Summary: Skill assessments tell you what a client can already do and where the gaps are, so the BCBA can build a teaching plan that starts in the right place. This page walks through the four tools you'll see most often (VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R, AFLS, and PEAK), what each one is built for, how to tell them apart, and what your job looks like when one of them is being run. The exam loves to test which tool fits which client, so pay attention to age, skill level, and focus.
Before anyone teaches a client anything, somebody has to figure out where that client is starting from. That's what a skill assessment does. It's a structured way of finding out what the learner can already do across a bunch of areas, language, play, self-care, academics, so the BCBA isn't guessing about where to begin.
Think of it like this. If you hand a kid a worksheet that's three grade levels above where they're at, you've wasted everyone's time and probably taught the kid that learning feels bad. Assessments keep that from happening. They give the team a real starting point.
Your part as an RBT is hands-on. You'll prep materials, present items, take data, and keep the client engaged while the assessment runs. You won't be the one interpreting results or choosing the tool, that's the BCBA's call, but you'll often be the person actually sitting across from the client collecting the information that drives every decision afterward.
What a skill assessment is actually for
A good assessment does more than spit out a score. It answers a handful of practical questions the team needs before writing a single goal:
That's the free preview of Skill Assessments. The complete guide, plus all 851 practice questions and 3 full exams, is in the study pack and the book.