Curriculum Information

Updated: September 13, 2007

The National CPS Board has updated NHTSA's National Standardized Child Passenger Safety certification course into the 2007 edition. The revised curriculum reflects the Board and NHTSA's commitment to child passenger safety technicians as educators, not installers, as was initially intended when the standardized course was developed.

Information about the process and important dates will be posted here as information becomes available.

Posted September 13, 2007
Q&A from Lifesavers 2007 CPS Curriculum Pre-Session

Teaching, Instructor Planning

How many instructors should be on the team?
The ratio should be one instructor for every five students. This is even more important with the additional hands-on evaluations included in the revised course.

Can the course be done in four days?
Yes. Agendas for 3, 3½ and 4 day courses are available on the Instructor CD.

Are there suggested times listed for activities?
Yes, on the first page of chapters in the Instructor Manual.

What is the minimum number of hours to teach a class?
20 hours minimum.

What is a check-up event timeframe?
Two hours minimum.

Will Instructors get a student manual?
The student manual is on the Instructor CD. Student manuals are also online at http://www.cpsboard.org/techmanual_downloads.htm.

How do we get the new student workbook out to existing technicians?
The student manual can be downloaded from the CPS Board website at http://www.cpsboard.org/techmanual_downloads.htm.

Is there any formal plan to update current technicians on the curriculum change?
No. The curriculum is not new content. It is repackaged with a new teaching approach of learn, practice, explain. While the philosophy of teaching the course is different, the skills and overall material are not new.

Curriculum Content

Can instructors change the title of one or more chapters?
No, sorry. The titles took a lot of time to develop and have gone through an already approved legal process. It may not appear important but the titles must reflect the actual content of the chapter bearing in mind that both title and content may need to stand up to legal scrutiny.

Can instructors add a section on state laws?
There is an opportunity to add state law information in the curriculum. In Chapter 1 there is discussion of state law where you can provide a state law handout.

Can instructors add information?
The curriculum is to be taught as written. As mentioned in the answer above, Chapter 1 includes time to review your state laws. Any additional videos or other information should be shown outside of class time or incorporated into CEU opportunities.

Will videos be included?
Videos are imbedded on the instructor CD.

Are there video clips for crashes and airbag deployment?
Yes.

Is it appropriate to show supplemental videos?
No.

Will students be taught the belt shortening clip?
Yes, in Chapter 5.

Will students get a CD with all car seat instructions?
No, as this information would get outdated as manufacturers release new information. Instead, technicians should know how to find the most current information they need.

What if we want more discussion on school buses?
A separate bus curriculum is available on the NHTSA website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov.

Where is information on how to do a child safety seat check?
This information is in the Appendix.

Where is Using Your Skills?
This information is in the Appendix.

What does "evergreen" mean?
To prevent the curriculum from becoming outdated soon, as much as possible, we provided resources to assist technicians in obtaining current statistics rather than providing statistics in the curriculum.

Student Testing/Assessment

Will the instructor have a copy of the written exam before the class?
The test is open book and the exam will change only yearly (at most).

Where are the tests available?
Forms are available on the CD that is enclosed with the Instructor Manual. There are three written quizzes. No retake is available. It is possible to fail the class after the second quiz

Can you fail a class after the written test?
There is an open book test in this curriculum. Students who fail the open book test must complete the entire course. There are no written re-tests.

What if a student misses over eight questions in the first two quizzes? Can the student finish the class or do we send them home?
The student may stay in the class but won't be certified. The student must retake the class.

Evaluation

Are "clicker evaluations" necessary to teach the course?
No, the clicker evaluation system is not necessary to teach. The clicker system was used in the pilot classes to help assess the format of the new curriculum.

Will clicker system "slides" be available? Are there standardized questions to use with the clicker system?
If you have the clicker system it is your responsibility as an instructor to prepare your evaluation questions and any accompanying PowerPoint slides.

Will the clickers be provided for free? Will the clickers be provided at a discounted price?
No. Instructors may invest in these if they think this is a beneficial teaching and evaluation tool. Contact the vendor for price information.

CEUs

Will a self-study CEU course or courses be offered on the Board website?
Yes, presentations and Tech Update quizzes to earn CEUs are already available on the Board website at http://www.cpsboard.org/ceus.htm

Can CEUs be available for current technicians who review the new curriculum and can demonstrate knowledge of it?
No, because the new curriculum is not new technical information.

Is there a possibility to combine some of the "appendix" and "good to know" info into a six hour technical CEU course?
Yes, instructors can do this.

Record-Keeping

Can the testing scores be scanned onto CDs as official records for an audit?
Yes.

How long should I keep quizzes and other documents from classes, in case of an audit?
Two years, which is one recertification cycle.

Other Curriculum

When will the renewal course for expired technicians be available?
A renewal course should be available later this winter.

When will a Spanish curriculum be available?
The current curriculum was written in a user-friendly and appropriate literacy level so that people who speak all languages should be able to participate as students. A Spanish glossary of terms is included in the curriculum.

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Posted March 30, 2007
Learning About the Revised Curriculum and Certification at Lifesavers

NHTSA, the National CPS Board, and Safe Kids Worldwide Certification Program had a great time at a special pre-Lifesavers session sharing the new curriculum with State CPS Training contacts and instructors.

In addition, a workshop titled "Certification for New Curriculum" was presented to inform attendees of changes in recertification, instructor candidacy and class registration processes.

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