: at least one, live
In at least one contact each month, your supervisor must directly observe you working with a client, in person or on live video. Video monitoring on its own, without real-time interaction or feedback, may not count as supervision. Sue observed Jordan on October 3 and October 24.
All four are checked at each organization on its own. If you work for two employers, each has its own month and its own four checks, and supervision at one never covers a short month at the other: here is why two employers never pool. The app checks each organization’s month, not each client, so making sure every client you work with has a supervisor stays with you, your supervisor and your organization.
When a month falls short#
A month can meet every contact rule and still miss on hours. Say Jordan’s August had 76 service hours and 3.5 hours of supervision. The app would show it before the month ended:
Seventy-six service hours need 3 hours 48 minutes of supervision, so 18 more minutes before August 31 would have covered it. Seeing the gap mid-month is the point of checking as you log. If a month does end short, the RBT Handbook says to report it to the BACB and to work out with your supervisor how you will meet the requirements from then on.
And a month with no service hours needs no supervision: the Handbook says monthly supervision is not required while you are not providing behavior-analytic services. The app shows that month as a rest month.
The record you both sign#
At the end of the month, your days become your Monthly Supervision Record: the month’s service hours, supervision hours and percentage, contacts and observations, and every supervision contact with its date, time, duration, format, observation and supervisor. You sign it, your supervisor signs it from their free account, and you both keep it.
This is a filled-in example of the log at its finished stage. It is ABA Fieldwork Tracker’s own record, not a BACB form, and there is no BACB deadline for signing it each month. You do not send it to the BACB; the BACB can ask for it in an audit, and you and your supervisor each keep supervision records for at least seven years. Your records stay in your account when you change organizations.
If you keep it on paper#
Paper works if you do the arithmetic yourself. Use one sheet per organization per month: a line for each service day (date, start, end, hours), a line for each supervision contact (date, start, end, duration, individual or group, in person or live video, whether it included a direct observation, and the supervisor), each supervisor’s name, credential and role, and a month check at the bottom. The month check is your service hours times 5%, your supervision total, the number of contacts, and at least one individual contact and one observation. Months you already kept on paper or in a spreadsheet can come into ABA Fieldwork Tracker as monthly summaries, and your original stays your record of those months.
Looking for a BCBA supervision log template?#
If you are a BCBA or BCaBA supervising RBTs, this is the same record, seen from your side. Your supervisor account is free: you see each RBT’s month read-only, with the same checks, and sign their records from one queue. An RBT Supervisor must hold BCBA or BCaBA certification and must complete an 8-hour supervision training, uploaded to their BACB account, before providing any supervision. An RBT Requirements Coordinator must be a BCBA. The roles are set out in who can supervise an RBT.
If you are logging your own BCBA or BCaBA fieldwork, you need a different record. Fieldwork has its own requirements and a BACB form for each month, the Monthly Fieldwork Verification Form.
Start this month’s log#
ABA Fieldwork Tracker is free, with no ads and no credit card, and your supervisor’s account is free too. Log today’s sessions and supervision, and the month checks itself at every workplace. There is more on the free RBT supervision tracker, or you can register for free and keep this month’s RBT supervision log in the app.
Your RBT supervision log, filled in as you go.
Log each day in one form, watch the month's four checks, and sign your Monthly Supervision Record with your supervisor. Free for you and your supervisor.
ABA Fieldwork Tracker is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board®. Always consult the current BACB® Handbook and your supervisor for authoritative guidance on fieldwork requirements.
