The Minnesota Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association is the professional organization of driver educators in Minnesota. Its purpose is to teach young people to drive safely and defensively. Each year it offers regional workshops and a spring conference. Members represent both public and commercial schools. MDTSEA Legislative Agenda MDTSEA is asking the legislature to have the Department of Public Safety examine the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) National Standards for Driver Education. A task force will examine each standard and decide how Minnesota should meet the standard or not meet it. NHTSA published the standards in 2009. DPS has not held a public meeting to discuss them in the past three or more years.
The following is an outline of the bill. Novice Driver Education
Improvement Task Force The commissioner shall establish a Novice Driver Education Improvement Task Force to ensure driver education programs in Minnesota meet the Novice Teen Driver Education and Training Administrative Standards published by the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The task force shall consist of representatives from groups such as the Minnesota Association of Student Councils, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Minnesotans for Safe Driving, the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, the Minnesota Sheriffs' Association, the American Automobile Association, the Minnesota Safety Council, Minnesota PTA, and the Minnesota Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association. A novice driver education improvement account is to be established. This account shall be used to fund the task force's activities, including any necessary rule making or grants for driver education curriculum improvement.
The task force shall report on its activities to the House and Senate committees having jurisdiction over transportation policy and finance each year on or before January 15. Also included in this bill is language to permit concurrent teaching in driver education as an option. We believe this is the only standard item that will require legislative action. Minnesota is the only state that does not allow this “best practice” activity. Many states require this. Concurrent education is teaching the knowledge material overlapping with the skills portion. In home ec., shop, or chemistry classes teachers would not teach classroom for one term and then go to the lab in a different term. The classroom learning would be interspaced with lab experiences. This is also the best practice in teaching driver education. The bills are Senate File 368 and House File 646.
The following is a very brief outline of the NHTSA National Standards. The standards listed are where MDTSEA believes that Minnesota does not meet or exceed the standard. These are not part of our bill but what the task force would be asked to evaluate. 1.1.1 informed by an advisory board of stakeholders
1.1.4 all programs use a curriculum with written goals and objectives.
1.1.5 have a process to ensure that curriculum materials and procedures are current
1.1.9 programs use multicultural education principles and are free of bias
1.1.11 monitoring, evaluation, and auditing procedures to ensure standards are met
1.1.13 criteria to assess and approve programs, and provide remediation opportunities.
1.1.15 require ongoing professional development for instructors
1.1.16 periodic evaluations of programs be completed and available to the public
1.1.21 use a general standard for online education such as NACOL
3.1.5 annual continuing education and professional development for instructors
4.1.1 require the parents to attend a parent seminar
4.1.2 require a parent to complete a debriefing with instructor
5.1.3 provide information to judges, courts, and law enforcement enforcing GDL laws
5.1.5 parents to submit documentation that certifies completion of required supervised hours
5.1.6 state licensing tests are empirically based and reflect standards-based driver education The working group that created the standards included the following names. Bud Chauncy, Owner, First Class Driving School, Driving School Association of the Americas