About JW Wilson
JW Wilson
Executive Director
Advanced Learning Institute
JW Wilson is the Executive Director of The Advanced Learning Institute, an organization which researches, develops and implements scientific-based learning programs. JW is also the author of the soon-to-be-published book Cracking the Learning Code, the culmination of over 20 years of scientific research into how to accelerate the speed of learning and enhance its effectiveness. The key finding is that each one of us has a genetically implanted Learning Code, which must be turned on before we can create long-term memory and behavioral change. JW’s passion, in fact his crusade, is to bring this essential knowledge to the world.
Michael, if in response to me asking what cutting-edge expert we might hire to help us, you are suggesting this J.W.Wilson guy… you are a bit too late. See second cell down in www.nachi.org/education.htm
He’s been working for us for some time already.
You posted a name people are not familiar with.
I just posted some info.
Anyway, no one can really compete with InterNACHI when it comes to inspector training, education, or exam development. We are that far ahead of everyone else.
You can listen to him here
Then get acceptance where it matters.
I submit that, to date, no one has independantly evaluated our exam, and is willing to committ in writing that it is psychometrically valid.
We DID speak of this in the past, and you mentioned some firm in Florida that had been contracted to do this, though nothing ever came of it. I asked for these documents over 4 years ago.
We can SAY whatever we wish. DOING is something else. If our new expert is indeed on board, perhaps you can publish the results of his evaluation for all to see. It will definitely help our New Hampshire brethren with their current exam struggles.
Is this guy prepared to say our exam is psychometrically valid or not?
My belief is that we should 1) prove our exam meets the psychometrically valid criteria, 2) show that the NHIE may have been validated once, but does not currently make the cut, 3) challenge the verbiage of these laws where psychometrically valid exams must be used, and 4) either sue these boards to include ours, or sue to have them invalidate the NHIE.
Either way, and in all scenarios, NACHI members win. If we fall short, then it will be devasting for us.
This should be the plan.
The entire online training, computer testing industry is only a decade or so old (at least in terms of professional accreditation), so don’t be to surprised that very few know what they are doing. We do.
??? Joe, why would that be a plan? Are you of the mis-belief that InterNACHI wants to offer and administer a proctored exam for U.S. state licensing purposes? Where did you get that idea?
Look in the right column of www.nachi.org/education.htm We get anything we want state-approved, but you’ll note that pre-licensing courses and minimum standard licensing exams aren’t two of them. Why? Because we don’t offer them.
Trust me, we can have anything we want.
Again though, InterNACHI doesn’t chase newbies. Let them get all licensed up and legal, then come see us.
The initial licensing in Washington is 40 days away from implementation. As part of the requirements, the State required passing a psychometrically valid test. NHIE came forward. NACHI did not. NHIE got the contract for the state. NACHI did not.
We can put this any number of ways…
Talk is cheap. ***** or get off the pot. Actions speak louder than words.
All talk, no action.
Until NACHI steps up and gets certification of their test from a known, neutral organization stating it is psychometrically valid, we will be treated as a second rate commodity.
Nick, as for competition, you are correct. There is none. The NHIE is the only game in town.
Thank you. And it isn’t just Washington where we refused to offer a proctored exam, it is every where in the world.
Again, we don’t offer pre-licensing courses and don’t offer minimum standard licensing exams. Never have, probably never will.
I can respect that, and so can many, when they realize that a license represents the basic minimum standard to be able to inspect a house.
Why on earth would NACHI want to be identified as something associated with just a minimum basic standard of knowledge.
In that the NHIE is fraudulent…not for failing to be psychometrically evaluated…but fraudulent in the sense that its scores measure skills not relevant to the SOP…it should be removed as even a basic minimum standard.
If I ace the contract, lawn irrigation, pools, kitchen appliances and report writing parts of the test…but fail structure…I can get a license???
How soon will we see these class action suits, Nick?
Stephen, on a side note, we were first in Washington to submit all our courses www.nachi.org/education.htm for CE approval. Washington didn’t want them on the state site until after initial licensing ends so that there is no confusion between our continuing education and pre-licensing courses. Many of our members are WDO licensed and so we recently got our free, online WDO course approved by WSDA for CE purposes: http://www.nachi.org/wsda-approved-wdo-course.htm
Thanks Jim. And on another note… we are publicly on record in AL, PA, KS, and BC as being opposed to governments relying on private trade associations (like InterNACHI) to do what our tax money already pays them to do. Private trade associations and governments need to keep at arms-length from each other for many reasons.
Let the state do what it does best and let InterNACHI do what it does best www.nachi.org/whats_new.htm
Michael, I don’t know how many ways I can continue to say it. WE DON’T OFFER PROCTORING FOR ANY GOVERNMENT AND DON’T WANT TO. The proctored version of the exam (one that does not rely on InterNACHI’s in-house advanced grading system which makes it impossible to be hosted outside of nachi.org) is available to anyone who needs it… but we don’t need it. We don’t even use it ourselves.
The NHIE does not offer a proctored exam either then.
You show up for the NHIE and a third party site and they “proctor” the test via computer.
What’s different?
The “proctored version” of our exam is graded simply like the NHIE (the more you get right the better). Our online grading system does not use the proctored version because the grading system is way too advanced for a government to administer or a Community College or home inspection school to use.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is free to all. Other national examinations charge a fee each time you take them.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is built with the latest server-side technology for increased security, but implements widely compatible client-side technology so that almost anyone with a web browser (new or outdated) can use the system from anywhere. Proctoring is available everywhere, too. Other examinations require you to travel.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is different every time you take it. Mathematically speaking, there are billions of versions of InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination. Other exams only have only one or two versions.
- International statistics about InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination are automatically updated every time someone takes the exam, and these statistics are publicly posted instantly for all to see. Other national examinations refuse to release even their pass/fail rates.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination’s pool of questions is compiled from submissions by experts and actual inspectors from all associations. Other exams have used only members of one association to produce their pool of questions. InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is a living document that constantly evolves.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is the official InterNACHI entrance exam. Other associations allow anyone to join without taking any exams.
- You can take InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination from the comfort of your own home with a dial-up modem. If an examinee’s connection is lost mid-exam, he or she can simply reconnect and start where they left off.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination uses optimized, low-resolution graphics for fast page loading.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is not about InterNACHI. It is not association-specific like other exams.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination was built with scalability in mind. Each question (and its answer) includes image support so that images can be added for further illustration. Each question can also support an unlimited number of answers for further scalability.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination permits examinees the opportunity to double-check their answers and correct mistakes before they submit them (within the time constraints of the exam).
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination uses a weighted scoring system. Questions that have safety implications or cover larger issues count more than questions that have less serious implications or are geographically regional. In other words, questions that test to see if you know things every inspector should know are weighted heavily. Questions that test to see if you know things that are near the outside of the scope of a home inspection, or newly introduced, untested questions are weighted lightly. Other exams count each question equally.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is very secure. Each exam is dynamically created using advanced randomization techniques. The data is then stored server-side, making it nearly impossible to cheat the system.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination produces a custom evaluation screen which summarizes your areas of strength and weakness. The summary even includes a color pie chart. Other exams offer little or no summary.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination (a living document) is developed in accordance with accepted psychometric standards, ensuring an unbiased, valid and reliable assessment of inspector skill, knowledge and experience. InterNACHI uses a full-time former university research analyst to monitor the exam. Other examinations are very association-specific and never evolve.
- InterNACHI used several reasonable methods to come up with our passing score of 80, including a version of the Modified Angoff Technique. It is interesting to note that this method determined our passing score should be set at 71. It is also interesting to note that the average score is failing.
- InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination’s pool of questions and answers were not each drawn subjectively from a single reference, but are generated using input from inspectors and experts from all over the country. Possible answers and the actual wording of the questions are also subjected to this industry-wide scrutiny. InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination is a living document that keeps up with the times.
- More people have taken InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination than all other inspection examinations combined. Furthermore, our system has built-in intelligence which constantly calculates and recognizes everything from individual repeat improvement to overall industry knowledge trends. All this combined with constant nationwide expert participation and improvement makes InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination the industry standard for assessing inspectors.
So now there a proctored version after all?