Current through Reg. 50, No. 26; June 27, 2025
(a) Online approval
process. The department may approve an endorsement for an online driver
education course exclusively for adults to be offered if the course meets the
following requirements.
(1) Application. The
applicant for an online driver education provider license must submit a
completed application along with the appropriate fee.
(2) Online Provider license required. A
person or entity offering an online driver education course exclusively for
adults must hold an online driver education provider license.
(3) The online driver education provider must
be responsible for the operation of the online course.
(4) Students must receive classroom
instruction from a licensed driver education instructor.
(b) Course content. The online course must
meet the requirements of the course identified in §1001.1015 of the Code
and as described in the POI-Adult Six-Hour.
(1) Length of course. The course must be six
hours in length, which is equal to 360 minutes. A minimum of 330 minutes of
instruction must be provided. Thirty minutes of time, exclusive of the 330
minutes of instruction, must be dedicated to break periods or to the topics
included in the minimum course content. All break periods must be provided
after instruction has begun and before the comprehensive examination and
summation.
(2) Required material. A
copy of the current edition of the "Texas Driver Handbook" or equivalent study
material must be made available to each student enrolled in the course.
(3) Editing. The material
presented in the online course must be edited for grammar, punctuation, and
spelling and be of such quality that it does not detract from the subject
matter.
(4) Irrelevant material.
Advertisement of goods and services, and distracting material not related to
driver education must not appear during the actual instructional times of the
course.
(5) Minimum content. The
online course must present sufficient content so that it would take a student
360 minutes to complete the course. To demonstrate that the online course
contains sufficient minutes of instruction, the online course must use the
following methods.
(A) Word count. For
written material that is read by the student, the course must contain 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 online course must calculate
the total amount of time it takes for all multimedia presentations to play, not
to exceed 150 minutes.
(C) Charts
and graphs. The online course may assign one minute for each chart or graph.
(D) Time allotment for questions.
The online course 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 330 minutes, the online course has demonstrated the
required amount of minimum content.
(F) Alternate time calculation method. In
lieu of the time calculation method, the online course may submit alternate
methodology to demonstrate that the online course meets the 330-minute
requirement.
(c) Personal validation. The online course
must maintain a method to validate the identity of the person taking the
course. The personal validation system must incorporate at least one of the
following requirements.
(1)
Provider-initiated method. Upon approval by the department, the online course
may use a method that includes testing and security measures that validate the
identity of the person taking the course. The method must meet the following
criteria.
(A) Time to respond. The student
must correctly answer a personal validation question within 90 seconds.
(B) Placement of questions. At
least two personal validation questions must appear randomly during each
instructional hour, not including the final examination.
(C) Exclusion from the course. The online
course 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
online course 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 twelve (12) personal validation questions randomly
throughout the course from a bank of at least twenty (20) questions drawn from
a third party data source. The method must meet the following criteria.
(A) Time to respond. The student must
correctly answer a personal validation question within 90 seconds.
(B) Placement of questions. At least two
personal validation questions must appear randomly during each instructional
hour, not including the final examination.
(C) Exclusion from the course. The online
course 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 online course 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.
(3) Multifactor authentication method. The
online course may use a multifactor or two-factor authentication for personal
validation.
(d) Content
validation. The online course must incorporate a course content validation
process that verifies student participation and comprehension of course
material, including the following.
(1)
Timers. The online course may include built-in timers to ensure that 330
minutes of instruction have been attended and completed by the student.
(2) Testing the student's
participation in multimedia presentations. The online course 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 online course must have a test bank
of at least four questions.
(B)
Question difficulty. The question shall be short answer, multiple choice,
essay, or a combination of these forms. The question 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 online
course must require the student to view the multimedia clip again. The online
course must then present a different question from its test bank for that
multimedia clip. The online course may not repeat a question until it has asked
all the questions from its test bank.
(D) Answer identification. The online course
must not identify the correct answer to the multimedia question.
(3) Course participation
questions. The online course must test the student's course participation by
asking at least two questions each from Topics Two through Eight of Chapter
Four in the POI-Adult Six Hour.
(A) Test
bank. The test bank for course participation questions must include at least
ten questions each from Topics Two through Eight of Chapter Four in the
POI-Adult Six-Hour.
(B) Placement
of questions. The course participation questions must be asked at the end of
the major unit or the section in which the topic is covered.
(C) Question difficulty. Course participation
questions must be of such difficulty that the answer may not be easily
determined without having participated in the actual instruction.
(4) Comprehension of course
content. The online course must test the student's mastery of the course
content by administering at least 30 questions covering the highway signs and
traffic laws required under Texas Transportation Code, §
521.161.
(A) Test banks (two). Separate test banks for
course content mastery questions are required for the highway signs and traffic
laws examination as required under Texas Transportation Code, §
521.161, with
examination questions drawn equally from each.
(B) Placement of questions. The mastery of
course content questions must be asked at the end of the course (comprehensive
final examination).
(C) Question
difficulty. Course content mastery questions must be of such difficulty that
the answer may not be easily determined without having participated in the
actual instruction.
(D) Retest the
student. If the student misses more than 30 percent of the questions asked on
an examination, the online course must retest the student using different
questions from its test bank. The student is not required to repeat the course,
but may be allowed to review the course prior to retaking the examination. If
the student fails the comprehensive final examination three times, the student
fails the course.
(e) Student records. The online course 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. The provider must ensure that the
student record is readily, securely, and reliably available for inspection by a
department representative. The student records must contain all information
required in §84.81 (relating to Recordkeeping Requirements) and contain
the following information:
(1) a record of
all questions asked and the student's responses;
(2) the name or identity number of the staff
member entering comments, retesting, or revalidating the student;
(3) both answers and a reasonable explanation
for the change if any answer to a question is changed by the provider for a
student who inadvertently missed a question; and
(4) a record of the time the student spent in
each unit and the total instructional time the student spent in the
course.
(f) Waiver of
certain education and examination requirements. A licensed driver education
instructor must determine that the student has successfully completed and
passed a driver education course exclusively for adults prior to waiving the
examination requirements of the highway sign and traffic law parts of the
examination required under Texas Transportation Code, §
521.167, and
signing the ADE-1317 driver education completion certificate.
(g) Age requirement. A person must be at
least 18 years of age to enroll in a driver education course exclusively for
adults.
(h) Issuance of
certificate. Not later than the 15th working day after the course completion
date, the provider must issue an ADE-1317 driver education certificate only to
a person who successfully completes an approved online driver education course
exclusively for adults.
(i) Access
to instructor and technical assistance. The provider must establish hours that
the student may access an instructor trained in the adult driver education
curriculum, and for technical assistance. Except for circumstances beyond the
control of the provider, the student must have access to the instructor and
technical assistance during the specified hours.
(j) Additional requirements for online
courses. Courses delivered via the Internet or technology must also comply with
the following requirements.
(1) Re-entry into
the course. An online course may allow the student re-entry into the course by
username and password authentication or other means that are as secure as
username and password authentication.
(2) Navigation. The student must be provided
orientation training to ensure easy and logical navigation through the course.
The student must be allowed to freely browse previously completed
material.
(3) Audio-visual
standards. The video and audio must be clear and, when applicable, the video
and audio must be synchronized.
(4)
Course identification. All online courses must display the driver education
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.
(5) Domain names. Each provider offering an
online course must offer that online course from a single domain.
(6) A driver education provider offering an
online course may accept students redirected from a website if the student is
redirected to the webpage that clearly identifies the name and license number
of the provider offering the online course. This information must be visible
before and during the student registration and course payment
processes.
(7) Compliance with
Texas Transportation Code, §
521.1601. Persons
age 18 to under 25 years of age must successfully complete either a minor and
adult driver education course or the driver education course exclusively for
adults. Partial completion of either course does not satisfy the requirements
of rule or law.
(8) Issuance of
certificate. A licensed provider or instructor may not issue an ADE-1317 adult
driver education certificate to a person who is not at least 18 years of
age.
