Supporting Statement B

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

Supporting Statement B

Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Title: FBI Training Generic Clearance

Forms: Instructor, Presenter, Course, Facility Questionnaires

OMB No:

Prepared by: Kevin Furtick

Chief, Evaluation and Assessment Unit

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI Academy

Training Division,

Quantico, Virginia 22135

Telephone: (703) 632-3222

Cell: (202) 579-7826

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

1. The FBI invites all law enforcement respondents to complete instructor or presenter and course evaluations for all courses the respondents complete. These programs are made up of multiple courses and delivered by numerous instructors. In addition, all respondents are invited to complete a general related evaluation to ensure the learning environment is sufficient. To help eliminate the burden, evaluations are typically no more than fifteen questions with one or two being open ended responses.

NA respondents only register for approximately seven courses out of approximately 54 offered. Respondents are only asked to respond for courses they complete. NEI and LEEDS are only asked to respond to an end of course evaluation and a general evaluation at the completion of their programs.

Evaluations are typically accessed via a link in an email or located within each course on a course management system. Evaluations are open one to two weeks prior to course completion which eliminates respondents from being burdened when they leave the FBI Academy at Quantico, VA. Each evaluation includes a description of its aim and the purposes to why the data is being collected. The evaluation will also explain to respondents that their participation is completely anonymous.

After completing the evaluations, the respondents will be instructed to select “submit” in order to record their responses. Because all respondents of these FBI programs will be offered the opportunity to participate in the evaluations, the evaluations do not involve any sampling, methods for stratification, imputations or similar statistical methods.

2. To ensure a high response rate, several measures have been put into place. For numerical data collection a software evaluation application tool will be used to calculate simple totals, percentages, and cumulative percentages. This evaluation tool will also capture student comments entered in response to open-ended questions. Next, the evaluations will focus strictly on those issues of great interest in order to keep it as short as possible while still accomplishing the goals of the evaluation. In addition, by offering the evaluations online, we reduce the level of effort needed to complete it, as well as the steps involved in creating the database for analysis.

Response rates will also be maximized by e-mail reminders, which are sent out automatically through the software application; five days after the evaluations have been launched. Respondents are also reminded about the evaluations during the one to two week evaluation period and within their group meetings while at the FBI Academy. This face-to-face reminder is done by NA, NEI, and LEEDS staff personnel. Finally, by including all respondents we feel confident that the resulting data will reflect the experience of a wide range of respondents, including the full variety of law enforcement agencies and personnel levels. It is with the understanding of the respondents that by completing these evaluations they will help the FBI determine the strengths and weaknesses of the existing program.

2. The evaluations included as part of this package were developed following extensive interviews with program managers. After determining the desired content, items were developed by experienced evaluation experts. A thorough review of the content centered on several issues, including:

• Clarity of instructions

• Ease with which information requested can be provided

• Length of the instrument, and

• Quality of the resulting data in terms of how it can be used to answer the questions of interest.

These evaluations identify the types of questions used to obtain feedback for FBI programs. FBI program managers will select questions from the ones provided in order to obtain data for their specific program. The Evaluation and Assessment Unit has documented successful results of the use of these types of questionnaires and their value for improving education and training programs.

Due to the nature of this collection, evaluations will be designed and developed with questions that focus on the following areas:

Instructor or Presenter Questionnaire:

• The experience of the instructor on the topic

• The appropriate use of examples and scenarios

Course Questionnaire:

• The overall quality of the lesson, course, or program

• The applicability of activities or field trips associated with the program

• The application of the content to the respondents’ role

• The delivery methods used

General Questionnaire:

• The administrative requirements proceeding the attendance of the program

• The overall atmosphere of the Academy

• The resources and facilities (quality of food/cafeteria, maintenance and custodial support)

Open-Ended Questions will be used in various questionnaires to capture overall opinions about the topics:

• What did respondents like least/most about their instructor

• What was least/most valuable about the course or program

• Allow for any additional comments student want to make related to the program

Once questions are selected, developers will build evaluations to support the different programs. Beta tests will be performed to ensure functionality of the evaluations.

2. The following individuals were consulted regarding the statistical aspects of the project:

Unit Chief

Evaluation and Assessment Unit

Unit Chief

National Academy

Unit Chief

Leadership Programs Management Unit

Training Division

Dean of Academics

FBI Academy

Quantico, Virginia 22135

The persons who will be involved in collecting and analyzing the evaluation data:

Program Managers, Instructors, Instructional Systems Specialists (ISSs) and Management and Program Analysts (MAPAs) assigned to the:

Evaluation and Assessment Unit, FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia 22135

National Academy, FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia 22135

Leadership Programs Management Unit, FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia 22135