Research Notes- 2003
Is Home-Study Driver Education a Viable Alternative to the Traditional 30-hour Classroom Course?
By Scott Masten
To answer this question, researchers at the DMV compared the knowledge and skill levels of students who were randomly assigned to complete three different home-study driver education courses to those of students who were randomly assigned to complete the standard classroom course. The home-study courses that were evaluated included two courses created by Sky's The Limit Interactive© under contract to the DMV: An interactive CD ROM course and a paper-based workbook course. The other home-study course consisted of the Private Educational Network's (PEN) workbook and internet courses.
Teenagers at driving schools selected throughout California who qualified and volunteered to be in the study were randomly assigned to receive traditional classroom driver education or one of the three home-study courses. Most of the participating driver education schools offered driver education at a reduced cost for students who enrolled in the study to give teens and their parents an increased incentive to participate. Researchers at the DMV compared the performance of the students in the four courses on a DMV-proctored exit exam given at the end of the course, the DMV provisional written knowledge test, and the DMV behind-the-wheel drive test to determine if the students gained different levels of knowledge and skill from the different courses.
The study was initiated by Senate Bill 946 (Vasconcellos, 1999), which became law on January 1, 2000 (CVC §12814.8). Results of the study are due to the California Legislature by May 31, 2003 and will be summarized in the next issue of Research Notes.