The Driver Education Instructor certificate prepares students to become Certified Driver Education Instructors in both New Hampshire and Vermont. The courses for this certificate review the rules of the road and cover the methodology instructors use to teach a driver education course. The first step to becoming a certified instructor is to obtain Provisional Certification. Students may apply, at the state level, for Provisional Certification after completing the first three courses of the certificate; DEDI101W, DEDI103W, and DEDI105W. For candidates to be considered, the state has additional requirements, including, but not limited to, possession of a valid driver’s license, evidence of a minimum of five consecutive years of licensed driving experience, a clean driving record, and a clean criminal record. In New Hampshire, Provisional Certification is obtained at the Division of Motor Vehicles in Concord, NH, through both a written and driving examination. Provisional Certification allows instructors to teach under supervision at a certified driving school. During the two-year Provisional Certificate, students must complete the five additional courses in our certificate program and complete 60 hours of supervised classroom instruction and 240 hours of supervised behind-the-wheel instruction to be able to apply for a NH Standard Certificate.
DEDI101W, DEDI103W, and DEDI105W are offered Fall, Spring, and Summer at WMCC. They are also all offered with no prerequisite requirements so they can be taken in any order.
The State of New Hampshire will require applicants for the Provisional Certification to:
• Have 5 years of consecutive driving experience
• Obtain Criminal Background Check
• Obtain Certified Motor Vehicle Driver Record (NH and any state where you held a driver’s license or had a conviction)
These, however, are not requirements for admission to the Driver Education Instructor program at WMCC.
The State of Vermont has two paths to certification at different levels through the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) and the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Depending on what you wish to do in driver education, you may be required to take more courses than the initial three courses a NH Driving instructor has to take. For licensed educators, depending on the courses completed, it is an endorsement on a teaching credential from the VT AOE and there is not a requirement for the criminal background check. For licensure through the VT DMV, you do have to submit to a criminal background and provide a motor vehicle driver record check.