Williamson Evers

Article summary

Williamson M. "Bill" Evers (born October 18, 1948) is a former American libertarian activist and education researcher. In 1988, he became a resident scholar at Stanford University's Hoover Institution first as a national fellow, then as a visiting scholar, and most recently as a research fellow there and at The Independent Institute. He went on leave from Hoover to serve as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development in the United States Department of Education in 2007 to 2009. At the beginning of September 2016, he was selected to lead the "agency action team" for the Department of Education in the Trump-Pence transition.

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1948-10-18 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of formation: 1999 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1948-10-18". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of formation is "1999". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372327922