In response to Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) concerns over variability among railroad dispatcher training programs, Foster-Miller developed a set of standardized training objectives that are applicable to all railroads in the United States, regardless of size or nature of the operation. Review by railroad industry officials assured that the objectives conformed to current practices and operations. The training objectives are based on information collected during site visits, structured interviews with instructors and trainees, and existing railroad dispatcher training materials. Based on the training objectives, test designs for measuring student proficiency upon completion of training and model syllabi that incorporate the training objectives and the performance standards were also developed. To disseminate the information from this research, Foster-Miller hosted a first-of-its-kind information-sharing workshop, "Train Dispatcher Training: Preparing for the 21st Century," in October 1998. The workshop drew 100 participants from government, the railroad industry, labor and developers of train dispatching software.
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