I APPRECIATE YOUR INVITATION TO COMMENT ON THE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP78-06365A001000050010-6
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
3
Document Creation Date: 
November 17, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 23, 2000
Sequence Number: 
10
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
September 13, 1966
Content Type: 
LETTER
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PDF icon CIA-RDP78-06365A001000050010-6.pdf250.05 KB
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Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP78-06365AO01000050010-6 13 September 1966 , developing criteria "to present solutions to training methods and materials available to meet these needs . S Dear l / E I i \r7-V,,>'1 I appreciate your invitation to comment on the outline of your "Preliminary Report" to.the DDS on the work of the. Instructional Systems Study Group. Following are my reactions. Although most are re- actions which merely reflect my on need for clarifi- cations one or two are of potentially basic importance. So let me begin with these. support the. work of the ISSG. Should a I jt . there be a more ex licit " tie-in' between your report and the work STATINTL of The objectives listed in the Montract STATINTL " " Relation or the report to the contract. The can roc exists solely, as its to ins u e analyzing current training programs, determin- ing training objectives desired bar the school", analyz- ing student:; abilities and needs, determining the value" of present methods to meet training needs, surveying the explicit I ,should think your report might include a STATINTL statement of what they ere or have become,, as a result of your deliberations with The main thrust of the work of the XSSG, it seems to me,, must either be based on these, objectives, or suitable modifications of them. Only in. this way will we be able to evaluate the progress Because these objectives are not elaborated, or made needs", and ,reviewing current off-the-shelf material. we fre a t , ng*. Perhaps,, for example, Ya"u will need more time to complete the first stage of the work. I think could begin with a statement of the roblft 'a brief Lure of the final one. Perhaps thj 1' vurt,, for example. STATINTL our objectives. I realize that this report is only a preliminary one, but I feel it 'should contain the 'strut- I ., " : review,ff what has been done so far est ablishtrtent of the which, objective by objective.* you indicate the pro reds a.. Approved For Release 2000/09/08`: CIA-RDP78-06365A001000050010-6 could state specifically how far along we are on each of Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP78-06365AO01000050010-6 Organization of the substantive part of the report. Under your "substantive" section, which you call "possible courses of action", you offer management a choice of courses of action that they might take with respect to the use of PI in the Agency, ranging on a rough continuum from no action to potentially wide-spread use. Such an approach seems to assume that management will be confronted with only one or two decisions of relatively major significance. I believe that we already have been given the green light to explore new ways of teaching (principally, PI) and that we should report facts, and expert judgments, regarding the applicability of particular approaches to particular training programs, objectives, or courses. As you suggest, cost estimates should be a prominent part of such an analysis. Go/no-go decisions would then be more realistic and meaning- ful. With such an approach, desirable but non-existent pro- grams could be suggested, including recombinations of existing courses. In other words, such an approach should not limit you to what already is ongoing in the way of Agency training, sup estions regarding assum tions. It occurred to me you Might wish to consider Including several other assump- tions: that there will continue to be a shortage of quali- fied instructors; that foreign language training is first priority, with the other areas coming in the order in which you have listed them in your section on possible courses of action; that training is of particular importance to an in- telligence agency, for which we cannot hire already competent professionals; that high quality training is of special importance to us, who have some critical responsibilities involving the national security, e.g., the Cuban missile crisis. Miscellaneous suggestions.,, (1) Under section on assump- tions, substitute "in assigning for "for use as" in paragraph 3. Also, insert "and will ado t them", following the word technology in paragraph 4. 2 Among possible courses of action, it seems to me important to make the point that we should arrange for systematic follow-up of all changes recom- mended, adopted, and introduced in training programs as a result of the ISSG effort. This should mean the accumulation of end-of-course and past-course performance with and without Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP78-06365AO01000050010-6 ,-Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP78-06365AO01000050010-6 the change. This is looking beyond the objective of the 1SSG1 but it may not be too early to lay the groundwork for a proper evaluation of the effectiveness of its work. How otherwise are we to make soundly based decisions? Jack Approved For Release 2000/09/08 : CIA-RDP78-06365AO01000050010-6