N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 15 § 141.8

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 36, September 4, 2024

Section 141.8 - Adm course requirements

(a) Course timing. The ADM course shall include built-in timers to ensure that 320 minutes of instruction have been attended and completed by the student. Timers shall be built into online and interactive courses in order to prevent a motorist from advancing to the next page or section in less than the amount of time it would take the average person to read or be exposed to that page or section. Timers shall be incorporated into the verification process so that if a telephone verification system is used, the student cannot complete the validation piece of each section until the amount of time that it would take an average person to complete such section has passed.

Each sponsoring agency application, submitted in accordance with section 141.5 of this Part, must include a specific plan for how instruction time will be calculated. In addition, a record of such calculations, including all instruction time, will be recorded and stored by the sponsor and made available to the third party monitor and the department for monitoring and quality control purposes. This information, as part of each student's completion record, must clearly differentiate actual interactive instruction time from non-instruction time such as log-in procedures, administrative tasks, help functions, validation processes, and audio/visual media download times. This information shall also be used by the sponsor in fulfilling its monitoring responsibilities as defined in section 141.6 of this Part. The sponsor shall store this data for a minimum of five years.

(b) In-person testing alone shall not be sufficient proof that the motorist participated in the 320-minute course.

(c) The ADM course shall use the following methods to ensure that the course instructional time will take 320 minutes. In order to demonstrate that the course provides sufficient content, the ADM shall use the following methods:

(1) word count. The sponsor shall count the total number of words in the text or written sections of the course and divide by 100, the estimated number of words a student can read per minute. The result will be total minimum time for written material;

(2) multimedia presentations. For audio/visual presentations, the total time, in minutes, it takes the multimedia presentations to play;

(3) charts and graphs. The ADM can allow one minute for each chart or graph;

(4) simulations and exercises. The calculated time of simulation or exercise, allowing sufficient time for the user to follow along at the required pace;

(5) personal and content questions. The sponsor may allow up to 45 seconds for personal question responses and up to 60 seconds for content question responses; and

(6) sponsors can propose alternate time calculation methods so long as sponsors can demonstrate that the course meets the 320 minute minimum requirement.

(d) Customer service and support.

(1) ADM courses shall provide toll free telephone lines staffed by knowledgeable customer service staff that can assist with routine questions. Staff shall be knowledgeable about policy, procedural, technical and content matters.

(2) ADM courses delivered exclusively online shall also provide online assistance, in addition to telephone support, through the use of frequently asked questions and/or online chat access or equivalent real time communication.

(3) ADM courses delivered exclusively by interactive means, other than the internet, shall also provide interactive assistance, in addition to telephone support, through the use of frequently asked questions and/or real time interactive communication.

(e) Identity validation.

(1) Sponsors are required to validate a student's identity as part of the ADM. The specific methods chosen are based on each sponsors solution, and are based on points assigned to each method, as determined by the commissioner and as set forth in Appendix A (section 141.14 of this Part):

(i) Biometrics must include methods such as facial recognition, key stroke analysis, voice print or fingerprint.

(ii) Proctored examination after the 320 minute course.

(iii) In person contact at the time of registration or at delivery agent location for course delivery.

(iv) Phone contact by promoting students to contact sponsor during course delivery to answer personal or content questions.

(v) Third party database questions are answered by the student against a third party credit bureau or government database as a means to validate identity only.

(vi) Online/instant message by prompting student using internet or PC based training to join a discussion group or answer validation questions.

(vii) Personal questions are answered by student as a means to validate identity.

(viii) Content questions are answered by student as a means to validate participation.

(ix) Pay per view buttons uses features of digital cable TV to have a user interface for students to answer validation questions during the course.

(x) E-mail can be used to transmit user name and password or to provide a link to the user for course access.

(2) Sponsors shall choose a minimum combination of validation techniques (from subdivision (b) of this section) in designing their ADM course. The department, as set forth in Appendix A (section 141.14 of this Part), shall assign relative point values to each technique to assess the security and integrity of each sponsor's validation solution.

(3) In the event sponsors have alternate validation techniques, DMV shall review such alternatives and determine if they will be added to the list of techniques in paragraph (1) of this subdivision.

(f) Personal validation for purposes of identity and participation for ADM courses.

(1) When sponsors elect to use personal and/or content questions as defined in paragraph (c)(5) of this section, the validation system shall incorporate the following requirements:

(i) sponsors shall maintain a test bank of not less than 30 personal validation questions;

(ii) the ADM course shall ask a minimum of 10 personal validation questions throughout the course. Questions shall be generated randomly from the test bank for each student and shall not be repeated;

(iii) personal validation questions will be asked throughout the course, at a minimum at the beginning of each session and at appropriate intervals during the course. At least one personal validation question shall appear in each major unit or section, not including a final examination; and

(iv) the student must correctly answer the personal validation question within 45 seconds for internet/interactive validation and 30 for telephone validation.

(g) In order to ensure that a student has participated throughout the course, sponsors shall maintain a bank of 100 content and environment questions relating to the material presented in each section. The ADM course shall ask a minimum of 20 content and environment questions throughout the course. Questions shall be generated randomly from the test bank for each student.

(1) The content/environment questions shall be short answer, multiple choice, or a combination of these forms. The questions shall be designed so the answer may not be determined by the student without having viewed the actual material presented in each section or sub section.

(i) The student must correctly answer the content/environment questions within 60 seconds for internet/interactive validation and 45 seconds for telephone validation.

(ii) In no case may a personal or content/environment question identify, in any way, the correct answer to the question.

(iii) Students who, in their first attempt, fail to answer the minimum number of content/environment questions correctly may be asked additional questions (adding to the minimum time requirement) so long as they answer at least 75 percent correctly in one of the two subsequent attempts that will be permitted in the internet course. If proctored testing is used, students who fail to answer the minimum number of content/environment questions correctly are allowed one subsequent retest. Students who fail to correctly answer any personal identity question in the internet course shall have one subsequent attempt to answer the question before being excluded from the course. The same standard will apply to personal identity questions in the proctored test environment.

(iv) In such case where a student is allowed to retake any content/environment question in an effort to answer 75 percent of the questions correctly, the ADM course shall present a different question from its test bank.

(v) Students shall not be permitted to attempt the same question in any subsequent attempt. The ADM course may not repeat a content/environment question until it has asked all the questions from its test bank.

(vi) The student shall be excluded from the course if they fail to answer at least 75 percent of the content/environment questions correctly after three attempts at taking the test online or two attempts at taking the proctored exam (including initial test and one retest). Retests must be completed within 28 days from the initial completion of the education portion of the course. A student that has been excluded from the course for failing to attain a passing score shall, in the discretion of the sponsor, be eligible to enroll in and start a new course. The sponsor may, in its discretion, choose to waive a fee or allow the student to enroll in a new course without paying an additional course fee. Students who have been excluded from the course and are allowed to enroll in a new course must complete the entire course.

(vii) Students shall be excluded from the course where the sponsor's DMV approved biometric identification methods cannot verify student identity in two attempts. Failure to confirm identity after two attempts shall result in the motorist being excluded from the program. If the identity verification is not made due to a technology failure, the student shall not be excluded from the course. The sponsor shall address the technology failure and allow two opportunities for biometric identity verification to be made. If the identity verification is not made and the student has been excluded from the class, the sponsor may, in its discretion, choose to waive the course fee or allow the student to enroll in a new course without paying an additional course fee. Students who have been excluded from the course and are allowed to enroll in a new course must complete the entire course.

(2) Proctored testing requirements. If proctored testing is used by a sponsor as a means of validating student identity and participation, the sponsor must apply for approval in a manner prescribed by the commissioner. Standards may include but not be limited to:

(i) locations must be approved by the department;

(ii) proctors must have an independent relationship with the sponsor, as well as those taking the test;

(iii) students must present two forms of identification, one being their NYS driver's license photo identification;

(iv) students must sign in, indicating agreement with the sponsor's terms and conditions, including identity and participation validation questions as outlined in this section; and

(v) proctors must monitor student testing in person. Testing must be completed within 30 calendar days of completing the instructional portion of the ADM course.

(h) Internet/interactive delivery specific requirements.

(1) A student receipt shall be displayed online and available for printing, whether such receipt is provided at the time of in person registration or e-mailed to the student. The receipt is not proof of official course completion, which must be mailed to the student via regular or express mail. The receipt is only intended to show payment for course and must state so.

(2) Students must complete the ADM course within 30 calendar days of registration. Students who do not successfully complete the course shall be excluded from the program for non-completion and shall forfeit course fees. The sponsor may, in its discretion, choose to waive a fee or allow the student to enroll in a new course without paying an additional course fee. Students who have been excluded from the course and are allowed to enroll in a new course must complete the entire course.

(3) In cases where an online course requires in-person validation and/or testing, the motorist must appear and complete that requirement within 30 calendar days of completing the instructional portion of the ADM course.

(4) Sponsors shall accommodate various internet connection bandwidth rates so the program is accessible to the greatest number of motorists statewide. Bandwidth and processing speed may affect download times for multimedia presentations. Download and processing time shall not be factored into the overall minimum instruction time.

(5) The graphical interface shall be user-friendly. Scrolling should be limited to up and down; students shall have the ability to log on and off and navigate freely to previously viewed material.

(6) Consistent with NYS Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Web Requirements, whenever video or audio is playing, a text stream of the spoken word will be visible where appropriate.

(7) Each sponsor must offer the ADM from a single Uniform Resource Locator (URL)/global address on the worldwide web. The sponsor can accept students directed from another site, so long as it is clear on the ADM's website who the ADM sponsor is. Sub-domains of the ADM's registered domain may deliver content as long as the sub domain is registered to and hosted by the ADM sponsor.

(8) Sponsors must make available printable fact sheets (in lieu of a workbook) that summarize key learning points from each module.

(i) Additional requirements for video/non-interactive courses.

(a) A video ADM course shall be subject to the same identity and participation validation criteria required of internet/interactive courses as defined in this section.

(b) In addition, all ADM courses that do not use the internet, or other interactive delivery and biometric identification validation will be required to include a proctored exam, in addition to the personal and/or content questions asked during the course.

(c) All video ADM courses will also provide a workbook, or summary of key learning points from each module that the student will be allowed to carry into the proctored exam.

(d) A video/non-interactive ADM course is exempt from the 25 percent maximum timeframe for audio/visual content required in this Part.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 15 § 141.8