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TITLE 16ECONOMIC REGULATION
PART 4TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION
CHAPTER 84DRIVER EDUCATION AND SAFETY
SUBCHAPTER MCURRICULUM AND ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
RULE §84.501Driver Education Course Alternative Method of Instruction

(a) Approval process. The department may approve an alternative method whereby a driver education provider is approved to teach all or part of the classroom portion of a driver education course by an alternative method of instruction (AMI) that does not require students to be physically present in a classroom that meets the following requirements.

  (1) Standards for approval. The department may approve a driver education provider to teach all or part of the classroom portion of a driver education course by an AMI that does not require students to be present in a classroom only if:

    (A) the AMI includes testing and security measures that the department determines are at least as secure as the measures available in the usual classroom setting;

    (B) the course satisfies any other requirement applicable to a course in which the classroom portion is taught to students in the usual classroom setting;

    (C) a student and instructor are in different locations for a majority of the student's instructional period;

    (D) the AMI instructional activities are integral to the academic program; and

    (E) extensive communication between a student and instructor and among students is emphasized.

  (2) Application. The provider must submit a completed AMI application along with the appropriate fee. The application for AMI approval must be treated the same as an application for the approval of a driver education traditional course, and the AMI must deliver the curriculum as aligned with POI-DE.

  (3) Provider license required. A person or entity offering a classroom driver education course to Texas students by an AMI must hold a driver education provider license. The driver education provider is responsible for the operation of the AMI.

(b) Course content. The AMI must deliver the same topics, sequence, and course content as the provider's approved traditional driver education course as established by the department in the POI-DE.

  (1) Course topics. The time requirements for the course content described in §84.500(b)(1)(C) shall be met.

  (2) Editing. The material presented in the AMI must be edited for grammar, punctuation, and spelling and be of such quality that it does not detract from the subject matter.

  (3) Irrelevant material. Advertisement of goods and services must not appear during the actual instructional times of the course. Distracting material that is not related to the topic being presented must not appear during the actual instructional times of the course.

  (4) Student breaks. The AMI is allowed five minutes of break per instructional hour for all phases, for a total of 160 minutes of break time. No more than ten minutes of break time may be accumulated for each two hours of instruction.

  (5) Minimum content. The AMI shall present sufficient instructional content so that it would take a student a minimum of 32 hours (1,920 minutes) to complete the course. A course that demonstrates that it contains 1,760 minutes of instructional content shall mandate that students take 160 minutes of break time or provide additional educational content for a total of 1,920 minutes (32 hours). In order to demonstrate that the AMI contains sufficient content, the AMI must use the following methods.

    (A) Word count. For written material that is read by the student, the total number of words in the written sections of the course must be divided by 180. The result is the time associated with the written material for the sections.

    (B) Multimedia presentations. There shall be a minimum of 120 minutes of multimedia presentation. The provider owner must calculate the total amount of time it takes for all multimedia presentations to play, not to exceed 640 minutes.

    (C) Charts and graphs. The AMI may assign one minute for each chart or graph.

    (D) Examinations. The provider owner may allocate up to 90 seconds for questions presented over the Internet and 90 seconds for questions presented by telephone.

    (E) Total time calculation. If the sum of the time associated with the written course material, the total amount of time for all multimedia presentations, and the time associated with all charts, graphs, and breaks equals or exceeds the minimum 1,920 minutes, the AMI has demonstrated the required amount of content.

    (F) Alternate time calculation method. In lieu of the time calculation method, the AMI may submit alternate methodology to demonstrate that the AMI meets the minimum 32-hour requirement.

  (6) Academic integrity. The academic integrity of the AMI for a classroom driver education course must include:

    (A) goals and objectives that are measurable and clearly state what the participants should know or be able to do at the end of the course;

    (B) a clear, complete driver education classroom course overview and syllabus;

    (C) content and assignments that are of sufficient rigor, depth, and breadth to teach the standards being addressed;

    (D) literacy and communication skills that are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the AMI;

    (E) sufficient learning resources and materials to increase student success available to students before the AMI begins;

    (F) instruction requirements that are consistent with course goals, representative of the scope of the course, and clearly stated;

    (G) communication processes that are provided to students, parents, and mentors on how to communicate with the provider and instructor, including information on the process for these communications and for timely and frequent feedback about student progress;

    (H) information addressing issues associated with the use of copyrighted materials; and

    (I) if online, clearly stated academic integrity and Internet etiquette expectations regarding lesson activities, discussions, e-mail communications, and plagiarism.

  (7) Instructional design. Instructional design of AMI for classroom driver education must:

    (A) include a clear understanding of student needs and incorporate varied ways to learn and multiple levels of mastery of the curriculum;

    (B) ensure each lesson includes a lesson overview, objectives, resources, content and activities, assignments, and assessments to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content;

    (C) include concepts and skills that students will retain over time;

    (D) include activities that engage students in active learning;

    (E) include the instructor engaging students in learning activities that address a variety of learning styles and preferences to master course content;

    (F) include instruction that provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical-reasoning activities, and thinking in increasingly complex ways;

    (G) include a statement that notifies the student of the provider owner's security and privacy policy regarding student data, including personal and financial data; and

    (H) include assessment and assignment answers and explanations.

(c) Personal validation. The AMI must maintain a method to validate the identity of the person taking the course. The personal validation system must incorporate one of the following requirements.

  (1) Provider-initiated method. Upon approval by the department, the AMI may use a method that includes testing and security measures that are at least as secure as the methods available in the traditional classroom setting.

    (A) Time to respond. The student must correctly answer the personal validation question within 90 seconds for questions presented over the Internet and 90 seconds for questions presented by telephone.

    (B) Placement of questions. At least one personal validation question must appear in each major unit or section, not including the final examination.

    (C) Exclusion from the course. The AMI must exclude the student from the course after the student has incorrectly answered more than 30 percent of the personal validation questions.

    (D) Correction of answer. The provider may correct an answer to a personal validation question for a student who inadvertently missed a personal validation question. In such a case, the student record must include a record of both answers and an explanation of the reasons why the answer was corrected.

  (2) Third party data method. The online course must ask a minimum of 60 personal validation questions randomly throughout the course from a bank of at least 200 questions drawn from a third party data source.

    (A) Time to respond. The student must correctly answer the personal validation question within 90 seconds for questions presented over the Internet and 90 seconds for questions presented by telephone.

Cont'd...

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