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3.3 Quality Control, Violations, and Progressive Discipline

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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

3.3 Quality Control, Violations, and Progressive Discipline

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

The MVA may conduct unannounced visits and audits of licensed drivers' schools and certified schools to evaluate compliance and the quality of instruction (COMAR 11.23.01.24; 11.23.02.39A).

COMAR 11.23 uses a two-tier scheme in every discipline regulation: most serious violations and, by default, serious violations subject to progressive discipline.

For a school certification , a most serious violation triggers immediate suspension and a second triggers immediate revocation , each with notice of the right to a hearing within 7 days of a request (COMAR 11.23.02.13D-E).

Knowingly issuing a program completion certificate to someone who did not complete the program is a most serious violation (COMAR 11.23.02.13F(10)).

A school whose license is suspended or revoked must immediately surrender the license, stop all operations, and refund student fees (COMAR 11.23.01.11H).

Last updated: September 2026

  • MVA Oversight Powers
  • COMAR 11.23.01.24 (Quality Control): "The Administration may conduct unannounced visits and

audits of licensed drivers' schools to evaluate compliance with laws, regulations, standards, and the quality of instruction ."

COMAR 11.23.02.39 (Program Evaluation) goes further for certified schools:

  • §A — the MVA may conduct unannounced visits during the school's posted business hours to
  • observe instructors and audits to evaluate compliance and the quality of instruction;
  • §B — the MVA may develop one or more research models to evaluate program effectiveness
  • under Transportation Article, §16-505; and
  • §C — the MVA may require certified schools to provide statistical information in an approved

format to support those research models.

  • Supporting access rules appear throughout: schools must make operation and student records available
  • during posted business hours (11.23.01.07A(4); 11.23.02.08A(5)); a driver education school shall
  • permit the MVA to enter the classroom and observe the instruction and operations
  • (11.23.02.32I); and approved instructor trainers and professional development providers must let the

MVA review records and monitor the instruction given (11.23.02.29E; .30E).

The Shared Two-Tier Architecture

  • Credential Discipline regulation Statutory hook
  • Drivers' school license 11.23.01.11 Transportation Article, §15-109
  • Driving instructor license 11.23.01.19 Transportation Article, §15-109
  • School certification 11.23.02.13 Transportation Article, §16-506
  • Instructor certification 11.23.02.21 Transportation Article, §16-506
  • Apprentice instructor permit 11.23.02.26B Chapter + Title 15 Subtitle 8 / Title 16 Subtitle 5

Each regulation follows the same shape: 1. MVA MAY suspend / revoke / refuse to renew -> after notice and hearing

  • MVA MAY refuse to issue an initial credential -> after notice and opportunity for hearing
  • 2. MVA SHALL refuse to renew or issue -> fraudulent, inaccurate, or incomplete
  • information, or failure to meet requirements
  • 3. MOST SERIOUS violation -> escalated, near-automatic consequence
  • 4. Second MOST SERIOUS violation -> revocation
  • 5. Everything else = SERIOUS -> progressive disciplinary action
  • (conference, fines, suspension, revocation)
  • The default matters. In every one of these regulations, the "serious" category is defined by
  • subtraction: "Except as provided in §D [or §F] of this regulation, all other violations ... shall

be considered a serious violation." There is no minor-violation tier.

Consequences Differ by Credential

This is where candidates lose points. The most serious label is common; the consequence is not.

Credential First most serious violation Second most serious violation

Drivers' school license (11.23.01.11C) $1,000 fine for each offense and other disciplinary action Revocation of the school's license

Driving instructor license (11.23.01.19C) $1,000 fine for each offense and other disciplinary action Revocation of the instructor license

School certification (11.23.02.13D-E) Immediate suspension , with notice of the right to a hearing within 7 days of a request, where the MVA determines a danger of immediate, substantial, and continued harm to the public Immediate revocation , on the same terms

  • COMAR 11.23.02.13C also lets the MVA immediately suspend or revoke a school certification —
  • with notice of the right to a hearing within 7 days of a request — whenever it determines there is a
  • danger of immediate, substantial, and continuing harm to the public, independent of the violation

tiers.

  • What Lands in the Top Tier
  • Seven categories repeat across every list: fraud (or fraud in the operation of providing
  • instruction), a crime of moral turpitude, a sex offense, contributing to the delinquency of a minor,
  • an offense involving a controlled dangerous substance, an offense involving alcohol or drugs while
  • operating a motor vehicle, and a felony involving the use of a motor vehicle. Acting in a manner

that is unsafe for students participating in the program appears in every list as well.

The credential-specific additions are the tested ones:

Drivers' school license (11.23.01.11D(9)) — allowing an individual to provide instruction in the

operation of a motor vehicle while the instructor license is refused, suspended, or revoked .

  • Driving instructor license (11.23.01.19D(9)-(11)) —
  • permitting instruction while an instructor's license is refused, suspended, or revoked;
  • failure to maintain a valid driver's license for the class of vehicle taught with no restrictions

except corrective lenses or a §16-203 restriction; and providing instruction with more than four active points on the instructor's current driving

record.

School certification (11.23.02.13F(9)-(11)) —

knowingly providing program courses while the school certification is refused, suspended, or revoked; knowingly issuing a program completion certificate to an individual who did not complete the

program ; and knowingly allowing an individual to teach the program courses, conduct behind-the-wheel instruction,

or test or evaluate students without the required instructor permit or certification .

  • Those last two are the integrity core of the whole scheme. The state's driver-licensing pipeline
  • depends on completion certifications being true and on instruction being delivered by credentialed

people.

  • Immediate Duties After an Adverse Action
  • A school whose license is suspended or revoked (11.23.01.11H) shall immediately surrender the
  • school's license, stop conducting courses and all school operations , and refund student fees —

100 percent if instruction has not started or the first class was not completed, prorated otherwise.

Under §G , the school has the right to a hearing as set forth in Transportation Article, §15-110.

  • An instructor whose license is suspended or revoked (11.23.01.19G) shall immediately surrender
  • the instructor license badge to the Administration and stop conducting instruction and refrain
  • from any involvement in the program . "Refrain from any involvement" is broader than "stop

teaching" — it reaches scheduling, evaluating, and riding along.

  • Worked scenario
  • Case. A certified school is short-staffed and lets an apprentice whose six-month permit expired
  • last week finish the final two behind-the-wheel hours for three students, then submits completion

certifications for all three.

  • Analysis. Two most serious violations under COMAR 11.23.02.13F. Knowingly allowing an
  • individual to conduct behind-the-wheel instruction without the required instructor permit or
  • certification is F(11); the permit was cancelled at the expiration of the 6-month period under
  • COMAR 11.23.02.26A(2). Submitting completion certifications for instruction that was not lawfully
  • delivered risks F(10), knowingly issuing a completion certificate to an individual who did not
  • complete the program. Under §D and §E the exposure is immediate suspension on the first and
  • immediate revocation on the second, each with notice of the right to a hearing within 7 days of a

request.