| (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.
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