3.3 The Washington Required Curriculum Standards
Key Takeaways
- WAC 308-108-155(1) incorporates the Washington Traffic Safety Education Required Curriculum Standards by reference, jointly published and approved by DOL and OSPI under RCW 46.82.420.
- WAC 308-108-155(2)(a) lists twelve required classroom standards, from traffic safety education introduction through emergencies and adverse conditions.
- WAC 308-108-155(2)(b) lists six required behind-the-wheel standards, ending with hazard awareness and navigation.
- Schools must submit a detailed description of their course curriculum on the designated DOL form, showing how instruction fulfils the standards, and must resubmit when the curriculum changes.
3.3 The Washington Required Curriculum Standards
[!NOTE] A rule that points at a document. WAC 308-108-155(1) states that curriculum "shall comply with the Washington Traffic Safety Education Required Curriculum Standards, published and jointly approved by the department of licensing and the office of the superintendent of public instruction pursuant to RCW 46.82.420. These standards are incorporated by reference into this chapter and are available for review on the department's website." Incorporation by reference means the standards have the force of rule: a school that departs from them is out of compliance with WAC 308-108-155, not merely off-best-practice.
WAC 308-108-020(14) defines the required curriculum as the standards "which prescribes the mandatory content and objectives for all driver education courses in Washington."
The twelve classroom standards
WAC 308-108-155(2)(a) - courses must include instruction on the following classroom concepts:
| # | Classroom standard | Where developed in this guide |
|---|---|---|
| i | Traffic safety education introduction | Ch. 10 |
| ii | Vehicle components | 8.2 |
| iii | Vehicle maintenance and malfunctions | 8.2 |
| iv | Vehicle handling | 9.4 |
| v | Vehicle safety technology systems | 8.3 |
| vi | Driver behavior | 9.1, 10.4 |
| vii | Driver attention and perception | 9.1, 9.2 |
| viii | Driver respect and responsibility | 4.1, 7.4 |
| ix | Rules of the road | Ch. 6, Ch. 7 |
| x | Sharing the road | 7.1 |
| xi | Perception and risk management | 9.2, 9.3 |
| xii | Emergencies and adverse conditions | 9.5 |
The six behind-the-wheel standards
WAC 308-108-155(2)(b) - courses must include instruction on the following behind-the-wheel concepts:
| # | Behind-the-wheel standard | Where developed |
|---|---|---|
| i | Vehicle components and safety technology | 8.2, 8.3, 11.1 |
| ii | Vehicle handling | 11.5 |
| iii | Driver behavior | 11.4 |
| iv | Driver attention | 11.4 |
| v | Sharing the road | 7.1, 11.6 |
| vi | Hazard awareness and navigation | 9.2, 11.6 |
Notice the deliberate pairing. Five of the six in-car standards mirror a classroom standard by name. That is the architecture of a Washington course: a concept is introduced in the classroom and then rehearsed in the vehicle. The Instructor Standards state the expectation directly at standard 3.6.5 - "correlate classroom instruction with behind-the-wheel practice."
The one standard with no classroom twin is hazard awareness and navigation, which exists only in the car because it is a real-time perceptual and route-management skill that cannot be assessed on paper.
Curriculum submission and approval
WAC 308-108-155(3) requires driver training schools to "submit a detailed description of their course curriculum to the DOL using the designated form." That form "must outline how the school's instruction fulfills the required curriculum standards, specifying whether they are using preapproved instructional resources or submitting their own materials for department review and approval."
WAC 308-108-155(4): "The school must update the designated form and submit changes in curriculum to the department for review and approval."
Two related duties sit elsewhere:
- RCW 46.82.360(9) requires each school to display, at its established place of business and where it can be seen by all clients, "a copy of the required curriculum furnished by the department." Copies are provided to schools and instructors by the director.
- WAC 308-108-170(1) requires each school to have "a written curriculum guide available to each instructor," and that guide "shall be used for student instruction." WAC 308-108-120(5)(a) makes the written curriculum guide a school record retained three years.
RCW 46.82.420 is titled "Required curriculum - Revocation of license for failure to teach." The department and OSPI jointly develop and maintain the required curriculum as specified in RCW 28A.220.035, and the department furnishes a copy to each qualifying applicant for an instructor's licence or a school licence. Failure to teach it is a licence-threatening matter, not a paperwork problem.
Two content items the statute names specifically
Most curriculum content is described at the level of a standard. Two items are named in rule with enough specificity that they function as checkboxes in an audit.
Intermediate licence information. WAC 308-108-150(10) requires the course to include "information on the state of Washington's intermediate license requirements, restrictions, violations, and sanctions for violation of these requirements." WAC 308-108-120(2)(g) requires the same information in the school's written customer policy with a place for parents to initial, and WAC 308-108-120(3)(f) requires the student record to document that both the student and parent received it. The same content therefore appears in three places: taught in class, given in policy, and evidenced in the file. Chapter 5 of this guide covers the substantive IDL rules.
Organ and tissue donation awareness. WAC 308-108-150(11) requires "the delivery of instructional material developed by the department and the federally designated organ procurement organization for Washington state relating to organ and tissue donation awareness education." Note the precise obligation: deliver the material developed by DOL and the designated organ procurement organisation. A school does not write its own donation module.
Mapping a lesson plan to the standards
An efficient way to demonstrate compliance on the designated form is a two-column map: standard on the left, lesson and assessment on the right. A short worked example for standard (a)(xii), "emergencies and adverse conditions":
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Standard | Classroom (a)(xii) - Emergencies and adverse conditions |
| Objective | Given a described emergency, the student will state the correct first response and explain why competing responses increase risk |
| Classroom activity | Case analysis of four emergencies: tyre blowout, brake failure, right-wheel drop-off, and loss of traction; students work in pairs and present |
| Assessment | Four scenario items on the unit quiz plus one on the comprehensive final written examination required by WAC 308-108-150(8) |
| Behind-the-wheel correlate | Standard (b)(vi) hazard awareness and navigation - commentary drive in rain focused on early hazard identification and increased following distance |
| Evidence in file | Lesson plan, quiz key, drive log noting the commentary segment |
Building the map this way satisfies WAC 308-108-155(3), gives the instructor the correlation the Instructor Standards require, and produces the artefacts an auditor will ask for.
[!WARNING] Exam traps in this section
- Twelve classroom standards, six behind-the-wheel standards. Reversing the counts is the standard distractor.
- The standards are incorporated by reference, so they carry rule force.
- DOL and OSPI publish them jointly under RCW 46.82.420 and RCW 28A.220.035.
- The curriculum description goes to DOL on a designated form, and changes must be resubmitted.
- Organ donation material is developed by DOL and the organ procurement organisation, not by the school.
How many classroom standards and how many behind-the-wheel standards does WAC 308-108-155(2) enumerate?
What is the legal status of the Washington Traffic Safety Education Required Curriculum Standards?
Under WAC 308-108-150(11), who develops the organ and tissue donation awareness material a Washington driver training course must deliver?