Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy (VAAA)

Frequently Asked Questions

1.  What are the different roles within the Learning Standards Office (LSO)?
The LSO has a diverse staff committed to supporting the VA Acquisition Academy (VAAA) by focusing on organizational performance improvement, learning evaluation, and learning standards.  Its roles include creating and implementing policies for the standardization of curriculum, providing staff development, and developing best practices for analysis of courses for continuous improvement.

2.  How does the LSO ensure quality programs at the VAAA?
The LSO works with each school within the VAAA to regularly evaluate courses to determine relevancy, effectiveness of instructor methods and materials, and instructor quality.  Student feedback is critical to the evaluation process.  The LSO appreciates the time that course participants put into completing end-of-course evaluations.  Courses proven to be particularly effective are used as models of improvement for other courses.

3.  What kind of data does the LSO collect and why?
The Learning Standards Office collects data in order to analyze the state of current VAAA programs.  More specifically, we measure student achievement, quality of instruction, and learner satisfaction; analyze existing curriculum and new training requirements; and conduct program reviews to ensure alignment with Academy and national training standards.

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