Driver Education. Overview. Student Summary. Approved Materials. Driver Education Program Profile

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1 Overview Driver Education Behind the Wheel driver training is a year-round after-school and summer program at all Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) high schools. Lessons cover basic vehicle control skills and driving in residential, rural, city, and interstate highway settings. Students are oriented to the vehicle and given instruction by a Fairfax County Public School teacher with the driver education endorse on their teaching license, according to the Virginia state approved curriculum for Behind the Wheel training. The purpose of the Behind the Wheel class is two-fold: 1. To instruct and evaluate the driving skills the young driver possesses and administer the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) approved road skills test. 2. To train young drivers to process and accurately evaluate driving risks on the roadways. Successful course completion of all components of the licensing program is a prerequisite for a student to obtain a Virginia driver s license. The ACE Fund is a separate budget from the FCPS operating budget and is a revenue generating arm that contributes to the support of the staff and maintenance of car fleet needed to run the program. The FCPS Driver Education program receives transfer funds from the Virginia Department of Education based on enrollment in the driver education program by currently enrolled FCPS students. Student Summary The ACE Driver Education program is a year-round after-school and summer program at all FCPS high schools. Students meet the instructor at the high school and depart for on-the-road instruction. Classes meet for two hours each day for seven school days. Two of the seven days are held on the driving range; the other five days consist of driving in residential, rural, city and highway driving. Administration of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) road test is given at the end of the seven-day class. Approved Materials 1 of 5

2 Behind the Wheel: The Behind the Wheel program uses cars and vans that are purchased and maintained from the ACE Driver Education program budget. Currently the ACE Driver Education program has 63 cars and 8 vans. Vans are used to store supplies that instructors use on the driving range in particular driving exercises. Preventive maintenance and state inspections are done at the Fairfax County Government Center garages on a six-month rotation. All service and maintenance records are held in the ACE Driver Education office. Classroom driver education: Students use texts and videos approved by the Virginia Department of Education and Fairfax County Public Schools Instructional Services Department. The Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles Driver Manual and the workbook for the parent/teen driving are given to all students during the 36-hour classroom driver education course. Classroom driver education is included in the 10th grade Physical Education program during the school year and in the Adult and Community Education summer enrichment program. Partners for Safe Teen Driving: The Code of Virginia ( ) requires students and their parents living in to participate in a 90-minute parent/teen presentation given by a certified Driver Education teacher. Student and parent must attend the full 90 minute presentation in order to receive the completion certificate. The curriculum for the Partners for Safe Teen Driving presentation has been prepared by the Virginia Department of Education. Assessments All Driver Education classes, both classroom and Behind-the-Wheel, follow the curriculum guide for Driver Education in Virginia, developed by the Virginia Department of Education and approved by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Successful course completion of all components of the program is a prerequisite in order to obtain a Virginia driver's license. Students enrolled in the Driver Education Behind the wheel course must pass the DMV road skills evaluation test that is administered during the seven-day course. Additional licensing requirements include successful completion of the 36-hour classroom course, parent/teen attendance at a 90-minute Partners for Safe Teen Driving session, holding the learner's permit for nine months, driving with a parent for 45 hours, 15 of them after sunset, and a signed parent permission form authorizing the instructor to license a juvenile in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Current Focus As required by the Code of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Education has established a standardized program of Driver Education instruction for public, private and commercial schools. In addition, the Virginia Department of Education has developed the Curriculum and Administrative Guide for Driver Education in Virginia, with a sequence of modules to assist teachers in providing instruction that meets state requirements. 2 of 5

3 Each Driver Education instructor must present written lesson plans for the seven-day Behind-the-Wheel class, to be kept on file in the ACE Driver Education office. Driving routes and skills taught on each day must be shown in the lesson plans. SMART GOALS: 1. By June 2014, the Driver Education program will increase its fleet by one car, resulting in a total of 64 cars and 8 vans which will allow us to serve an additional increase our enrollment by 5%. 2. By June 2014, 85% of students taking the Behind-the-wheel class will be eligible to obtain a one hundred eighty day temporary provisional driver's license (TDL-180) when they finish the class and all of the Virginia juvenile licensing requirements have been met. Future Focus The Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) Driver Education program remains one of the most important classes that the high school student will take. The dramatic increase in traffic fatalities involving young people has resulted in an increased focus on parent education. The Behind-the-Wheel classes continue to be highly sought-after classes by FCPS parents and students. FCPS teachers who have the Driver Education endorsement on their teaching certificate teach all Driver Education classes. The annual teacher in-service training for behind the wheel instructors will take place in June The instructors will participate in focus sessions led by two professors from George Mason University, who teach the Driver Education endorsement classes for new teachers. This training will offer valuable insight and techniques for teaching juvenile drivers. Topics to be presented at the training will include the three primary instructional modules for juvenile drivers: range driving, public roadway and evasive maneuvers for crash-free driving. Data Narrative The overall goal of the FCPS juvenile driving program is to help our students to be crash free drivers. This goal has been consistently met for the past 5 years. This is done through the coordination and team effort of the schools, communities, students and families. The FCPS driver education program maintains very high standards for each student in the program. Students who are not able to achieve these on a consistent basis during the class are offered the opportunity to return to the program at a later date for licensing. This allows parents and students extra time to work on mastery of the performance skills needed to make them safe drivers. Approximately 85-90% of the students who take the FCPS Driver Education program receive a temporary license once all licensing requirements have been met. The hard copy of the juvenile license is issued to the parent by the judge at the Juvenile and Domestic court in 3 of 5

4 the jurisdiction where the student resides. The remaining students return for a retest of their road skills, when they have completed additional practice time with a parent or guardian. Evaluation surveys are sent out to all students on completion of the behind the wheel class. Responses to the survey are received back via and shared with the Driver Education instructors. Parents cite the high teacher standards and consistent quality of teaching as reasons for choosing the FCPS behind the wheel instruction over other private driving schools. Driver Education Programs FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 Behind the wheel Classroom driver education Partners for Safe Teen Driving N/A of 5

5 Locations ELEMENTARY MIDDLE HIGH OTHER Hayfield Secondary Lake Braddock Secondary Robinson Secondary Annandale High Centreville High Chantilly High Edison High Fairfax High Falls Church High Hayfield Secondary Herndon High Jefferson Science & Tech High Lake Braddock Secondary Langley High Lee High Madison High Marshall High McLean High Mount Vernon High Oakton High Robinson Secondary South County High South Lakes High Stuart High West Potomac High West Springfield High Westfield High Woodson High Plum Center for Lifelong Learning 5 of 5