Running head: TRAINING PROGRAM 1

Training Program

Duane Smith

AET/570

March 27, 2015

Dr. Lissa Goya

TRAINING PROGRAM 2

Training Program

The National Marine Fishery Service Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) is part of

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (NOAA, 2015). As a result of a

recent staffing and realignment decisions, the office will be adding approximately 15 newly hired

Enforcement Officers (EOs). EOs are uniformed officers who are responsible for conducting

fishing vessel inspections and enforcing the statutes and regulations governing commercial

fishing activities conducted in federal waters (2015).

Each of these new NOAA hires is currently attending intensive basic law enforcement

officer training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) along with newly

hired personnel from a host of other federal agencies. Upon graduation, the EOs will report to

their new duty stations located throughout the country. Although FLETC provides training in

basic law enforcement topics, the program does not include any training on the specific laws and

regulations the EOs will be expected to enforce on behalf of NOAA (FLETC, 2015).

In the past, the agency has provided training on agency specific laws, regulations, and

policy through a follow on resident course at FLETC. This is an expensive and inefficient way

to provide the needed training. In an effort to save money and make the training more relevant

and hands-on, the agency plans to replace this resident training approach with an individualized

training program that includes an online training component along with practical exercises

conducted with experienced mentors in the field.

NET-Basic Description

The goal of this new training, NET-Basic (NOAA Enforcement Training – Basic), is to

provide new EOs the information and training they need to properly and effectively enforce the

statutes and regulations enforced by NOAA within the policy guidelines established by the

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agency. At the conclusion of the program, the EO, with only minor discrepancies, will be able

to:

Conduct a fishing vessel inspection;

Properly identify and document violations of law or agency regulations; and

Prepare an accurate and complete case package for prosecution

NET-Basic will equip the agency’s newly hired EOs with the necessary knowledge and

skills to succeed in their jobs and provide the best possible service to the regulated community

and the public at large.

Needs Analysis

At its core, training is about effecting change (Brown & Green, 2011). A “need” or

“gap” analysis is the term used by instructional designers to describe the analytical process of

critically examining the current state of the organization’s employees’ knowledge, skills, or

behaviors and comparing that to the organization’s desired state (2011). By properly identifying

the current state and desired end state, an instructional designer can decide on an appropriate

instructional strategy for bridging the gap (assuming the deficit is susceptible to a training

solution at all) (2011). The wise trainer will bear in mind though that the true measurement of

effective training is not simply an increase in knowledge, skills, or abilities but in the

manifestation of those attributes as improved performance that produces results that support the

organization’s missions and goals (Elliott, 2008).

Data Gathering Techniques

Although it can be inferred that NOAA’s newly hired EOs will have a need for training in

agency specific laws, regulations, and policies after completing their basic training at FLETC, it

is still appropriate to conduct a needs analysis to help clarify and quantify the specific

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knowledge, skills, and abilities they may be lacking (Brown & Green, 2011). NOAA used four

techniques to gather data about the need for the proposed training program: Questionnaires,

Interviews, Observations, and Job and Task Analysis.1

Questionnaires. Questionnaires were prepared and sent to every current OLE EO to

help identify what knowledge, skills, and abilities they believed were necessary to properly

perform their job. A similar questionnaire was sent to EO supervisors to gain their input and

provide some validation of the EO’s responses. Finally, questionnaires were sent to the newly

hired EOs to help determine what knowledge, skills, and abilities they already possessed and to

help provide trainers with an analysis of their target audience in other relevant areas such as

education, experience, age, gender, ethnicity, English language proficiency, and preferred

learning style (Brown & Green, 2011; Herrmann-Nehdi, 2008; Tai, 2013). Analysis of these

questionnaires helped NOAA identify the EOs’ current state as well as the knowledge, skills, and

abilities needed to achieve the desired end state after the training intervention.

Interviews and observation. Interviews and observation sessions were conducted with

EOs identified by their supervisors as top performers. There is increasing awareness in the

training community that what truly matters is not a test score that grades a learner’s mastery of

knowledge, skills, or abilities, but rather the learner’s ultimate on-the-job performance that

advances the agency’s missions and goals (Foshay, 2008). By seeking out and studying how

exemplary performers work, NOAA was able to gather data that can hopefully be used to

improve the performance of other workers (2008, p. 109). NOAA will use the data collected to

help develop a “role profile” designed to improve the performance of all EOs (2008, p. 111).

1 These techniques have not actually been conducted and all results reported in this paper are based on simulated data.

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Job and task analysis. Once training outcomes are identified, it is important to identify

and isolate all of the steps a learner needs to accomplish in order to achieve those desired

outcomes (Brown & Green, 2011). NOAA enlisted the help of the exemplary performers

referenced above to serve as subject matter experts to help break down the desired job

performance into the discrete steps needed to achieve that result. These steps then became the

enabling learning objectives necessary to achieve the terminal performance objectives identified.

Needs Analysis Summary

The needs analysis confirmed the newly hired EOs need for the proposed training in

agency specific laws, regulations, and policies upon completion of their basic training at FLETC.

The data from the questionnaires, interviews, and observations of exemplary performers revealed

knowledge and skills gaps between the new EOs and the exemplary performers identified. The

gaps included a lack of knowledge concerning:

Statutes administered by NOAA (e.g. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Lacey Act);

Regulations implementing NOAA administered statutes;

OLE policies and procedures;

Commercial Fisheries’ practices and procedures; and

Case package preparation

and a lack skills including:

Interacting with commercial fishermen;

Boarding and Inspecting commercial fishing vessels; and

Collecting evidence and documenting violations.

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The job and task analysis then provided a roadmap for the design of an instructional program

aimed at moving the newly hired EOs from their current state to the desired end state of

duplicating as closely as possible the performance of the agency’s exemplary performers.

Budget

Educators and trainers may come from a variety of backgrounds and may participate in

the field in a whole host of ways, but this very diverse group seems to generally share some

common characteristics when it comes to why they are in the field they are in. Educators want to

help people, to improve their lives, to impart wisdom, to transform their learners in healthy and

uplifting ways, to change lives or at least performance through education and training. People

with these underlying motivations may be less inclined to worry about the more mundane and

very un-idealistic world of accounting and budgeting. But the reality is that training programs

exist not in some ivory tower utopia, but in the real world of shrinking budgets and competing

priorities (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013). Training and education are not immune to the fiscal

imperatives that affect every other aspect of a family’s, businesses, government agency’s, or

non-profit organization’s operations. Educators and trainers neglect this reality at their peril, and

those who wish to ensure their programs’ success need to learn how to successfully navigate the

funding and budgeting process (2013).

Although trainers cannot foresee every contingency with complete accuracy, thoughtful

and proper planning for the fiscal realities of a program can go a long way towards bringing the

program in on-time and under-budget (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013). Or at least help trainers

avoid running out of money in the middle of a program or having an embarrassing or potentially

career-ending cost overrun (2013). A budget to design NOAA’s new NET-Basic program and

present it to the fifteen newly hired officers is presented below in tabular form.

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NET-Basic Program Budget – Class 1

Category Description Estimated CostPersonnel

Because all personnel involved in the training are full-time government employees, there are no actual additional costs incurred in providing the training. The numbers below, totaling $72,285, are provided for purposes of illustration and to give some sense of the opportunity costs (i.e. the personnel hours reprogramed from actual work to training tasks).-Instructor(s)/Course Designers The course needs to be designed,

facilitated, and evaluated (Brown & Green, 2011).

Two GS-15 employees x 80 hours for course design x $55/hour = $8,800

Two GS-15 employees x 16 hours per week facilitating x 6 weeks x $55/hour = $10,560

Two GS-15 employees x 16 hours evaluating x $55/hour = $1,760

Total: $21,120 (Federaljobs.net, 2015)

0

-Subject Matter Experts As part of the design process, subject matter experts were consulted as part of the job-task analysis and to evaluate the proposed training (Brown & Green, 2011).

Six GS-14/15 employees x 40 hours x$43.50/hour = $10,440 (Federaljobs.net, 2015)

0

-Trainer/Mentors Each trainee will be assigned a trainer/mentor in the field.

0

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15 GS-14/15 employees x 5 hours/week x 6 weeks x $43.50/hour = $19,575

-Trainees Each trainee will be spend part of each workweek completing the week’s training assignments.

15 GS-10/11 employees x 10 hours/week x 6 weeks x $23.50/hour = $21,150 (Federaljobs.net, 2015)

0

Fringe Benefits Fringe benefits are included within each employee’s compensation package.

0

External Staff-Interviewer NOAA decided to hire an outside

consultant to conduct the observations and interviews of exemplary performers and their supervisors. The consultant charges $225/hour and estimated it would take 50 hours to conduct the interviews and prepare the report = $11,250

$11,250

Materials-Course workbook Printing 30 copies x $25/copy = $750 $750-Job Aids Printing 30 copies x $15/copy = $450 $450-Computers with internet connnectivity

Each participant will already be issued a laptop and desktop computer.

0

Technical Support IT support is already provided as a fixed agency cost.

0

Equipment Each participant will be already be issued a complete package of law enforcement equipment and uniforms.

0

Travel-Airfare and ground transportation Two trips for the author to

Headquarters for one week each trip

One trip to Headquarters for six SMEs for one week

(2+6) x $1,000 = $8,000

$8,000

-Per Diem (2+6) x 7 days x $300/day ($229 lodging and $71 meals and incidentals allowance) = $16,800 (GSA, 2015)

$16,800

Facilities The program will make use of existing 0

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facilities.Supplies The program will make use of existing

office supplies and does not anticipate any additional unusual supplies to support the training.

0

Miscellaneous It is possible that additional unidentified costs could arise in the course of conducting the training. The author requested a $5,000 contingency/miscellaneous line item to allow for this eventuality with the specific understanding that miscellaneous funds will be approved by management before expenditure and any unspent funds will be returned to the funding code from which they were provided for reprogramming.

$5,000

Total: $42,250

Source of Funds

Category Description FundingGovernment-Appropriated Funds These are funds authorized and

appropriated by Congress for the agency’s use in a given year (GAO, 2015).

- Headquarters Headquarters funds will be used for:- The author’s travel ($6,200)- Miscellaneous expenses

($5,000)

$11,200

- Regional Offices Regional offices funds will be used for:

- SME’s travel

$18,600

-Asset Forfeiture Fund (AFF) In an exception to the general rule that all moneys collected by an Agency have to be deposited into the general treasury (GAO, 2015), Congress has authorized the agency to deposit funds collected as a result of fines and penalties into a special fund to be used for the purposes of enhancing the enforcement of the laws Congress has made the agency responsible for enforcing.

$12,450

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The AFF will fund:- External Personnel costs

($11,250)- Materials ($1,200)

Donations A non-governmental organization (NGO) interested in improving what it perceives as the agency’s inadequate training program expressed an interest in contributing $25,000 towards the development of the agency’s new training program. The agency politely declined the NGO’s offer because of the appearance it would create of a conflict of interest as viewed by the regulated community.

0

Participant Fees The agency cannot charge participant fees to its employees for required training.

0

Grants The agency was offered no grants and would likely have declined any offers either because of an appearance of a conflict of interest or because accepting such a grant would violate federal fiscal law (GAO, 2015).

0

Miscellaneous Congress guards its “power of the purse” diligently. The agency is not allowed to accept contributions or raise money as a matter of federal fiscal law (GAO, 2015).

0

Total: $42,250

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Staffing Plan

“It’s all about the people” (Thurm & Lublin, 2005, p. 1). This is the primary message of Peter Drucker and a host of

management gurus. Their advice is as relevant to training as to any other field of endeavor. In order to ensure the success of NET-

Basic (NOAA Enforcement Training – Basic), NOAA needs to pay attention to the staffing needs of the program. The following table

lays out the program’s staffing plan.

Role/Position Required Skills, Abilities, Knowledge Time Requirement/Number of Staff Positions Required

Availability: Internal/External

Program Planner/Course Designer

These people need knowledge of the program planning process and the skills and abilities necessary to gather ideas; conduct needs assessments, set program priorities, develop program objectives, seek funding, prepare budgets, develop learning objectives, and develop formative and summative assessments (Brown & Green, 2011; Caffarella & Daffron, 2013).

160 hours/2 GS-15s

Internal – one from OLE HQ and one from General Counsel

Instructional Staff These people need to understand and be able to apply adult learning theory in order to facilitate students’ learning through the use of a variety of instructional techniques (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013). Because the course will be conducted using an online format, experience and skill in creating an online learning environment conducive to participation and critical thinking will be very important

192 hours/2 GS-15s

Internal – one from OLE HQ and one from General Counsel

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(Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 2010). Instructional staff must also administer formative and summative assessments to measure student learning (Brown & Green, 2011; Caffarella & Daffron, 2013).

Subject Matter Experts These technical experts/exemplary performers will be used to help plan the course and to help create a “role profile” of an exemplary Enforcement Officer (EO) (Foshay, 2008). They must have in-depth technical knowledge of their law enforcement duties along with demonstrated skills and abilities to perform those duties successfully at the highest levels (Brown & Green, 2011; Foshay, 2008).

240 hours/6 GS-14/15s

Internal/one from each OLE division.

Trainers/Mentors The exemplary performers identified above, along with additional high performers, will need to have in-depth technical knowledge of their law enforcement duties along with demonstrated skills and abilities to perform those duties successfully at the highest levels. In addition, they must be have the desire and temperament to “coach” and mentor the new EOs by modeling proper job performance, demonstrating required skills and abilities, and helping the new EOs make the transition from the classroom to the field environment.

900 hours/15 GS-14/15s

Internal/one for each new EO from the OLE division to which they are assigned.

Course Evaluator This role requires knowledge of course evaluation, program assessment, and the ability to objectively collect and analyze the data necessary to inform NOAA’s decisions regarding the effectiveness of the course. Objectivity is an important component of this role and some experts recommend using an external evaluator for that reason (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013).

32 hours/2 GS-15s

Internal – one from OLE HQ and one from General Counsel

External – if funds allow, the external consultant used for interviews may assist or fully conduct the program evaluation to help ensure objectivity (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013).

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Interviewer This person will be utilized during the course design process to help identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities that go into the “role profile” of the exemplary EO (Foshay, 2008). This person needs to be able to objectively collect and analyze data and must have the people skills necessary to conduct effective interviews in a relatively short time period.

50 hours/1 consultant

External – professional interviewer/evaluator

Additional Resource Needs

Currently the author has identified no additional resource needs and no resource gaps. There is adequate internal expertise to

plan and conduct the training and a commitment on the part of leadership to support participating personnel’s required time away from

their regularly assigned duties. Leadership has also approved the funding needed for the one external staff need identified and is

conceptually on board with the possibility of expanding that contractor’s role to assist or completely perform the course evaluation

using any unexpended contingency funds.

Staff Performance Evaluation

As part of NOAA’s efforts to evaluate the overall efficacy of the program, NOAA must consider the performance of the staff

in designing and delivering the instruction (Walvoord & Banta, 2010). Data on staff performance will be accomplished using a

variety of techniques. Using Kirkpatrick’s model as a framework, level one data will be collected by surveying students upon

completion of the training and level two data will be during and at the conclusion of the training to test student knowledge

(Kirkpatrick, 2008). Level three data will be collected in the field after sufficient time has passed to allow application and integration

of the material learned into the EOs’ daily work (Brinkerhoff & Mooney, 2008). Although designed primarily to evaluate students,

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these performance measures will also provide insight into the ways in which staff performed their duties. NOAA will also collect data

on staff performance by having instructors and mentors evaluate both themselves and each other.

Staffing Plan Summary

The best conceived program can still fail if insufficient attention is given to properly staffing the program or if the people

responsible for designing and implementing the program fail to perform as expected. A staffing plan is an essential component of any

training program that hopes to be successful in delivering on its potential promise. It’s all about the people.

Stakeholders and Goals

Wise trainers realize that their success (and the success of the programs they run) depends not only on the quality of their

programs, but on the degree of buy-in and support they receive from a variety of internal and external stakeholders. For this reason, it

is important to consider the needs and interests of all affected stakeholders when planning training programs (Caffarella & Daffron,

2013). Taking the time to think about who the various stakeholders are for a given training program and what their equities are in the

training outcomes can go a long way towards improving the both the quality of the training and the equally important perception of the

training’s worth in the eyes of those affected stakeholders. The table that follows presents a list of some of the stakeholders in the

NET-Basic program, along with their goals and proposed ways to build support for the training.

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Stakeholders Partnership goal Ways to build support

NOAA Office of Law Enforcement (OLE)

OLE will bear the primary responsibility for the on-the-job performance of its newly hired law enforcement personnel.

OLE leadership wants to ensure that its newly hired enforcement officers are professionally trained and adequately prepared to perform their duties in a way that accomplishes the agency’s missions and enhances the reputation of OLE as competent and trusted law enforcement agency.

Assure OLE leadership of the competency and dedication of the personnel involved in developing the training program.

Involve OLE leadership in developing the training program’s goals and objectives.

Keep OLE leadership informed of milestones as the training program is designed and implemented.

Brief OLE leadership on the evaluation of the training program and solicit their input and recommendations for improvements to the next iteration of the training program.

NOAA General Counsel – Enforcement Section (GCES)

GCES is the primary consumer of OLE’s investigative work product.

GCES wants high quality investigative reports that contain sufficient evidence of each of the elements of any detected offense to allow for a successful civil prosecution of the offender.

Assure GCES of the competency and dedication of the personnel involved in developing the training program.

Involve GCES in reviewing the training program’s goals and objectives.

Solicit GCES input on the portions of the training program most relevant to their world of work, in particular the portion of the training dealing with case package preparation.

Solicit GCES input as part of the program evaluation, particularly input regarding the quality of the case packages presented to GCES for

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Stakeholders Partnership goal Ways to build support

prosecution by the newly trained officers.

Department of Justice (DOJ) DOJ is a consumer of OLE’s investigative work product.

DOJ wants high quality investigative reports that contain sufficient evidence of each of the elements of any detected offense to allow for a successful criminal prosecution of the offender.

Involve DOJ in reviewing the training program’s goals and objectives.

Solicit DOJ input on the portions of the training program most relevant to their world of work, in particular the portion of the training dealing with case package preparation and the differences between civil and criminal prosecutions.

Solicit DOJ input as part of the program evaluation, particularly input regarding the quality of the case packages presented to DOJ for criminal prosecution by the newly trained officers.

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

NMFS is responsible for conserving and managing all federal fisheries and for the protection of marine mammals and endangered and threatened species in the marine environment (National Marine Fisheries Service, 2015).

NMFS wants to ensure adequate training is provided to allow OLE personnel to properly execute their duties to help advance the agency’s mission goals.

NMFS also wants to ensure that OLE’s law enforcement personnel understand the role

Brief NMFS on the training program’s goals and objectives, paying particular attention to how the training program addresses NMFS’s overarching organizational mission needs.

Solicit NMFS input as part of the program evaluation, particularly input regarding the perceived support of its mission areas and any areas where NMFS believed additional attention or training would be appropriate.

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Stakeholders Partnership goal Ways to build support

and importance of effective enforcement to the agency’s overall conservation, management, and protection missions.

NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS)

NOS is responsible for conserving and managing the resources contained within National Marine Sanctuaries and National Monuments in the marine environment (National Ocean Service, 2015).

NOS wants to ensure adequate training is provided to allow OLE personnel to properly execute their duties to help advance the agency’s mission goals.

NOS also wants to ensure that OLE’s law enforcement personnel understand the role importance of effective enforcement to the agency’s overall conservation and management missions within these specially designated areas.

Brief NOS on the training program’s goals and objectives, paying particular attention to how the training program addresses NOS’s overarching organizational mission needs in the marine sanctuaries and monuments.

Solicit NOS input as part of the program evaluation, particularly input regarding the perceived support of its mission areas and any areas where NOS believed additional attention or training would be appropriate.

Trainees NOAA’s newly hired enforcement officers are adult professionals interested in performing well during the training and in learning everything they can about their new job so that they can be successful.

Treat trainees as the self-directed and internally motivated learners they are (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2011).

Take advantage of their prior experiences and encourage them to begin building their professional learning network with their cohort (2011).

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Stakeholders Partnership goal Ways to build support

Demonstrate the relevance of the training to helping them perform their new jobs at a superior level (2011).

Stakeholders and Goals Summary

Paying attention to stakeholders is important. By definition, stakeholders have an interest in the content and the outcome of

the organization’s training. Trainers need to seek out a training program’s stakeholders and understand their equities. By satisfying

the goals of affected stakeholders, trainers can ensure that their training program is not only successful in meeting its training

objectives, but is also successful in garnering initial and continued support from the affected parts of the organization

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Communications Plan

The importance of effective communications in an organization cannot be

overemphasized (Thill & Bovee, 2013). The implementation of NET-Basic represents a change

in the way newly-hired EOs are trained and developed. As with all organizational changes,

change agents should plan to effectively communicate the need for and benefits of the change

(Cawsey & Deszca, 2012). A lack of effective communication does not mean an absence of

information – it merely means that the information being bandied about the organization

regarding the training will be based on rumor and innuendo rather than facts (Spector, 2013). In

order to provide factual information and encourage buy-in and excitement over the new training

program the program should be “marketed” to stakeholders (Combs & Davis, 2010).

Key Talking Points

Key talking points about the program include the following:

FLETC does not provide agency specific training enforcement officers need to perform

their jobs.

The old training model required newly-hired officers to remain at, or even worse, return

to FLETC for an additional 4 weeks of training after completing their basic training. This

was inefficient and expensive.

The new training model takes advantage of online training for the knowledge components

of the training and allows trainees to learn the skills components while applying that

knowledge in the field at their new duty stations. This is cost-effective and reflective of

the best practices in modern adult-learning theory.

The program drew on the expertise of internal subject matter experts in designing the

course.

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Senior, experienced, and well-respected officers will serve as mentors/trainers for the

practical field application sections of the program.

The nature of the program allows for individualization and tailoring of the program for

individual officers and their diverse duty stations.

“Marketing”

The program will be rolled out to senior leadership and then publicized to all OLE personnel

and other interested stakeholders. The implementation team will make transparency the

watchword – there will be no secrets about what the agency is training its officers to do or why.

To further this goal and help promote respect for the program both internally and externally, the

implementation team will post lesson plans and information about the training program on the

OLE website.

Because this is an internal training program there is no need for formal external “marketing”

materials, but the training team has developed a logo, slogan, and fact sheet to help spread the

word internally and help “brand” the training program.

Taking advantage of the fortuitous acronym for the course and a little tongue in cheek non-

risqué double entendre, the logo is based on a fisherman throwing a cast net with the program’s

slogan superimposed over it.

Slogan. The slogan selected was:

NOAA ENFORCEMENT TRAINING –BASIC:

Catch the knowledge! Catch the skills! Catch the excitement!

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Logo. The program’s logo is:

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Fact Sheet. A fact sheet answers expected common questions.

NOAA ENFORCEMENT TRAINING –BASIC:Catch the knowledge! Catch the skills! Catch the excitement!

FACT SHEET

What is NET-Basic? NET-Basic is a mandatory course of instruction that provides instruction and training on the relevant statutes administered by NOAA as well as Agency regulations, policies, and procedures necessary for enforcement officers’ successful performance of their duties.

Who is the program designed to serve?

The program is designed for newly hired enforcement officers who have completed Basic law enforcement training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and reported to their new duty stations.

When will the program start and how long will it run?

The program will begin two weeks after graduating from FLETC and after newly hired enforcement officers have reported to their initial duty stations.

The program lasts for six weeks.

Where does the training take place?

The training will consist of a web-based knowledge component as well as skills components accomplished in the field at the enforcement officers’ duty station.

How will the training be conducted?

The Web-based component will be facilitated by a senior special agent and a senior enforcement attorney. The practical exercises and real-world application will be overseen by a senior enforcement officer or special agent who will serve as a mentor and trainer at the enforcement officers’ duty stations.

Why is the training needed?

FLETC trains enforcement officers on basic law enforcement but does not contain any specific training on the statutes and regulations enforced by NOAA or the enforcement policies and procedures established by NOAA Office of Law Enforcement (OLE).

The training is designed to fill that gap and help ensure newly hired enforcement officers successfully assimilate into OLE as productive and professional law enforcement officers.

Who can I contact for more information?

Contact the head of training at ole_training_officer@noaa.gov or (301) 555-5555 for additional information.

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Program Evaluation Plan

There is an often used management axiom that posits: “That which gets measured gets

done.” A corollary might state: “That which gets measured gets better.” NOAA has high hopes

that the NET-Basic course will provide its newly hired EOs with the information and skills they

need to succeed in their jobs. But the only way the agency will know if it has succeeded in that

endeavor is by measuring the results of the training. Performing a thorough program evaluation

is the primary way those involved in the program’s design and implementation can measure the

program’s effectiveness and improve the program (Brown & Green, 2011; Caffarella & Daffron,

2013). To this end, the two individuals identified in the staffing plan as course designers and

facilitators will design and conduct an evaluation of the program and then report their results to

OLE senior management. In order to stave off any real or potential lack of objectivity, the one

external staff person identified in the staffing plan will assist with the program evaluation or

oversee it completely, based on the availability of sufficient funds.

Theoretical Basis and Purpose

The program evaluation will make use of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model (Kirkpatrick,

2008). This model will help NOAA use the program evaluation for multiple purposes, including

evaluation of students’:

reaction to the training (Level One);

learning of the material (Level Two);

behavior in applying what they learned in the field (Level Three); and,

results obtained for the organization’s benefit as evidenced by EO’s morale,

case production, retention, and increased professionalism as evaluated by their

supervisors (Level Four) (Kirkpatrick, 2008).

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In addition to evaluating students and the organizational benefits of NET-Basic, the

information from the various levels of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model will also be used to

improve instruction, evaluate instructional staff, and improve the content and design of the

program (Brinkhoffer & Mooney, 2008).

Metrics and Methodologies

Program evaluation data will be gathered through a variety of means. Students will be

surveyed upon completion of the training to get a sense of their reaction to the content and

structure of the training program. Students will be tested throughout the course using both

“traditional” testing methods as well as “actual” evaluations designed to test their knowledge and

mastery of the required skills in a real-world environment at their duty stations. In addition to

serving as formative and summative assessments for the students progression through the class,

the data from these Level One and Level Two evaluations will help determine if the program was

successful in satisfying the perceived needs of the students and in helping the students learn what

was required to complete the course’s performance objectives. This information will be gathered

during the course and immediately after its conclusion.

Level Three and Four data, dealing with students’ behavior in the workplace and the

results they produce, should not be collected until sufficient time has passed to allow for students

to exhibit the behaviors taught and to have their behaviors yield the outcomes desired by the

organization (Brinkerhoff & Mooney, 2008). There is no set optimal time for performing such

evaluations, but in order to both give the students time to perform and yet have the evaluation

data available before the next class cycle begins, NOAA plans to evaluate these levels nine

months after the students complete the training. This will allow time for data analysis and

changes based on that analysis to be incorporated into NET-Basic-Class-2.

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NOAA plans to do both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Data

will be collected using observations, interviews, surveys, pre- and post-tests, performance

reviews, and analysis of case data from OLE’s case tracking system.

Conclusion

NOAA’s NET-Basic course represents an exciting departure from the agency’s existing

training program for newly hired EOs. Although the program will undoubtedly encounter some

unforeseen rough points in its inaugural presentation, it has been well thought out and designed.

The agency personnel chosen to implement the program are excited about delivering the training

they have planned and confident that this new program will provide the agency’s new EOs the

knowledge and skills they need as they embark on their NOAA careers protecting the nation’s

fisheries, protected species, and marine sanctuaries and monuments.

TRAINING PROGRAM 26

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