1.2 The 100-Hour Instructor Training Course & Approved Providers

1.2 The 100-Hour Instructor Training Course & Approved Providers

[!NOTE] Two numbers, one requirement. RCW 46.82.330(2)(d) says the applicant must have completed "a course of instruction in the training of drivers acceptable to the director that is no less than 60 hours in length." WAC 308-108-090(2)(b) then specifies the course the director actually approves: "not less than one hundred hours in total length." The 60-hour figure is the statutory floor; the 100-hour figure is the rule you must satisfy. Examination items that offer 60 hours as the answer to "how long is the approved course" are testing whether you know which instrument controls in practice.

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The three-block structure

WAC 308-108-090(2)(b) splits the 100 hours into three named blocks. Every one of them is a minimum, which is why the blocks sum to exactly 100 but the course may be longer.

The most common error in commercially produced study material is to describe the classroom block as "up to 40 hours" or "the remaining hours." The rule text is "not less than forty hours total of instruction." All three blocks are floors, not ceilings, and a 40/20/40 split is the smallest lawful course, not the standard one.

The eleven classroom subject areas

WAC 308-108-090(2)(b)(iii) requires the 40-hour classroom block to include all of the following:

1. Education and special education;
2. Driver education teacher, instructor, or trainer skills training;
3. Classroom teaching techniques;
4. Communication skills;
5. Teaching the concepts of driving and traffic safety to others;
6. Educational methods, theories and concepts in teaching a driver education course, and knowledge of all aspects of the driving task;
7. Developing instructional materials and activities that aid student learning and performance;
8. Defining and describing the nature of the driving task on public highways;
9. Establishing and maintaining classroom organization;
10. Managing enrollment, student scheduling, student records, and required reports; and
11. Planning a course of student instruction with outlines, lesson plans, and student performance evaluation tools.

Item 10 is easy to skip in study and easy to test: the state expects an instructor-candidate to have been formally taught the administrative side of the job, not only the driving side. Item 1 pairs with the adaptation duties in the Traffic Safety Education Instructor Standards.

What the behind-the-wheel and practice blocks contain

The Washington Traffic Safety Education Instructor Standards (Revised 2025), which DOL lists as required exam preparation, itemises the two in-car blocks:

• Behind-the-wheel teaching methods (40 hours): pre-drive procedures; rules and regulations of operating a vehicle; simple-to-complex operating procedures; visual processes and decision-making skills to reduce risk; route adherence; back seat involvement; evaluation and corrective feedback; disciplinary action when needed; and completion of the student performance record.
• Supervised practice behind-the-wheel teaching (20 hours): pre-drive, drive, and evaluation.

"Back seat involvement" is a distinctive Washington emphasis. Observation time is not passive seat-filling; the standards treat the observing student as an active learner the instructor must engage.

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Who may deliver the training

Two documents answer this, and they are written at different levels of generality.

WAC 308-108-090(2)(a) says the course must be provided by, and under the direct supervision of:

• an institution of higher learning accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges or by an accrediting association recognised by the higher education board;
• a licensed private vocational school as defined by RCW 28C.10.020(7); or
• an instructor-trainer.

DOL's published application instructions name the three routes candidates actually use:

1. a licensed Driver Training School with an instructor who holds the trainer of trainer (TOT) endorsement;
2. an approved secondary school - "currently only Western Oregon University"; or
3. OSPI, by becoming an active fully endorsed Traffic Safety Education (TSE) instructor.

DOL adds that a candidate who completed a programme outside those routes "may submit documentation to us for review," which is the practical expression of the department's discretion in WAC 308-108-090(5) to "consider other instructional methods, instruction providers, or academic instruction in lieu of those listed."

The instructor-trainer qualification

WAC 308-108-020(11) defines an instructor-trainer as a currently licensed instructor training traffic safety education instructors who has not less than:

• (a) 1,000 hours of experience providing traffic safety education in the past year; or
• (b) five years of previous experience providing traffic safety education; or
• (c) 1,000 hours or five years of experience in the field of traffic safety plus proof of training acceptable to the director in how to teach and train others, plus not less than 300 hours of previous experience in training others.

The three routes are alternatives, joined by "or." Route (c) is the only one that stacks requirements, and it is the route for someone whose traffic-safety background is broader than classroom driver education.

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Curriculum approval and departmental monitoring

The department controls the content, not just the clock:

Before a course runs, the instructor-trainer or owner submits the dates, times and locations of the training, the names of the persons to be trained, and the name of the instructor-trainer delivering it. To become approved as a trainer of driver training instructors in the first place, documentation goes to the DOL Traffic Safety Education mailbox.

[!WARNING] Exam traps in this section

• 100 hours, not 60. The 60-hour figure is the RCW floor; the approved course under WAC 308-108-090(2)(b) is not less than 100 hours.
• All three blocks are minimums. "Up to 40 hours of classroom" inverts the rule.
• 40 / 20 / 40. Forty behind-the-wheel methods, twenty supervised practice, forty classroom. Swapping the 40 and 20 is the single most common distractor.
• The instructor-trainer thresholds are alternatives, and only the third route requires 300 hours of prior training experience.
• Curriculum revisions need 30 days' lead time, not same-day notice.