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Number of Certified USPAP instructors. Wanna guess?

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There have been I believe, 6 of these session including Baltimore in August. We now have 124 Certified Instructors. I believe that close to 300 Instructors have taken the exam. That is astounding. It makes one ask, why? Is it the material? The instructors? The test taker?

My answer? It is all the above.

I have been teaching USPAP since I first received a fax copy of it in 1990 from the state. I have been teaching real estate and appraisal since 1984 at community colleges, proprietary schools, and for a variety of others including McKissock. I have not failed a test in over 30 years. I failed this one. Why? I studied all the material starting with a copy i downloaded last January, and went through and read it twice. I took the 2 day class. I studied each night. I answered all sample questions correctly that is part of the material.

However, I do not blame anyone but myself. I will retake the exam.

However, that many failures among highly qualified instructors, many that have been teaching longer than I have, and many with advanced degrees as well as designations. It makes one look with a question mark at at least 2 things:

1. The material
2. Instructors
3. The test

The material contains several new concepts but easily learnable.

The instructors alternated teaching sessions. There was considerable lack of class control with 1 guy from New Jersey taking up 30 minutes of 1 session. The instructors were members of the ASB and appeared very knowledgeable.

The test was not a truely multiple choice exam. Any question had 2 possible correct answers, and you were to pick the most correct. This is rather suspicious in that it allows one reviewing the test to be able to interject their own opinions and influence the results. I doubt that they did or would but that is always a suspicion. We were told that only 100 of the 120 questions would count. No one knew which ones. The Chair of the ASB refutes the later and states that all questions count. That is not what was imparted in class. Again, confusion.

Having said all that, it is still my responsibility to pass the test. I will, in time. However, I am in no hurry. I have 12 months in which to do that. Maybe by month 11 all the bugs will be worked out.

Don Clark, IFA
 
Don,

According to the AQB meeting summary, dated July 19, the number of people who have taken the exam is 232 – not 300. So far, 135 have passed. Looking at other similar documents one can see that the pass rate has generally been in the range of approximately 57% to 65%. Given some of the USPAP classes I have endured, this doesn’t surprise me at all.

Also, from the information I have it looks like at least 15 offerings have been presented, or are scheduled. There may be others. This is more than enough to accommodate the 456 people who have applied (456/15 = 30 per class). I have been told that most of the classes have not been sold out. With so many offerings, and so many empty seats, if an instructor fails to attend, then it is simply their own fault.

I have discussed the class with many others who have taken it. Most say that the course is difficult. It seems that the biggest mistake people are making is not studying the actual course book (or just plain not studying).

This is not a basic USPAP class. Students are assumed to already have a good knowledge of USPAP when they enter the room. The exam does test some basic USPAP knowledge. However, the focus of the class is on the concepts that drive USPAP, as explained in the course manual.

I would respectfully disagree with your comments about the subjectivity of the questions. If the course book provides a list of with, for example, five items in it, and there is a question dealing with that list, then an answer with all five items is clearly more complete than an answer that only has two of the items.

The exam contains questions that are included for sole purpose of evaluating the exam item. This is a common technique used on many tests (SAT, ACT, etc.). Some students have just assumed that there are 20 “evaluation questions” and that 100 actually count. I have been told by an ASB member that this was “not a valid assumption.” He would not reveal the exact number of questions that actually counted. That’s OK. When I took the ACT thirty years ago they wouldn’t tell me either.

Personally, I find the course book fascinating. It explains well how USPAP is a tool allowing professional appraisers tremendous flexibility. I think every appraiser should be required to read it. Of course, I am an admitted idealist and USPAP junkie.

Have a great weekend

JC
 
John,

From your tone it appears that you have not taken the exam. Also, I don't know where you came up with the number of those who have passed. On the foundations web site you can get a list. I counted all on the list that had passed. It was less than you claim.

In an article in the current issue of Real Estate Valuation Magazine titled "Finger Painting: FIRREA Subverted, George R. harrison, PHD states "....in the new instructor course to qualify appraisers to teach USPAP....it is a two and a half day course, with the exam covering half of the third day. Prospective students are advised that they should study at least 10 hours prior to the course. It has been stated by course instructors that some questions may have more than one correct answer. As President of the Columbia Institute, the author( referring to himself) was program manager of a Columbia contract to develop appraisal exam questions for the Psychological Corporation-a national testing firm. The Psychological Corporation would consider this sort of examination to be inconsistent with professional testing standards. The author would characterize the exam, along with much of the AQB's recent actions-----including it's secrecy on pass/fail rates----as amateurish".

However, I am not knocking the AQB or the instructors from the ASB. They are very knowledgeable people. But, a pass rate of below 40% indicates some problems. As to studying, I read all the material twice before going to the 2 day training, and each night there. That is a lot more than 10 hours. However, I blame no one for failing but myself. I am simply saying that in a training session that is confusing enough, lack of class control and allowing students to ramble on and on made it even more so. I spoke today with a person who did pass. He has served 2 terms on the state appraisal board in my state. he is furious at how the class went. I will leave it at that except to say that he truly believed that he had failed, was surprised to have passed, and was concerned that real world concepts were not focused on. Other than that, he can address the issue himself. BTW, the class limit is 45, my class was full. I still say even 300 or 400 eventual certified instructors for 80,000 appraisers is going to be far too few.

Don Clark, IFA

BTW, I will retake the exam
 
FYI

There are 10 states and 3 legal jurisdictions(non states) that do not have a single instructor approved. This is post Baltimore class. In the baltimore class 17 out of 45 passed.

Don Clark, IFA
 
The last USPAP class I had was taught by George Harrison. He is incredibly insightful regarding USPAP issues and I suspect keeps a very skeptical eye towards the politics behind USPAP. The test results are not surprising since like SAT scores, when a test question is routinely answered correctly, SAT gives that question the boot. This is according to the test givers themselves. The conclusion was that kids could be coached to a better score on SAT, but SAT did a better job of measuring what had not been taught than what was. i.e.- was measuring the students initititive to learn on their own rather than what the school taught. The results have been chaos in schools which have different subjects taught at different times, thus skewering the results.

Testing is a weeding out mechanism and when taken to its highest level, appraoches a random result that has little to do with the intelligence of those tested.

I am willing to bet that the new methods of teaching USPAP will not result in an increase in trainee students passing the state test at a higher rate, and likewise, I predict it will not reduce the number of appraisers who inflate appraisals, nor the number of honest appraisers who will be sued. The changes are meaningless in the real world, extremely important in perpetuating the AQB which has basically outlived its usefulness.

Ter
 
Woul du like to teach?

I was approached about whetherr I'd be interested in teaching...Person did not realize I was working on my trainee license..I take this is bcz I was a NYC Teacher. "oh then please do call us in 7 years" they said..Um ok.

I am curious what the people who teach various courses what they earn.. anyone know?
 
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Not enough!

Hope you realize that this thread is several years old.

I teach 4 to 6 USPAP 15 hour classes a year. Also do the 7 hour update 6 times a year. That works out to less than $7,000 a year.

Just completed my instructor's update and am presently certified to instruct USPAP for another three years. One needs to be a state certified appraiser, have teaching experience (credentials in my state), and pass a difficult exam. More than half of the present instructors took the test at least twice. Last time I looked there were more than 500 currently certified to teach USPAP.
 
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Don....you might know the answer to this. That list contains a number of non-state certified appraisers who are, by AQB requirements, not permitted to teach. Do you know exactly how many are currently teaching? I also noticed that the web site is not current. Several of our Colorado instructors took the update in Denver and the list does not reflect that. I just sent in a copy of my new license last week...hope they update before June...LOL.
 
Most of those instructors are appraisers who are involved in the other disciplines.
 
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