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I teach in higher education and so am rated by my students each semester.  I have been teaching for 11 years and my evaluations have been fairly uniform with only a few exceptions.  My take on student evaluations is that they can provide helpful perspectives on how students are experiencing a class and as a teacher, it has been helpful to have that perspective.  However, it is certainly true that students can be harsh and give unjustifiably hostile evaluations.  Female professors and professors of color often are scrutinized more aggressively by students.  Some professors are “popular” for reasons that seem unrelated to effective pedagogy when contrasted to evaluations by peers.  By and large though, consistently negative evaluations reveal teachers who are unable to communicate material to students – regardless of their own mastery of the material,   Student evaluations are included in our tenure files and considered by tenure committees, but everyone who looks at them is mindful of their shortcomings.  As a parent of middle school students, I think that by 3rd or 4th grade, well-tailored student evaluations could give teachers some useful information about how students feel in their classrooms.  The main concern would be that such information be used for constructive purposes.  The “numbers” should never be mindlessly included in a formula for devising how effective a particular teacher is.

I think it’s a great idea.  I’d stand around, tell lots of jokes, give no homework, teach just enough to make the kids think they’re learning, tell more jokes, show movies, and tell even more jokes.  The kids would love me, and I’d be an amazing teacher. 

One of the most meaningful comments in my life came from a survey where a student who had struggled intensely with mental health issues and turned in almost nothing for a whole year, wrote, “You pushed me when others gave up on me.” So, no, I don’t expect my students to rate me higher if I lower my expectations for them. Just the opposite.

I’ve taught hundreds or thousands of adolescents and pre-adolescents, and yes, they are often flaky and sometimes self-centered and occasionally prone to group-think (but these things describe a ton of adults, too!).

Nonetheless, they are young adults, whom I like and care about, with a fierce sense of justice and a keen eye for what happens in the different classrooms they visit every day. The vast majority, while griping and being flaky about homework, tests, and the like, understand why they have to do it and share their families’ and teachers’ general goals for themselves. They know they’re in your classroom to learn, and they have a sense of what the stakes are if they don’t get a good education, even if they don’t always follow-through on their end of the bargain. 

On every survey given by me or my administration over the years, I’ve found the students to be nothing but honest. Sure, there are a few who misread the rating scale or whose answers reflect their mood that day or revenge for a low test grade, but they have been vanishingly few, and their responses wash out in the data. When I’ve seen the results of student surveys about teachers who were struggling, if anything, the students rated them more generously than I would have, but not as high as they rated teachers who were more effective. It seemed fair to me!

Am I the only one a bit surprised by other teachers’ really strong reaction that the kids can’t be trusted? I am surprised by such scathing dismissals of their students’ motivation, drives, and ability to be fair in a high-stakes situation. I read these comments and feel sad about the “us versus them” vibe regarding the very students whom they serve every day.

I’ve been thinking about this all week. I recognize kids are frequently very perceptive about there teachers, I use anonymous written feedback already and find it very valuable, and I have no doubt my students would give me good ratings. Without even asking, they tell me how much they like my classes because I make things clear and other kind of gushy stuff.

But I am still opposed to student feedback as part of an evaluation system. Maybe I’m wrong. But maybe you are. Maybe there is just genuine valid disagreement, which itself should be a cause for concern and hesitation. Initially, I was suspicious because individuals can act one way when alone but completely differently in a peer group setting, kids as well as adults.There is substantial evidence psycho-sociologically, historically, and in research for that fact. And I do think the proponents of student evaluations still underrate this possibility which may not be easily detected in large statistical studies.If even one good teacher’s career is ruined because of this kind of evaluation, I believe it would be unacceptable. Otherwise, you have instituted a moral system of utilitarianism which generally doesn’t work. Destroy one person so you make 99 better. And personally I don’t care if its 99 kids who are somehow better than one adult. Its a bad example to set for any society.

I am also suspicious of the DOE to institute any education reform at present concerning teachers so long as they refuse to admit the inadequacies of the APPR model which is obvious to any statistician. They are effectively lying to parents, teachers and the public and perhaps to themselves as well.As such, they cannot be trusted to institute any reform at this point and their leadership must be removed pending the next mayoral election.

So the best I can offer at this point, is a hold on this matter.