SECTION 84.504. Driving Safety Course Alternative Delivery Method

(a) Approval process. The department may approve an application for an alternative delivery method (ADM) submitted by a driving safety provider that delivers an approved driving safety course and meets the following requirements.

(1) Standards for approval. The department may approve an ADM employed by a driving safety provider for an approved driving safety course waive any rules to accomplish this approval if the ADM delivers an approved course in a manner that is at least as secure as a traditional classroom. ADMs that meet the requirements outlined in subsections (b) - (h), shall receive ADM approval.

(2) Application. The driving safety provider must submit a completed ADM application along with the appropriate fee. The application for ADM approval must be treated the same as an application for the approval of a new course and the ADM must deliver the driving safety provider's approved curriculum as delineated in the course content guide required by §84.502 (relating to Driving Safety Courses of Instruction), and the COI-Driving Safety.

(3) Incomplete applications. An application that is incomplete may be returned to the applicant along with the application fee.

(4) 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 allow for delivery of the same topics and course content as the approved course established by the department in the COI-Driving Safety.

(1) Course topics. The time requirements for each unit and the course described in §84.502(a)(1)(C) and (D) must be met.

(2) Topic sequence. The ADM sequencing may be different from the approved traditional driving safety course if the sequencing does not detract from the educational value of the course. The driving safety provider must provide a key showing the topic sequence of the traditional driving safety course and where the corresponding information appears in the ADM.

(3) 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.

(4) 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.

(5) Minimum content. The ADM must present sufficient content so that it would take a student 300 minutes to complete the course. In order 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.

(6) 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 the following requirements.

(1) Personal validation questions. The ADM must ask a minimum of 10 personal validation questions throughout the course.

(2) Third party data sources. The personal validation questions must be drawn equally from at least two different databases.

(3) 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.

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

(5) Exclusion from the course. The ADM must be constructed to exclude the student from the course after the student has incorrectly answered more than 30 percent of the personal validation questions.

(6) Correction of answer. The driving safety 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 that the provider corrected the answer.

(7) 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.

(8) Alternative methods. Upon approval by the department, the driving safety provider may employ an ADM that uses alternate methods that are at least as secure as the personal validation question method.

(d) 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.

(e) 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.

(f) 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.

(g) 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 §84.502(a)(1)(B)(v), the video course must include between 60 and 150 minutes of video 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.

(h) 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.

(i) Modifications to the ADM. Except as provided by paragraph (1) of this subsection, a change to a previously approved ADM must not be made without the prior approval of the department.

(1) A driving safety provider may submit to the department a written request for immediate implementation of a proposed change that is insignificant or that protects the interest of the consumer such that immediate implementation is warranted. The written request must include:

(A) a complete description of the proposed change;

(B) the reason for the change;

(C) the reason the provider believes the proposed change is insignificant or protects the interest of the consumer such that immediate implementation is warranted; and

(D) an explanation of how the change will maintain the course or ADM in compliance with state law and the rules specified in this chapter.

(2) The department may request additional information regarding a proposed change from the driving safety provider making a request under paragraph (1).

(3) The department will respond to any request made under paragraph (1), within five working days of receipt.

(A) If the department determines that the proposed change is insignificant or protects the interest of the consumer such that immediate implementation is warranted, the requestor may immediately implement the change. The driving safety provider must ensure that the change is implemented.

(B) If the department determines that the proposed change is neither insignificant nor protects the interest of the consumer such that immediate implementation is warranted, the department must notify the provider of that determination and the change may not be made unless the department approves the change following a complete review.

(4) A determination by the department to allow immediate implementation under paragraph (1), does not constitute final approval by the department of the change. The department reserves the right to conduct further review after the change is implemented and to grant or deny final approval based on whether the change complies with state law and rules specified in this chapter.

(5) If, following further review, a change in an ADM that has been immediately implemented pursuant to paragraph (1), is determined not to be in compliance with state law and rules specified in this chapter, the department:

(A) must notify the provider affected by the change of:

(i) the specific provisions of state law or rules with which the ADM change is not in compliance; and

(ii) a reasonable date by which the ADM must be brought into compliance;

(B) must not, for the period between the implementation of the change and the date specified under subparagraph (A)(ii):

(i) seek any penalty relating to the non-compliance;

(ii) take any action to revoke or deny renewal of a license of a provider based on the change; or

(iii) withdraw approval of a course or ADM based on the change; and

(C) is not required to specify the method or manner by which the provider alters the ADM to come into compliance with state law and the rules in this chapter.

(6) If the department allows immediate implementation pursuant to paragraph (1) and later determines that the description of the change or the request was misleading, materially inaccurate, not substantially complete, or not made in good faith, paragraph (5)(C) does not apply.

(7) A driving safety provider who immediately implements a change pursuant to paragraph (1) and fails to bring the ADM into compliance prior to the date allowed under paragraph (5)(A)(ii) may be determined to be in violation of state law or the rules in this chapter after that date.

(8) A driving safety provider that immediately implements a change under paragraph (1), assumes the risk of final approval being denied and of being required to come into compliance with state law and the rules in this chapter prior to the date allowed under paragraph (5)(A)(ii), including bearing the cost of reversing the change or otherwise modifying the ADM to come into compliance with state law and the rules in this chapter.

(j) 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.

(k) Renewal of ADM approval. The ADM approval must be renewed every even-numbered year.

(1) For approval, the driving safety provider must update all the statistical data and references to law with the latest available data.

(2) The department may alter the due date of the ADM renewal documents by giving the driving safety provider using the approved ADM six months' notice. The department may alter the due date in order to ensure that the ADM is updated six months after the effective date of new state laws passed by the Texas Legislature.

(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.

Source Note: The provisions of this §84.504 adopted to be effective April 1, 2017, 42 TexReg 1400; amended to be effective September 1, 2020, 45 TexReg 6069; amended to be effective September 1, 2021, 46 TexReg 5394; amended to be effective May 1, 2022, 47 TexReg 2522; amended to be effective June 1, 2023, 48 TexReg 2702