The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has followed the lead of school districts nationwide that are providing distance learning to students during COVID-19 closures and is now offering free school bus driver training refresher modules online and in mobile environments.
What the In-service Covers:
Driver Attitude
Vehicle Training
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing safety
Adverse Weather Conditions
Knowing Your Route
Student Management
Loading & Unloading
Transporting Students with Special Needs
Transporting Infants & Toddlers
Emergency Evacuation
NHTSA said it made the move so school bus drivers can complete the curriculum “at their own pace anytime, anywhere.” Many operations have had to suspend in-person training to adhere to social distancing requirements.
A spokesman confirmed for School Transportation News that the online training modules will remain accessible online or via mobile devices, even after school districts and companies are able to train school bus drivers in person.
The School Bus Driver In-service Curriculum is designed to be interactive and engaging by incorporating adult learning principles. The result, according to NHTSA, is improved content retention.
The curriculum may be used in its entirety or as individual modules and contains knowledge checks to assess learning. NHTSA also said online or mobile learning allows school districts or bus companies to instantly schedule learning rather than rely on certain in-service days, and it enables trainers to track completion and conduct data analysis.
Create a new account at https://tsi-dot.csod.com/selfreg/register.aspx?c=pts-nhtsa-rti-70.
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