In college, students finally get to evaluate their professors, but until then, there are few venues for a student to provide feedback on the teaching they receive. But long before college, students’ feedback would be useful, if we only sought it out. Unfortunately, there have been scant opportunities for students, even in high school, to evaluate their teachers.A study reported in a New York Times article, “What Works in the Classroom? Ask the Students,” reveals an unsurprising truth.
The article begins by answering this question: “How useful are the views of public school students about their teachers?"
“Quite useful, according to preliminary results released on Friday from a $45 million research project that is intended to find new ways of distinguishing good teachers from bad.”
How amazing that we believed it was necessary to spend $45 million to discover what was surely a commonsensical answer.
I can think of many more ways to spend $45 million in education while simply beginning the practice of student evaluations in all schools starting in 5th grade.
Zoe Weil, President of the Institute for Humane Education
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm
Image courtesy of Dominick Gwareck via Creative Commons.
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