In article ,
Greg Esres wrote:

no systematic hierarcy of academic protocols and credentials.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were?

In a sense, there is. If you get enough students to pass checkrides,
you become a "Master CFI". Of course, it doesn't actually prove that
you know anything more than how to prep students for checkrides :-)

I'd like to go to
something like TERPS school; while the real deal might be overkill,
maybe slight modification could produce highly qualified -II's.

Anybody can download the TERPS manual and read it. Not quite the same
as attending a training class, but you get a whole lot more than you'd
find in the AIM.