Should Texas home inspector qualifying education providers be held to higher standards? Becoming a home inspector in Texas should be an exciting journey. Unfortunately, for many aspiring inspectors, it becomes a frustrating and expensive dead end. Texas home inspector education providers claim to prepare students for success, but the reality is very different. With a statewide exam failure rate of nearly 42%, it’s time to ask: What’s wrong with the system? A Texas high school teacher spent years considering his post-retirement career. Having heard about home inspector careers, he researched the industry and decided to pursue his Texas home inspector license. Then he enrolled with a TREC-approved home inspector qualifying education provider. He chose to take the school’s self-paced course. For months, he read through textbooks, completed quizzes, and finished his practicum. But when he took the state exam, he failed. Frustrated and discouraged, he walked away—feeling like he had wasted both time and money. Sadly, his experience is not unique. More than 4 in 10 test-takers fail the Texas home inspector exam. Texas requires home inspector schools to follow time-based course guidelines. The longest courses require only 40 hours. In a classroom setting, students are expected to absorb a 500-page textbook in just five days. For self-paced students, the challenge is even greater. They must read hundreds of pages with little hands-on interaction. One Texas school even states in its own textbook introduction: “Students should seek the opportunity to see and touch all the equipment discussed in their textbook to familiarize themselves with the hardware/systems they will encounter in the field.” Wait—what? Why pay thousands of dollars if hands-on learning is the student’s responsibility? That’s not education. That’s just selling books. Another problem is deceptive marketing. One Texas home inspection school claims a 99% pass rate. Official data from the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) shows their actual pass rate is closer to 54%. This raises serious concerns. After all, TREC has rules against misleading advertising. According to Rule §535.65(c), education providers cannot: “Make any statement which is misleading, likely to deceive the public, or which in any manner tends to create a misleading impression.“ So why do these false claims continue unchecked? Education is more than assigning reading chapters or lecturing for a set number of hours. Adult learning requires engagement, reinforcement, and practical application. Yet, the traditional approach to home inspector education seems to focus more on allowing schools to exist rather than ensuring they provide quality training. The state does require that 80% of a school’s students pass the exam on their first attempt. Only one school is meeting that standard. However, that school has only had one student take the licensing examination so far. Does the state plan to shut down every other school? Of course not. Instead, the system adjusts. When pass rates fall below expectations, the expectations are lowered—just like standardized testing in public education. For clarity, this means that any school helping between 50% and 80% of its students pass the exam can continue operating—even if that means hundreds of students are wasting time and money on ineffective programs. The issue is what should the state do when there is only one school currently achieving that standard? Especially when that one school has only had one student take the examination. Does the state shut down all the other schools and allow only one school to remain in good standing? Not likely. The situation starts to mirror public school education examinations. As student exam scores start to drop below acceptable levels, the acceptable levels are altered. Unfortunately, schools have to remain open even when they are failing. This is a sad state of affairs. Once again, TREC has established review procedures based on the number of student’s that pass their licensing exams on their first attempt. For clarification, this basically means that any Texas home inspector qualifying education provider that helps between 50% and 80% of their students pass their licensing exams can stay in business. They can continue to take money from people with the promise of providing them with the education necessary to pass their home inspector exams. Why are traditional Texas home inspector education providers struggling to help their students pass their licensing exams? The fact is all of the Texas home inspector training schools have had their courses approved by the state. That means they do not have to change anything about those courses until they are up for renewal. If there has not been any substantial changes in the licensing requirements, schools do not have to change anything about their courses. Making changes takes time, consideration and money. Educational designers know that any course in any educational system should be under constant scrutiny. Courses should be altered and adapted often. After all, how many times has a course been designed perfectly on the first attempt? Course designers should be using their student’s data to make positive changes to their courses. If students are struggling with specific topics or activities, course designers should make changes to improve student’s understanding. Courses should consistently be under review and be altered when necessary. A school that provides their own textbooks will not alter their material very often. They will not be putting out a second edition of their textbook based on poor student performance. In fact, they will probably only change their material when it is required to maintain their license. The same holds true for classroom lectures. The same lectures are used on repeat. Even if the lectures touch on every point, it may not be enough to help students recall all of the information. The schools are obviously not adapting their courses based on their student’s poor performances on their examinations. Home inspectors know a great deal about home inspections, but they do not know very much about educational programs. It would be interesting to know if any of the Texas home inspector qualifying education providers, other that TIA, are familiar with educational design models. Examples of instructional design models includes: The common theme among these models? Continuous evaluation and improvement. Schools that follow these frameworks identify knowledge gaps and adjust their courses accordingly. How many Texas home inspector schools use these methods? The Inspection Academy is the newest Texas home inspector qualifying education provider—and we’re different. Our goal is simple: Help students pass their licensing exams and start successful careers. If you’re serious about becoming a licensed home inspector in Texas, do your research. If you want a school that prioritizes your success—not just its licensing status—there’s only one choice. The Inspection Academy is the most dynamic home inspector education system on the market.A Costly Mistake: One Teacher’s Story
Texas Home Inspector Qualifying Education: Built to Meet a Minimum Standard
Misleading Marketing: The 99% Success Rate Lie
Time for a Better Approach to Texas Home Inspector Training
A System Without Success
Changing Texas Home Inspector Training
Instructional Design Models
The Newest Texas Home Inspector Qualifying Education School
