North Carolina Driver’s Ed: Does It Work?

The North Carolina legislature’s government watchdog agency says the state still does not have a good handle on how effective local driver’s education programs for high school students are financially or how well they produce safe drivers.

The Program Evaluation Division released a report reviewing how the Department of Public Instruction responded to a 2011 law requiring more oversight of driver’s education program in all 115 school districts.

The researchers found the department has not yet implemented performance measurements for driver’s ed. It also does not have complete data on how many students complete the course necessary to obtain a driving permit. Students also must pass a written test.

But of 1 million tests administered by DMV from 2008 to 2013, almost half resulted in failing grades.

To address these findings, the report says the General Assembly should require:

• statewide performance measures for driver education;
• a data-driven outcome monitoring system for student drivers completing driver education;
• a feasibility study on offering uniform online classroom driver education; and
• standards established by the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for legislatively-directed pilot projects including but not limited to driver education.