Parent Involvement in Traffic Safety Education: The Key to Successful Learning

2. Parent Involvement in Traffic Safety Education:The Key to Successful Learning Presented By: Welcome Parents, Guardians, Students, & Fellow TSE Professionals!

3. Our Purpose is to: • Form a Partnership between… • Teacher, Student and Parent/Guardians • To produce maximum results from your investment in Traffic Safety Education

4. First Things First:Why are you here? • Please take a moment and write your goals for this course. Think about: • What do you expect? • Why did you take this course? • What do you want? • What do you expect to happen as a result of taking this course? • What would “maximum results” mean for you?

5. Learning is a Team Effort Each of us has a Role: • Teacher: Provide Quality Instruction & Leadership. • Student: Study, memorize & Practice what we teach you. Implement the “Keys to Success.” • Parent: Provide safe, Guided Practice and a Positive Example.

6. This Partnership is Essential to Success • Traffic Safety Education (TSE) will not meet its potential without each partner performing his/her role in a committed way. • The TSE teacher must exercise leadership to form and facilitate this partnership. We must not only teach our students well, but we also have a role in coaching parents to be “assistant coaches.” • Students must be committed to learning. • Parents must understand and grow comfortable in their role as “assistant coaches,” not as teachers.

7. The Problem of Traffic Safety Education: Its Limitations and the Importance of Parent Involvement • What does the average teenage driver look like?

8. Let’s consider a Question: Does the average teenager drive the way he/she was taught?

9. 37 will be ticketed for speeding 4 will be ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs 28 will be involved in a collision where there will be vehicle damage 13 will be injured in automobile collision 1 will be killed in an automobile collision 17 will not fall under the above categories based on national driving statistics Consider 100 Teenage Drivers

10. Some statistics to know and think about: • The average teen driver will be involved in two collisions within the first two years of driving. • The average experienced driver will be involved in one collision every 5 years

11. Do you want to be an “average” driver?

12. Let’s ask that question another way… Parents: Do you want your son/daughter to be an “average” driver?

13. If not, then something different must occur in your learning experience than what normally transpires...

14. What is that key difference?

15. Guided Practicein order to form lifelong Habits.

16. PRACTICE = HABIT • “Learning” occurs… when behavior is changed!

17. In other words… • If you don’t drive the way you are taught (your actual behavior)… • …then you haven’t “learned” what we taught you…even if you pass the class and dazzle us with your amazing abilities. • The important question is this: • Did we affect (change) the way you drive… • Permanently?

18. How do we get to “learning?” • In other words: • How do we change your behavior so that you end up, in fact, driving the way you have been taught?

19. The Learning Progression - How we learn Unconsciously Incompetent Consciously Incompetent Consciously Competent Unconsciously Competent Habitually correct behavior, without thinking

20. How many times must you repeat a behavior before it becomes a habit? • 8 Times before it remains in your long-term memory • 28 times before it remains in your unconscious memory (habit) • How many times, on average, will you get to practice each maneuver in this course? • Only about 3!! • Conclusion: Students don’t drive the way they were taught because they don’t do the correct behavior enough times to become habitual.

21. I. The Teacher’s Role

22. What is the Teacher Role? • Provide Quality Instruction & Leadership • Course Structure • Course Goals = Teach the right stuff, the right way QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION DOES MATTER!

23. COURSE STRUCTURE • Three Phases: • Classroom • Behind-The- Wheel (BTW) • Graduated Driver Licensing • Parents need some assistance/guidelines

24. Research on Parent Involvement: Dauber and Epstein found that the strongest and most consistent predictors of parent involvement at school and at home are the specific school programs andteacher practices that encourage parent involvement at school and guide parents in how to help their children during GDL.

25. Research on Parent Involvement Epstein found in a Maryland study involving 1269 students, that theirparents’ belief as to whether they should helpor can help(their students in school) isshaped by what theschool and the teachers do. •• “If teachers want parents to think that they should help, teachers must demonstrate thiswith an active program of parent involvement in learning activities at home.” •• “For parents to feel confident that they can help, teachers and administrators must organize and conduct workshops for parents on how to help.”

26. What should be the goals of our instruction? • Demonstrate knowledge of the rules and procedures of safe driving. (Rules of the Road) • Perform basic operational skills to maneuver the vehicle smoothly and precisely. (Moving forward, backward, turning, stopping, laterals, ….and the “biggie”.... parallel parking)

27. That’ll Do It … …Right?

28. TheGoals of TSE Instruction = In practice: “At the present time, supporting mobility is the main function of DE. New drivers need to learn the skills to handle the vehicle and interact with other road users well enough to pass a licensing test and satisfy the concerns of parents and guardians.” AAA Does that fit your expectation of TSE?

29. Teach the right stuff… • If TSE continues to focus primarily on mobility, (passing the license test), it will continue to fail in its mission to produce safer drivers. • That’s because there’s more to do… • Those goals are knowledge and skill-based, but not focused on behavior. • “Crashes result from what drivers choose to do, at least as much as what they are able (or unable) to do.”AAA • Here’s what we really need to focus on…

30. Research shows that young drivers: • Perceive risk in driving differently. • Have unrealistic confidence in own abilities. • Drive too fast, too close & accept small gaps in traffic; leave inadequate space. • Crash frequently when driving for recreational purposes, at night, & when with fellow teen passengers. • Crash rarely when under supervision. • Especially likely to have certain types of crashes: • Rear-end collisions • Run-off the road (single car) collisions

31. Traffic Safety Education Needs to: • Be more focused on developing perceptual and cognitive skills. • Improve novice drivers’ ability to perceive hazards and evaluate risk. • Teach drivers to reduce the amount of risk they are willing to tolerate on the roads. • Be more focused on teaching behaviors, not tasks.

32. The goal of our program is to produce a safe and responsible driver who is capable of driving collision-free for a lifetime! The Bottom Line:

33. II. The Student’s Role

34. The teacher can teach all the right things, the right way… • …and, still, a lasting impact won’t occur… • …unless the student does his/her part. • What, again is the student’s role? • To study, memorize & practice what we teach you. • And to implement the “Keys to Success”

35. What are the Keys to Success? • Goals = Know what you are aiming for: Is it a Driver’s License, or are you going after the Skills, Habits and Attitudes to drive Collision/Ticket-Free for a lifetime? (What is your motivation?) • GANAS = The burning DESIRE to achieve your goals (to “win”). (What is your level of motivation?) • Expectancy = Belief that your goals are achievable; High Expectations of yourself. • Commitment = Time & Effort. Hard Work. Push yourself to do what it takes. Practice! To be successful: You have to make learning a top priority!

36. Do you have the GANAS?!

37. III. The Parent’s Role What?!!! Parents have a part? Didn’t you hire us professionals to teach your son/daughter to drive? Well…yes. We ARE the teachers…but the parent has a critical role to play. It takes all three. Here’s what we mean…

38. The Parent’s Role • The teacher can teach all the right things, the right way… • …and the student can be loaded with GANAS and Commitment… • And, still… the student can fail to meet the course’s objectives… • …unless the parents do their part.

39. Parent Involvement is Essential! Because PRACTICE is essential

40. IN A NUTSHELL: In order to get to the “learning” stage-where what we taught you becomes habitual (unconsciously competent)… The student must memorize and practice what we teach you until it becomes an unconscious habit. But, remember… Only Perfect Practice … Makes Perfect!!

41. GUIDED PRACTICE Practice is the key to developing sound habits, but ... Does it matter How we practice? Absolutely! Guided Practice is NOT just driving around, becoming the family chauffer. Effective Guided Practice means deliberately practicing the exact skills as taught during the driving lessons.

42. GUIDED PRACTICE WHAT, HOW & WHERE we practice matters! • Practice What we teach. • Use the Drive Sheet as a reference. • Practice How we taught you. • Use the Procedure Sheet to guide you. • Practice Where we taught you.

43. An Important Note to Parents: • We are not expecting or asking you to be theteacher. That is our role. • Remember, we have already taught the skills. The student is to be committing the procedures to memory and should be able to describe them and explain why before, and during, the practice sessions. • Your role, then, is to guide the student in repeating the skills as they were taught.

44. Another Important Note to Parents/Supervisors: • Safety is job # 1. • The student is the “legal” operator of the vehicle. Allow, encourage…insist…that he/she drive as taught. (Don’t encourage your own “alternative” habits or attitudes) • Be alert and ready at all times to offer assistance - verbal or physical.

45. Parents: Bear with us; Some things have changed: • Hand Position = 3 & 9 or 4 & 8 • Due to Air Bags • Braking technique: Squeeze; don’t pump • Due to antilock brakes • Mirror Adjustment • Driving with lights on in daylight • Reference Points and other “new” things

46. Reference Points help the young driver solve the problem created by the “Void Area.”

48. Your Right Tires are near the curb when it appears that the curb is in the center of your car.

49. WHAT = Practice What We Teach • Pay attention to detail - One example: • How important is it for the parent to let (insist) you use the parking brake, as taught, even when he/she doesn’t? • Good vs Poor Procedure • Poor driving experiences develop poor driving habits. • Task vs Behavior • Break the driving task into a series of behaviors and ensure each one is being performed correctly & consistently. Example: Right Turn

50. WHAT= Practice What We Teach • Pay attention to sequence: Make every driving sequence a good driving sequence. Example: Pre-Drive Procedure Does it matter what order we do the following:?