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1.1 Two Credentials: Instructor License vs. Instructor Certification

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Maryland Driving Instructor Study Guide Exam

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1 Chapter 1: Maryland Driving Instructor Credentials

1.1 Two Credentials: Instructor License vs. Instructor Certification 1.2 Qualifications, Background Checks, and Application 1.3 The Apprentice Instructor Permit and Supervised Training 1.4 MVA Testing and Required Instructor Courses 1.5 Badges, Renewal, Professional Development, and Discipline

2 Chapter 2: Driving Schools, Certified Schools, and Facilities

2.1 Drivers' School Licensing and Operational Requirements 2.2 Driver Education School Certification and Operating Rules 2.3 Business Office and Classroom Facility Requirements 2.4 Training Vehicle and Dual-Control Equipment Requirements

3 Chapter 3: Program Administration, Records, and Enforcement

3.1 Student Enrollment, Rights and Responsibilities, and Refunds 3.2 Records, Reports, and Completion Certification 3.3 Quality Control, Violations, and Progressive Discipline

4 Chapter 4: Delivering the Maryland Driver Education Program

4.1 The 30/6 Program Structure and Classroom Operation Rules 4.2 The 10-Unit MVA Classroom Curriculum 4.3 Behind-the-Wheel Instruction Requirements 4.4 Student Performance Criteria, Testing, and Remediation

5 Chapter 5: Instructional Methodology and In-Car Technique

5.1 Classroom Teaching Methods and Adolescent Driver Psychology 5.2 Dual-Control Mechanics, Instructor Interventions, and In-Car Safety 5.3 Progressive In-Car Instructional Sequence and Skill Milestones 5.4 In-Car Coaching, Commentary Driving, and Emergency Management

6 Chapter 6: Maryland Vehicle Law and the Rookie Driver System

6.1 The Learner's Instructional Permit 6.2 The Provisional License and the Full Driver's License 6.3 The Maryland Point System, Sanctions, and Hearings 6.4 Impaired Driving, Implied Consent, and Noah’s Law

7 Chapter 7: Traffic Control Devices and Maryland Rules of the Road

7.1 Maryland Road Signs, Signals, and Pavement Markings 7.2 Right-of-Way Rules and Intersection Management 7.3 Speed Regulations, Passing Rules, and Special Roadway Scenarios

8 Chapter 8: Defensive Driving Systems, Adverse Conditions, and Hazard Management

8.1 Space Management Systems (SIPDE and SEE) and Visual Search 8.2 Adverse Environmental Conditions and Emergency Maneuvers 8.3 Sharing the Road with Vulnerable Users and Commercial Vehicles 8.4 Post-Licensing Risk Factors and Lifelong Safe Driving Habits

1.1 Two Credentials: Instructor License vs. Instructor Certification

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Maryland issues two separate instructor credentials: a driving instructor license under COMAR 11.23.01 and a driver education instructor certification under COMAR 11.23.02.

A driving instructor license is issued under Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 8 — not Subtitle 7, which governs drivers' schools.

COMAR 11.23.01.12E allows an instructor to teach the driver education program only if the instructor is both licensed under COMAR 11.23.01 and certified under COMAR 11.23.02.

An instructor may be licensed for behind-the-wheel instruction only, classroom instruction only, or both (COMAR 11.23.01.12C).

Neither the license nor the certification may be transferred, sold, or assigned, and neither authorizes paid instruction unless the holder is employed by a licensed or certified school.

Last updated: September 2026

  • Why Maryland Uses Two Credentials
  • Most states issue one driving-instructor credential. Maryland issues two , and the single most
  • common failure on the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) instructor knowledge test is confusing
  • them. Every question about who may teach what, which regulation applies, and which renewal rule

governs depends on knowing which credential is in play.

  • Driving Instructor License Driver Education Instructor Certification
  • Regulation COMAR 11.23.01 (Drivers' Schools) COMAR 11.23.02 (Driver Education Program)
  • Statute Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 8 Transportation Article, Title 16, Subtitle 5

What it authorizes Giving instruction in the driving of motor vehicles for compensation Teaching any part of the Maryland driver education program (the 30/6 course)

  • Employer required A drivers' school licensed by the MVA A school certified by the MVA
  • Term 2 years (COMAR 11.23.01.17A) 2 years (COMAR 11.23.02.19A)
  • Credential carried Driving instructor identification badge Instructor certification badge
  • The statutory anchor you must get right
  • COMAR 11.23.01.12A states that "under Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 8, Annotated
  • Code of Maryland, an individual shall be licensed by the Administration as a driving instructor in
  • order to provide instruction in driving of motor vehicles if the individual receives or expects to
  • receive compensation for the instruction."
  • Subtitle 8 is the driving-instructor subtitle. Transportation Article, §15-801 defines a
  • "driving instructor" and defines "license" as "a driving instructor's license issued by the
  • Administration under this subtitle." Subtitle 7 of Title 15 is a different thing entirely — it
  • governs drivers' schools (that is where the §15-705 surety bond requirement lives). Study guides

and prep sites frequently mislabel instructor licensing as "Title 15, Subtitle 7." It is Subtitle 8 .

Scope of the Driving Instructor License

Under COMAR 11.23.01.12 :

  • §B — a licensed instructor may not provide instruction in the driving of a motor vehicle for
  • compensation unless employed by a drivers' school licensed by the Administration. There is no

independent-contractor route in Maryland; the credential is tethered to a licensed school.

§C — the MVA may license an individual to provide (1) behind-the-wheel instruction only, (2) classroom instruction only, or (3) both classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction.

The scope is set at licensure and constrains what the instructor may deliver.

§D — the license may not be transferred, sold, or assigned.

  • §E — this is the bridge clause: a driving instructor may teach the driver education program
  • courses under Transportation Article, Title 16, Subtitle 5 only if licensed under COMAR

11.23.01 and certified by the Administration under COMAR 11.23.02.

  • The compensation trigger matters. A parent supervising a learner's permit holder in the family car
  • is not a driving instructor; nobody is paying them. The moment an individual "receives or expects

to receive compensation" for driving instruction, the license requirement attaches.

Scope of the Instructor Certification

COMAR 11.23.02.15 sets the parallel rule for the state's novice-driver program:

§A — certification by the Administration is required to teach any part of the driver

education program. There is no partial exemption for a single unit or a single in-car lesson.

§B — a certified instructor may not teach the program courses unless employed by a school certified by the Administration. School licensure alone is not enough.

§C — classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction shall be taught by a certified instructor authorized to give the instruction provided , echoing the scope limits of the underlying license.

§D — the certification may not be transferred, sold, or assigned.

  • COMAR 11.23.02.16A closes the loop from the other direction: to qualify for certification as an
  • instructor, an applicant "shall be licensed under Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 8 ... as
  • an instructor and be in compliance with all the laws, regulations, rules, and policies pertaining to

that license." The license is a prerequisite to the certification, never a substitute for it.

Reading the Credential Chain Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 7 -> Drivers' school license (the business)

  • Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 8 -> Driving instructor license (the individual)
  • Transportation Article, Title 16, Subtitle 5 -> Driver education program (the 30/6 course)
  • COMAR 11.23.01 -> Rules for schools + instructors
  • COMAR 11.23.02 -> Rules for the driver education program
  • A school follows the same two-step pattern. COMAR 11.23.01.03D provides that a drivers' school

may only provide the driver education program courses under Title 16, Subtitle 5 if the school is (1) licensed under COMAR 11.23.01 and (2) certified under COMAR 11.23.02. And COMAR

  • 11.23.02.05A(2) requires an applicant for school certification to already be "licensed as a
  • drivers' school under Transportation Article, Title 15, Subtitle 7."
  • Worked scenario
  • Case. An instructor holds a current Maryland driving instructor license endorsed for
  • behind-the-wheel instruction only. Her employer is a licensed drivers' school that is also a
  • certified driver education school. The school asks her to cover a three-hour classroom unit of

the driver education program tonight.

  • Analysis. Two separate defects. First, her license scope is behind-the-wheel only, so under
  • COMAR 11.23.01.12C she is not licensed to give classroom instruction at all. Second, even a

classroom-endorsed license would not be enough: COMAR 11.23.02.15A requires certification to teach any part of the driver education program, and COMAR 11.23.02.15C requires the certified

instructor to be authorized to give the instruction provided . The school must assign a certified

instructor whose credential covers classroom delivery.

  • Where the exam probes this
  • Expect items that pair a fact with the wrong chapter — for example, attaching the 8-hour

professional-development renewal requirement (which is COMAR 11.23.02.19C(2) , a certification rule) to the driving instructor license , or attaching the $40,000 surety bond (a school requirement under Transportation Article, §15-705) to an individual instructor. Anchor every fact to

its chapter before you answer.