Section 1. Learning and Education Policy

(1) This transmits revised (IRM) 6.410.1, Learning and Education (L&E) Policy and provides guidance needed to conduct and manage employee training and development in the IRS.

(1) 6.410.1.2.13.4(2) has been revised to update FOIA requests for training materials to the Office of Disclosure.

(2) 6.410.1.2.4(3) has been revised to show the change of 6 QASP categories to 7, with addition of Design/Development.

(3) 6.410.1.2.4.4 has been revised to update Level 1, 2, 3 and 4 training evaluation policy.

(4) 6.410.1.2.15.1 has been revised to include new language on adding zero cost training events into each business unit Annual Training Plan and into Servicewide Training Events Tracking System (STETS).

(5) 6.410.1.3.7(5)(c) addition of a new paragraph requiring training course developers to reference the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) in the front matter of all printed course material and IRS developed eLearning content.

(6) 6.410.1.3.10, 6.410.1.3.12 and 6.410.1.3.13 revised to include new language on disclosure requirements, personally identifiable information (PII) and Official Use Only (QUO) classification of naming conventions and Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) in training materials

(7) 6.410.1.3.14 has been revised to include new language to Visual Education and Communications (VEC) Project Agreement and Servicewide Video Editorial Board (SVEB) Video Approval

(8) 6.401.1.4.11.3 contains new language on the required use of the Servicewide Travel Estimator (STE)

(9) 6.410.1.4.11.3(6), (7), (8) and (9) revised to include new CDS training delivery support for training and non-training events.

Mark W. Scholz, Director, Leadership, Education and Delivery Services

This IRM provides policy guidance for Learning and Education programs and processes.

Purpose: This transmits revised IRM 6.410.1, Learning and Education (L&E) Policy and provides guidance needed to conduct and manage employee training and development in the IRS.

Audience: This IRM is intended to be used by all divisions and functions.

Policy Owner: Leadership, Education and Delivery Services (LEADS) Division owns this IRM.

Program Owner: LEADS Program Administration is responsible for the administration, policy development and updates related to IRM 6.410.1.

Primary Stakeholders: All Servicewide Learning and Education (SL&E) organizations are primary stakeholders.

Program Goals: IRM 6.410.1 supports LEADS goal to provide tools for developing, retaining, and transitioning a highly-skilled and high-performing workforce to support IRS mission accomplishments.

This IRM provides essential information on education policy and procedures pertinent to conducting and managing employee training and development in the IRS.

Training is defined in Title 5 of the United States Code as the process of providing employees the programs, courses, or other instruction they need to improve their individual performance. Title 5, Chapter 41, makes clear that the primary purpose of training individual employees is to improve overall organizational performance and to assist in achieving agencies’ missions and performance goals. For more information see http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/4101.

Training and Development guidelines published by OPM, serves as a single reference to legal information impacting employee training. This guidance may be accessed through the OPM website at: http://opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/.

This subsection, General Training Information, covers the following:

Definitions

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Policy Guidance

Legal and Regulatory Basis for Training

Appropriation Law Requirements

(IRS) Learning and Education Goals

Learning and Education Governance

Mission of IRS Learning and Education Organizations

IRS Leadership, Education and Delivery Services (LEADS) Organizational Structure

Planning for Employee Development

Reasonable Accommodation

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508

Training for Non-IRS Groups and Individuals

Identifying, Prioritizing and Funding Training Needs

Resource Requirements and Work Planning

Training Course Delivery Options

Procurement Process

The following terms are used throughout IRM 6.410.1 and specific training definitions are also listed in most subsections of this IRM:

Blended Learning - An integrated strategy for delivering training that involves using more than one delivery method (e.g., classroom, online, self-study and coaching) in a single program to achieve the desired performance.

Business Unit - IRS organizations which include Services and Enforcement organizations and Functional Operating divisions.

Competencies - A set of observable, measurable skills, knowledge, abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics that an individual needs to perform a particular work role or occupational function successfully.

Distance Learning - Can be synchronous or asynchronous. It covers a wide set of applications and processes such as web based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of content via the Internet, Intranet (LAN/WAN), audio-based and video-based, satellite broadcast, interactive TV, and DVD.

Education - The study of specific business unities of knowledge and their related principles, processes, and theories (e.g., math, learning theory, or tax law). Education may not result in changed behavior until it is supplemented by skills training.

Information Sharing - The act of providing facts, procedures, or other information to employees without an expectation that the information will change employee performance or behavior (i.e., there are no specific instructional objectives). Common delivery vehicles for information sharing include satellite broadcast, e-mail, memoranda, newsletters, webbies, self-tutorials or employee meetings.

Learning - The acquisition of knowledge or skill by an employee through instruction, study or experience.

On-the-Job Training (OJT) - A structured program designed to provide practice of job duties under the supervision of an on-the-job instructor, usually following formal classroom training in a specific discipline.

Outservice Training - All non-IRS conducted training given by Government agencies or non-Government sources.

Performance Analysis - The process of defining on-the-job performance requirements, assessing the current performance level to identify any gaps, and identifying and implementing appropriate methods to eliminate the performance gaps. Performance gaps may be caused by such factors as inadequate communication, faulty work processes, lack of needed equipment, lack of funds, staffing shortages, or lack of knowledge or skills that result in a need for training.

Performance Consulting - The process of consulting with a customer to assist in changing or improving organizational performance.

Performance Support System - Software application that directly supports job performance by embedding knowledge and information needed to perform a specific set of job tasks within the application itself. Requires an analysis and breakdown of the task(s) to be performed and all steps necessary to correctly perform the task and learn from that performance. Performance Support can directly improve job performance and reduce the need for formal traditional training.

Self-Directed Learning (SDL) - A process in which employees take the initiative to identify their individual learning needs, develop their own learning goals, identify resources and methods to meet those goals, and acquire the specified knowledge and skills.

Training Development Quality Assurance System (TDQAS) - The TDQAS is the Service’s educationally bench-marked systems approach to training and instructional systems developmental process. TDQAS is designed to ensure high-quality training products and services. The “Training Development Quality Assurance System”. Easy online access to TDQAS may be found at http://hco.web.irs.gov/devtrain/LEAD/tdqas.html.

Training - The process of providing employees the programs, courses, or other instruction they need to develop new skills to perform a task or process and/or enhance or improve current skills in their individual job performance. Effective training may result in observably changed behavior.

Instructor Certification – The process for formally placing an instructor into the Servicewide Instructor Cadre. This process includes the following steps: (1) successful completion of Classroom Instructor Training (CIT) or Virtual Classroom Instructor Training (VCIT), as applicable; (2) successful completion of his or her initial teaching assignment(s), with a performance evaluation of at least Meets (M) for all six competency areas on Form 12088, Evaluation of Instructor Competencies.

The OPM Training and Executive Development Group (TEDG) designs policy and programs to ensure the government's learning and development programs support strategic human capital investments.

TEDG develops policy frameworks and flexibility to establish government-wide systems to support effective learning and development programs in the agencies.

TEDG puts into place flexible policies and strategic government-wide advice and guidance to implement systems to support employee learning and development and leadership employee engagement strategies.

TEDG provides technical advice on complex government-wide Human Resource Development (HRD) issues to assist federal agencies to achieve their goals.

Guidance is available at the OPM website under Policy, Training, and Development at: http://www.opm.gov/HRD/LEAD/.

OPM Training and Development links:

Reference Materials at: http://www.opm.gov/hrd/lead/pubs/pubs.asp.

Mentoring at: http://www.opm.gov/hrd/lead/Mentoring.asp.

Training Needs Assessment at: http://www.opm.gov/hrd/lead/TrainingNeedsAssessment.asp.

OPM Training and Development Policy Wiki at: http://www.opm.gov/WIKI/training/MainPage.ashx.

Training and Development guidelines published by OPM, serves as a single reference to legal information impacting employee training. This guidance may be accessed through the OPM website at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/.

The guidance covers the essential legal information needed for human resource development professionals and managers to make decisions on the management and implementation of training programs for agency personnel.

Specifically, it highlights important legal references and citations from documents such as:

Public Law

Executive Orders

OMB Budget and Procurement Guidelines

Training is defined in Title 5 of the United States Code as the process of providing employees the programs, courses, or other instruction they need to improve their individual performance. Title 5, Chapter 41, makes clear that the primary purpose of training individual employees is to improve overall organizational performance and to assist in achieving agencies’ missions and performance goals. For more information see http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/4101.

Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (5 CFR 410.101-410.202) states an agency’s strategic planning process must include the provision of mission-related training and development. "Mission-related training" is defined as training that completes any of the following:

Supports the agency's strategic plan and performance objectives;

Improves an employee's current job performance;

Allows for expansion or enhancement of an employee's current job;

Enables an employee to perform needed or potentially needed duties outside the current job at the same level of responsibility; and

Meets organizational needs in response to human resource plans and re-engineering, downsizing, restructuring, or program changes.

In order to meet the statutory requirement that training will assist in improving organizational performance, all course development projects, including the procurement of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) training products, must be preceded by an analysis that accomplishes all of the following:

Identifies and specifically defines the required performance level for the target employee population;

Describes the current gap between desired and actual employee performance; and

Documents that training will be effective in closing the performance gap.

The complexity of this analysis will vary and may be relatively informal, depending on such factors as the existence of prior performance data. At a minimum, a written statement or summary of the analysis process should be developed and maintained in the course development files. The analysis helps to prevent resources from being wasted on development of training that will be ineffective. Course developers and managers should refer to the Training Development Quality Assurance System (TDQAS) documents for additional guidance on conducting this analysis. Also see IRM Section 6.410.1.2.1.2.

Per Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (5 CFR 410.202), agencies must evaluate their training programs annually to determine how well such plans and programs contribute to mission accomplishment and meet organizational performance goals.

The IRS uses a process to measure data that improves Servicewide Learning and Education (SL&E)products and services. The IRS identifies performance requirements and standards for Mission Critical Occupations, other Key Occupations and Front line Leadership courses. The process is called the Quality Assurance Support Plan or QASP.

QASP consists of 7 categories, with performance requirements related to training:

Planning- Develop an annual training plan for development and delivery, by September 15th each year.

Budget- Report on Servicewide adherence to the use of internal order codes for training expenditures.

Evaluation- Analyze Level 1, 2 and 3 assessment results for training effectiveness.

Design/Development- Follow TDQAS Instructional design model.

Delivery- Timely provide instructor observation results; and timely closure of scheduled offerings in ELMS.

Systems- Notify users of scheduled maintenance and system downtime of Servicewide Training Events Tracking System (STETS).

Policy and Standards- Timely update of Items data fields in ELMS; and timely update of Scheduled Offering data fields in the Electronic Learning Management System (ELMS).

QASP will be used to ensure that systematic quality assurance methods are used in the administration of training programs and in the delivery of the training classes.

Business units will perform in accordance to each applicable QASP performance requirement and standard.

Corrective actions will be taken when the program’s performance deviates from established performance requirements.

All education community components must maintain documentation supporting the actions and decisions used to meet QASP performance requirements and standards.

Business units and Leadership, Education and Delivery Services (LEADS) will develop an Annual Training Plan based on training needs and budget for the following fiscal year as required by IRM 6.410.1.2.14 and Executive Order 11348. The plan will cover a 12-month period of October 1 through September 30. The training plan will be completed, approved and submitted for posting in the Servicewide Training and Event Tracking System (STETS). All first quarter events must be added to STETS by the 1st business day of July and should include all October, November and December events. The complete training plan is due by September 15th. Each plan will include the events and development elements shown in the table below.

Training

Development

Event Title

Event Title

Event Category

Event Category

Sponsor

Sponsor

Location State

Recruit/Non-Recruit

Event Space

Priority Level