16 Tex. Admin. Code § 84.505 - Driving Safety Course Alternative Delivery Method
(a) The driving
safety provider may offer a course by alternative delivery method (ADM) that
meets the following requirements:
(1)
Standards for acceptance. The department may accept an ADM offered by a driving
safety provider for an approved driving safety course if the ADM delivers a
course in a manner that is at least as secure as an in-person classroom. ADMs
that meet the requirements outlined in subsections (b) - (h), shall receive ADM
acceptance.
(2) The ADM must
deliver the driving safety provider's curriculum as delineated in the course
content guide required by §84.504 (relating to Driving Safety Courses of
Instruction), and the COI-Driving Safety.
(3) Provider license required. A person or
entity offering a driving safety course to Texas students by an alternative
delivery method must hold a driving safety provider license. The driving safety
provider is responsible for the operation of the ADM.
(b) Course content. The ADM must deliver the
same topics, instruction requirements, and course content as the approved
driving safety course established by the department in the COI-Driving Safety.
(1) Course topics. The time requirements for
each unit and the course described in §84.504(a)(1)(C) and (D) must be
met.
(2) Editing. The material
presented in the ADM 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) Minimum content. The ADM must present
sufficient content so that it would take a student 300 minutes to complete the
course. To demonstrate that the ADM contains sufficient content, the ADM must
use the following methods.
(A) Word count.
For written material that is read by the student, the driving safety provider
must count the total number of words in the written sections of the course.
This word count must be divided by 180, the average number of words that a
typical student reads per minute. The result is the time associated with the
written material for the sections.
(B) Multimedia presentations. For multimedia
presentation, the driving safety provider must calculate the total amount of
time it takes for all multimedia presentations to play.
(C) Charts and graphs. The ADM may assign one
minute for each chart or graph.
(D)
Examinations. The provider 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 and graphs equals or exceeds 300 minutes, the
ADM has demonstrated the required amount of content.
(F) Alternate time calculation method. In
lieu of the time calculation method, the driving safety provider may submit
alternate methodology to demonstrate that the ADM meets the 300-minute
requirement.
(5) Student
breaks. A course that demonstrates that it contains 300 minutes of
instructional content must mandate that students take 60 minutes of break time
or provide additional educational content for a total of 360
minutes.
(c) Personal
validation. The driving safety provider must ensure the ADM maintain a system
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. The ADM may
use a method that includes testing and security measures that are at least as
secure as the methods available in the in-person classroom.
(A) Time to respond. The student must
correctly answer the personal validation question within 90 seconds.
(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 ADM 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 10 personal validation questions randomly
throughout the course drawn equally from at least two different databases.
(A) Time to respond. The student must
correctly answer the personal validation question within 90 seconds.
(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 ADM 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.
(E) Student affidavits. A student for whom
third-party database information is available from fewer than two databases
(for example, a student with an out-of-state driver's license) may be issued a
uniform certificate of completion upon presentation to the driving safety
provider of a notarized copy of the student's driver's license or equivalent
type of photo identification and a statement from the student certifying that
the individual attended and successfully completed the six-hour driving safety
course for which the certificate is being issued and there exists a
corresponding student record.
(3) Multifactor authentication method. The
AMD may use a multifactor or two-factor authentication for personal
validation.
(d)
Alternative methods. The driving safety provider may employ an ADM that uses
alternate methods that are at least as secure as one of the methods listed
above.
(e) Content validation. The
driving safety provider must ensure the ADM incorporate a course content
validation process that verifies student participation and comprehension of
course material, including the following.
(1)
Timers. The ADM must include built-in timers to ensure that 300 minutes of
instruction have been attended and completed by the student.
(2) Testing the student's participation in
multimedia presentations. The ADM must ask at least one course validation
question following each multimedia clip of more than 180 seconds.
(A) Test bank. For each multimedia
presentation that exceeds 180 seconds, the ADM must have a test bank of at
least four questions.
(B) Question
difficulty. Each question must be short answer, multiple choice, essay, or a
combination of these forms. The questions must be difficult enough that the
answer may not be easily determined without having viewed the actual multimedia
clip.
(C) Failure criteria. If the
student fails to answer the question correctly, the ADM shall either require
the student view the multimedia clip again or the ADM must fail the student
from the course. If the ADM requires the student to view the multimedia clip
again, the ADM must present a different question from its test bank for that
multimedia clip. The ADM may not repeat a question until it has asked all the
questions from its test bank.
(D)
Answer identification. The ADM must not identify the correct answer to the
multimedia question.
(3)
Mastery of course content. The ADM must allow for testing of the student's
mastery of the course content by asking at least two questions from each of the
topics listed in Chapter Four, Topics Two through Twelve of the COI-Driving
Safety.
(A) Test bank. The test bank for
course content mastery questions must include at least ten questions from each
of the topics identified in Chapter Four, Topics Two through Twelve of the
COI-Driving Safety.
(B) Placement
of questions. The mastery of course content questions must be asked either at
the end of the major unit or section in which the topic identified in Chapter
Four, Topics Two through Twelve of the COI-Driving Safety, (unit examination)
or at the end of the course (comprehensive final examination).
(C) Question difficulty. Course content
mastery questions must be short answer, multiple choice, essay, or a
combination of these forms, and of such difficulty that the answer may not be
easily determined without having participated in the actual instruction.
(4) Repeat and retest
options. The ADM may use either of the following options for students who fail
an examination to show mastery of course content, but may not use both in the
same ADM.
(A) Repeat the failed unit. If the
student misses more than 30 percent of the questions asked on an examination,
the ADM must require that the student take the unit again. All timers must be
reset. The correct answer to missed questions may not be disclosed to the
student (except as part of course content). At the end of the unit, the ADM
must again test the student's mastery of the material. The ADM must present
different questions from its test bank until all the applicable questions have
been asked. The student may repeat this procedure an unlimited number of
times.
(B) Retest the student. If
the student misses more than 30 percent of the questions asked on an
examination, the ADM must retest the student in the same manner as the failed
examination, using different questions from its test bank. The student is not
required to repeat the failed unit but may be allowed to do so prior to
retaking the examination. If the student fails the same unit examination or the
comprehensive final examination three times, the student fails the
course.
(f)
Student records. The ADM must provide for the creation and maintenance of the
records documenting student enrollment, the verification of the student's
identity, and the testing of the student's mastery of the course material. Each
entry that verifies enrollment, identifies the question asked or the response
given, documents retesting and/or revalidation, and documents any changes to
the student's record must include the date and time of the activity reported.
The student records must contain the following information.
(1) The student's name and driver's license
number.
(2) A record of which
personal validation questions were asked and the student's responses.
(3) A record of which multimedia
participation questions were asked and the student's responses.
(4) The name or identity number of the staff
member entering comments, retesting, or revalidating the student.
(5) If any answer to a question is changed by
the driving safety provider for a student who inadvertently missed a question,
the provider must provide both answers and a reasonable explanation for the
change.
(6) A record of the course
content mastery questions asked and the answers given.
(7) A record of the time the student spent in
each unit of the ADM and the total instructional time the student spent in the
course.
(8) The provider must also
ensure that the student record is readily, securely, and reliably available for
inspection by the department.
(g) Additional requirements for ADM courses.
Courses delivered via the Internet must also comply with the following
requirements.
(1) Course identification. All
ADM courses must display the driving safety provider name and license number
assigned by the department on the entity's website and the registration page
used by the student to pay any monies, provide any personal information, and
enroll.
(2) A driving safety
provider offering a driving safety course through ADM may accept students
redirected from another website if the student is redirected to the webpage
that clearly identifies the names and license numbers of the provider offering
the ADM. This information must be visible before and during the student
registration and course payment processes.
(3) Domain names. Each provider offering a
driving safety course through ADM must offer that ADM from a single
domain.
(h) Additional
requirements for video courses.
(1) Delivery
of the material. For ADMs delivered using videotape, digital video disc (DVD),
film, or similar media, the equipment and course materials may only be made
available through a department approved process.
(2) Video requirement. In order to meet the
video requirement of §84.504(a)(1)(B)(v), the video course must include
between 60 and 150 minutes of multimedia that is relevant to the required
topics such as video produced by other entities for training purposes,
including public safety announcements and B roll footage. The remainder of the
300 minutes of required instruction must be video material that is relevant to
the required topics and produced specifically for the ADM.
(A) A video ADM must ask at least one course
validation question for each multimedia clip of more than 180 seconds at the
end of each major segment (chapter) of the ADM.
(B) A video ADM must devise and submit for
approval a method for ensuring that a student correctly answers questions
concerning multimedia clips consisting of more than 60 seconds in length
presented during the ADM.
(i) Standards for ADMs using new technology.
For ADMs delivered using technologies that have not been previously reviewed
and approved by the department, the department may apply similar standards as
appropriate and may also require additional standards. These standards must be
designed to ensure that the course can be taught by the alternative method and
that the alternative method includes testing and security measures that are at
least as secure as the methods available in the traditional classroom
setting.
(j) Modifications to the
ADM. A change to a previously approved ADM may be made without the prior
approval of the department. The driving safety provider must notify the
department of the modification not later than 30 days after its
occurrence.
(k) Termination of the
driving safety provider's operation. Upon termination, a driving safety
provider must deliver any missing student data to the department within five
days of termination.
(l) Access to
the driving safety provider for technical assistance. The driving safety
provider must establish hours that the student may obtain technical assistance.
Except for circumstances beyond the control of the provider, the student must
have access to the provider and technical assistance during the specified
hours.
Notes
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