Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Https

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

As an assessor, what should I expect to see in the Academy accreditation files?

The FLETA Procedures and Standards 2020 Edition states:

Academy accreditation is an organizational-level recognition that an academy administers, develops, and delivers all training programs under the academy’s purview according to the FLETA standards. Attainment of academy accreditation does not confer accreditation to all programs under the academy; training organizations must obtain program accreditation for each training program seeking FLETA recognition. To be eligible for academy accreditation, a TO must:

  1. Have all basic training program(s) and a basic instructor training program(s) accredited through FLETA (or use a FLETA accredited instructor training program).
  2. Have documented academy directives, policies, and/or procedures to address each applicable FLETA standard. Academy accreditation is a commitment that all directives, policies, and/or procedures are applied uniformly across all training programs under its authority; this includes training programs that have not been formally assessed through the FLETA process.
  3. Include policies/evidence for the eTraining in the applicable files, even if the program is not one selected to represent the academy, if the academy manages training programs that meet the FLETA glossary for eTraining.
  4. Identify the sites in the application, if the academy trains at multiple locations. The facilities, resources, and training at each site must meet the standards, and policies/evidence for all locations must be included in the applicable files.
  5. Provide supporting evidence to indicate the academy meets each applicable academy standard. The goal is to demonstrate that all training programs under the academy meet the FLETA standards. The number of training programs used for supporting evidence will be based upon the number of training programs within the academy.

If the academy has less than 10 training programs, beyond the basic training and basic instructor training program(s), then supporting evidence will come from 50% of the “other” training programs. The academy will list the training programs used to represent the academy in the SAM. If necessary, the academy may use additional programs, beyond the “other” programs selected, to demonstrate that it meets the standards. The academy will include the additional program(s) in the SAM, if known, before submission to the OA, on the ISCR, and in the FLETA Assessment Report.
If the academy has 10 or more training programs, beyond the basic training and basic instructor training programs, then supporting evidence will come from five of the “other” training programs. The academy will list the training programs used to represent the academy in the SAM. If necessary, the academy may use more than five programs to demonstrate that it meets the standards. The academy will include the additional program(s) in the SAM, if known, before submission to the OA, on the ISCR, and in the FLETA Assessment Report.

When none of the selected “other” training programs have had the opportunity to perform an activity, as it relates to a standard, the academy will include policy and/or evidence from the academy’s basic training and/or basic instructor training program(s) in the file. The OA only acknowledges N/A status for applicable academy standards when none of the training programs under the academy perform the requirement of the standard. The assessment team validates the N/A during the FLETA assessment.
When an academy does not have additional training programs beyond its basic training and/or basic instructor training program(s), the academy must receive approval from the FLETA OA Executive Director to use evidence from the basic training and basic instructor training programs. The applicant must ensure this approval is noted in the application for academy accreditation and the SAM.

When an academy does not have basic training programs as defined in this Manual, the academy will substitute its primary program(s) as a replacement for the basic training requirement, and follow the process outlined above as if the primary program(s) were basic training. 

The TO will work with the OA to identify/determine the training programs required to obtain/maintain academy accreditation. (pgs. 13 & 14)

Assessors are trained that the academy will determine what evidence to use to support each standard. The evidence will be a sampling of the academy’s programs that the academy designates. It does not mean the academy must have evidence in each file for each program used to meet the standards.

Assessors should not require or expect the academy to provide evidence for each of the designated programs in each file. This does not mean that an assessor may not ask for additional evidence from the designated programs, if it is necessary to make a determination if the academy met the standard. As with all assessments, the purpose of supporting evidence is to demonstrate that the training organization is following its own processes.