Instructor Qualifications Requirements

DOE-HDBK-1001-96

3. INSTRUCTOR QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Qualification requirements should be established and documented for all facility and subcontract

personnel, including "occasional/casual" instructors who perform training activities. (An occasional or

casual trainer is an individual who only instructs several times a year; training is not a part of his/her

job description.) These requirements should be based on instructor qualification levels, and should

address instructional competence, technical competence, and applicable interpersonal skills. All

subcontract instructors, both short-term and long-term, should meet the qualification requirements for

the subjects they teach and/or develop.

Instructor trainees who are not fully qualified, as well as occasional instructors, should have limited

participation in instructional activities. These individuals should perform assignments under the direct

supervision of a qualified instructor or a training supervisor. All instructor trainees who are assigned

instructional activities should be formally evaluated by a qualified instructor or a training supervisor.

On a case-by-case basis, determined by testing or experience, an instructor trainee may be granted

an exception to specific training program requirements. If an instructor trainee can demonstrate

mastery of some/all of the course learning objectives prior to the training, an exception is warranted.

Administrative procedures should be developed that allow training management the option of

releasing such an individual from portions of a qualification program's requirements. All exceptions

granted should include a written justification.

Records formally documenting exceptions, the training provided, and the qualification(s) achieved for

each member of the training staff should be maintained in accordance with Section 8 of this guide.

3.1 Instructional Competencies

A job analysis for a DOE facility's instructors and instructional technologists is not required.

However, it is recommended that each facility analyze its work activities to ensure that

training-related tasks and their associated knowledge and skills are identified and documented for

each instructor qualification level. Appendix B contains a generic instructor job analysis survey form

that may be used or modified for this analysis. Analysis results should be compared to the facility's

instructor training programs to verify that required knowledge (at the proper cognitive level) and skills

are provided in the content of each program. Further, these analyses should be used to establish