61J1-4.001. Qualifying Education

(1) Board prescribed or approved courses and end-of-course examinations shall be offered by a nationally or state recognized appraisal organization, accredited universities, colleges, community colleges, area vocational-technical centers, state or federal agencies or commissions, or proprietary real estate schools registered pursuant to Section 475.451, F.S. A copy of the course application shall be submitted to the board for evaluation at least 90 days prior to use. The provider must submit a complete copy of the course materials, a detailed course timeline, learning objectives and end-of-course examinations. The Board will notify the entity within 60 days whether the course and exams meet the criteria set out in subsection (2), below, and Rules 61J1-10.001, 61J1-10.002, 61J1-10.003, 61J1-10.004, F.A.C. Approval must be granted before the course is conducted. Institutions, entities and schools offering Board prescribed or approved appraisal educational courses are responsible for keeping the course subject matter current and accurate.

(2) The Board shall also approve past appraisal courses which cover substantially the same subject matter, classroom hours of attendance, and completion standards as the board approved courses offered by the entities as set out in subsections (1) and (3), and Rules 61J1-10.001, 61J1-10.002, 61J1-10.003, 61J1-10.004, F.A.C. If the requested information is found lacking to show course equivalency the Board may request supportive documentation to determine course equivalency.

(3) Satisfactory course completion is demonstrated by achieving a grade of 75% or higher on a Board approved end-of-course examination. The provider shall develop at least two forms of the end-of-course examinations and submit them for approval with a detailed course syllabus, detailed timeline and two copies of the course material. The answer key must be unique for each form of the examination and reference the page numbers containing the information on which each question and correct answer is based. At least 70% of the questions on each examination form shall be application oriented. Application level means the ability to use the learned material in a completely new and concrete situation. It usually involves the application of rules, policies, methods, computations, laws, theories, or any other relevant and available information. No more than 10% of the questions on each form of the test shall be at the knowledge level. Knowledge level means the recall of specific fact, patterns, methods, terms, rules, dates, formulas, names or other information that should be committed to memory. A provider offering prescribed courses must maintain a sufficient bank of questions to assure examination validity. The examination bank must contain at least 25 items for each 15-hour segment of course time. All questions shall be multiple choice with 4 answer choices each. The order of the examination questions may not follow the sequence of the course content. No examination shall contain more than 20% duplication of questions. The examination shall comply with the Item Writing Guidelines as of January 29, 2004, incorporated herein by reference. The examination must be proctored.

(4) The institution, school, or entity offering these Board prescribed or approved courses shall fully inform each student of the standards and requirements at the commencement of each course. Each student shall receive a copy of the most current course approval letter, issued by the Board, at the commencement of each course. Notice of course completion shall be made on the form prescribed by the Board in Rule 61J1-4.005, F.A.C.

(5) Where any national or state recognized appraisal organization, accredited university, college, community college, area vocational-technical center, state or federal agency or commission, or proprietary real estate school allows the Board approved end-of-course examination to be retaken, students failing the Board approved end-of-course examination must wait at least 30 days from the date of the original examination to take the alternate end-of-course examination. Within one year of the original end-of-course examination, a student may retake the prescribed end-of-course exam a maximum of one time. Otherwise, students failing the appraisal education course examination must repeat the Board prescribed or approved course prior to being eligible to again take the end-of-course examinations. Makeup classes to enable the student to take the end-of-course examination and makeup examination, which are due to student or family illness, may not extend more than 30 days beyond the class scheduled examination without approval from the Board.

(6)(a) The qualifying education courses required in this rule may be satisfied by a Board approved equivalent distance education course. Distance education is education that takes place when the learner is separated from the source of instruction by time and/or distance. Such distance education course subject matter, assignment work, scholastic standards and other related requirements shall be evaluated in the same manner as the course offered by classroom instruction, having due regard however, to the different method of presentation. Components of distance education include synchronous and asynchronous courses. Synchronous courses require the instructor and students to interact simultaneously online via live webinar or web-based meeting. Synchronous courses do not require proof of certification of the delivery method by the AQB or an independent certified organization approved by the AQB. The institution, school or entity offering synchronous courses must provide the delivery platform. Asynchronous courses allow the students to progress at their own pace and follow a structure course content and quiz/exam schedule. The institution, school, or entity offering distance asynchronous education courses must provide proof of certification of the delivery method by the AQB or an independent certified organization approved by the AQB.

(b) The Board shall also approve past distance education appraisal courses taken after January 1, 2008 which cover substantially the same subject matter and completion standards as the board approved courses offered by the entities as set out in subsections (1) and (3), and Rules 61J1-10.001, 61J1-10.002, 61J1-10.003, 61J1-10.004, F.A.C. If the requested information is found lacking to show course equivalency the Board may request supportive documentation to determine course equivalency.

(c) A copy of the distance education course materials and a copy of each form of the course examination that will be administered to students shall be submitted to the Board for evaluation and approval at least 90 days prior to use. A minimum of 2 course examinations for each course shall be submitted for approval. The Board will issue a status report to the course provider within 60 days after submission of the course and examinations. Approval must be granted before the course and examinations may be offered. Thereafter, the course and examinations shall be maintained by each institution, school, or entity offering the distance education course(s) in accordance with the Board rules pursuant to Section 475.615(2), F.S. It is the responsibility of the institution, school or entity offering the Board approved distance education courses to keep the course material current and accurate, and notify the Board at least 90 days before implementing any significant changes to the course during its approval period.

(d) The qualifying education courses required in this rule may be taught by a Board approved equivalent hybrid education course. Hybrid courses can be composed of a combination of classroom, asynchronous and synchronous education. A copy of the complete course materials and a copy of each form of the course examination that will be administered to students shall be submitted to the Board for evaluation and approval at least 90 days prior to use. A minimum of 2 course examinations for each course shall be submitted for approval. The examination may be administered at the end of the course or portions of the examination may be administered to students at appropriate intervals during the course. The Board will issue a status report to the course provider within 60 days after submission of the courses and examinations. Approval must be granted before the course and examination may be offered. Thereafter, the course and examinations shall be maintained by each institution, school, or entity offering the education course(s) in accordance with the Board approved standard as subsequently modified by changing times, standards, and laws. It is the responsibility of the institution, school, or entity offering the Board approved education courses to keep the course material current and accurate, and notify the Board at least 90 days before implementing any significant changes to the course during its approval period. The examination must be proctored in person or remotely. Bio-metric proctoring is acceptable. The institution, school, or entity offering hybrid education courses must provide proof of certification of the delivery method by the AQB or by an independent certified organization approved by the AQB for the asynchronous portion of the course. The institution, school, or entity offering synchronous education courses must provide the delivery platform.

(e) For distance and hybrid learning, class hours are defined as 60 minutes, of which 50 minutes are instruction attended by the student. Fifty minutes of each 60 minute class segment shall be timed.

(f) Satisfactory completion of the Board prescribed qualifying education course(s) through distance and hybrid education is demonstrated by achieving a grade of 75% or higher on the Board approved examination. Students failing the Board approved end-of-course examination must wait at least 30 days from the date of the original examination to take the alternate end-of-course examination. Within one year of the original end-of-course examination, a student may retake the prescribed end-of-course exam a maximum of one time. Otherwise, students failing the appraisal education course examination must repeat the Board prescribed or approved course prior to being eligible to again take the end-of-course examinations.

(g) The objective of the distance and hybrid education course examination is to test fairly and reliably whether students have learned essential facts and concepts from the course. The examination bank must contain at least 25 items for each 15-hour segment of course time. The order of the examination questions may not follow the sequence of the course content. The answer key must reference the page number(s) containing the information on which each question and correct answer is based. The answer key must be unique for each form of the examination. At least 70% of the questions on each form of the test shall be at the application level or higher. No more than 10% of the questions on each form of the test shall be at the knowledge level. The examination shall comply with the Item Writing Guidelines as of January 29, 2004, incorporated by reference in subsection (3), above. The examination must be proctored in person or remotely. Bio-metric proctoring is acceptable.

(h) In all Board approved qualifying education courses by distance education, the institution, school or entity shall provide to students an address, telephone number, or e-mail address of a Board approved instructor to answer inquiries.

(i) Qualifying education courses by distance education, hybrid or classroom will be approved for 24 months at which point the course will expire unless submitted to the Board and approved for renewal. Courses may not be offered or distributed after the expiration date. Each student shall receive a copy of the most current course approval letter, issued by the Board, at the commencement of each course. Students must be notified of the course expiration date upon receipt of the course materials.

Rulemaking Authority 475.614, 475.617 FS. Law Implemented 475.613, 475.615, 475.617 FS. History–New 10-15-91, Formerly 21VV-4.001, Amended 1-9-94, 3-10-98, 9-6-98, 10-10-99, 5-25-04, 5-15-05, 1-17-06, 2-6-07, 12-6-07, 3-24-09, 4-28-10, 8-1-10, 7-30-14, 8-5-15, 1-4-22, 3-29-23.