Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Training And Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
TCOLE staff outline curriculum changes, job-task analysis and plans to measure academy outcomes
Summary
Officials described major curriculum updates — including a jailer course increase from 32 to 59 hours to add suicide-prevention content — a statewide job-task analysis for the basic peace officer course, a task force studying academy success, and a proposed rule to require training coordinators to report separation from basic courses (A5).
TCOLE education and field services staff told commissioners the agency is pushing a series of curriculum and reporting changes aimed at standardizing training and identifying underperforming academies.
Deputy Chief Colin Grissom said the basic jail certification (the transition course that provides jail licensing to sworn peace officers) was republished in January and must be implemented by June 2. The course increases from 32 to 59 hours primarily to add a suicide-prevention module specific to the jail setting. ‘‘That suicide-prevention module was literally a missing component,’’ Grissom said, and staff cited statewide evidence that the additional training is necessary.
Grissom said a statewide job-task analysis contracted with Sam Houston State University will inform major revisions to the Basic Peace Officer Course (BPOC); data collection events are scheduled in Austin, San Antonio, Lubbock, DFW and El Paso. The job-task analysis will query recent officers, field training officers and first-line supervisors about what new officers need to know.
Education staff reported they will publish a revised supervisor course and a revised basic instructor course, both with public-comment windows. The basic supervisor (37-hour) rewrite is in development and will be posted for comment, Grissom said.
On academy performance metrics, staff described the agency’s intention to reinstate a separation reporting form (A5). TCOLE said collecting A5 data would allow it to identify students who start but do not finish basic licensing courses, detect patterns in repeat attempts, and spot training providers with high attrition. Commissioner discussion clarified that A5 reporting will capture start and end dates and course numbers; it will not require a C1 (candidate enrollment ID) in all cases. Commissioners approved posting a proposed amendment to rule 215.9 (training-coordinator responsibilities) to require reporting student separations from basic licensing courses; the change was advanced for first reading and will return after public comment.
Colin Grissom also reported on the agency’s annual racial profiling reporting cycle: as of the March meeting, 2,800 agencies had filed and only three agencies had missed the March 1 deadline. Staff said the remaining agencies were being assisted and one of the late filers was in the process of voluntarily closing.
Grissom and others emphasized that the agency’s approach combines a task force to visit academies that are struggling, a data-driven ‘‘early warning’’ approach and technical assistance to support academies rather than simply imposing sanctions.
