Should Students Evaluate Their Teachers

“I don’t like history. I never will. But I liked this class.”

“You’re loud (in a good way).”

“Too much lecturing.”

“The homework was too hard. Took too much time.”

The above comments came from the student evaluations from my last year of teaching.

As I poured over the results and comments, I felt a sense of satisfaction. The complements reaffirmed why I entered teaching. 

Their criticisms made me think. How could I improve my teaching? How can I become a better teacher? Not only did I find their criticisms legitimate, they indeed were areas of weakness. Most importantly their opinions shaped how I planned for the future (less lecturing, better homework assignments, relate the class to their lives).

On Monday’s #vachat, the question was asked, “Should students be involved in the evaluation of teachers?”

Unanimously respondents agreed that students should evaluate teachers.

Joe Posick @posickj

Students are in front of teacher more than we are so they see them at their best and worst.

Michael Craddock @mpcraddock

Why wouldn’t you ask students? Besides, the teacher, how many other people really know what goes on in the classroom day to day?

Jessica Cromer@BuffVeeP

Student voice should be heard; it’s all about the way it is presented and worded.

Rob Donatelli @NL_MrD

Absolutely. They are our clients. Don’t we in bus. ask our customers to rate/review us?

Brian Kayser @bkayser11

Students definitely need to be involved, any teacher that says no already knows what their students will say, and it’s probably bad.

Of course, student evaluations should only be part of the whole picture. Critics of student evaluations claim that anonymous student evaluations enable students to settle personal grievances against teachers. While this indeed may be the case, the best teachers usually don’t make enemies. Most students respect their teachers and appreciate their efforts and commitment.

Critics also believe that knowing students will be evaluating them, teachers would inflate grades. From my own teaching experiences—I was known for being relatively difficult—I consistently earned excellent marks on classroom environment and personality. Even when asked, “Does the teacher grades fairly?”  students responded favorably (although not as high as other questions). 

The benefits of student evaluations of teachers far outweigh any potential problems. So much so, that teachers should constantly be seeking student input, not just at the end of the year. The best teachers constantly reflect on their performance. Student evaluations facilitate reflection by soliciting feedback. Feedback need not be formal, but can instead be done informally at the end of every class or every unit.

• How could I have done a better job?
• What did you find most difficult?
• What are you most confused about?
• As a teacher, what could I have done better today?

Seeking constant feedback sends a message to  students that teachers value their opinions; that we are not above them. Seeking input opens teachers' eyes to strategies for improvement. Imagine how students would respond when they see their teachers making adjustments based on their feedback! Imagine how this would improve teaching and learning! 

I've shared a couple of my year-end evaluations through google drive. 

Monday's #vachat 

What Students Want From Their Teachers

Inspired by Angela Maier’s posting on 12 Things Kids Wantfrom Their Teachers and her participation in a recent #ptchat  , I decided to see what students at my high school want from their teachers.

So over the course of several lunch periods, I went from table-to-table, asking, “What qualities do you look for in the best teachers? The best teachers (blank)…”

While my methodology will cause my college statistics professor to cringe, the students were remarkably honest. I interviewed about 200 students and fewer than 5 answered “no work” or “allows us to sleep in class.” The answers reaffirmed that students really do want to learn and be challenged. Not surprisingly, the answers didn’t differ much from Angela’s list either.

To the best of my abilities I grouped the answers together and they are listed by frequency of response.

We want teachers who make class engaging, interesting, captivating and fun.

This was the run-away winner with more than the next three responses combined.

Students used words like variety, creative, hands on, participation, fun, and real to describe the best lessons.

I want the subject to connect to my life.

I like the classes where we (students and teachers) are equals and share the responsibility for learning.

Allow us to participate in the learning.

Make the class fun. Allow us to move around and be active.

I like the classes where we play games that help us learn.

Let us use technology.

We want teachers who are chill and lenient

I was initially surprised by how many students used the word “chill” to describe their best teachers and I initially discounted the answer wrongly assuming that students meant teachers who allow them to sleep in class, don’t have high expectations, or are easy. After hearing chill mentioned several times by several different students, I pressed the students further for what they meant.

Teachers need to realize that we have our own lives and their class is not the only one we take.

Like, if we can’t complete a homework assignment for a good reason, the teacher should understand and not just give us a zero.

Ms. XYZ looks at her tests and if a bunch of students miss the same question, she doesn’t count it against us. She teaches it again. I wish all teachers did this.

Chill teachers work with us

We want teachers who are enthusiastic.

While this answer definitely correlates to the top answer, it seemed as if students were referring as much to the teacher’s personality as they were to the lesson.

Students used words like passionate, energetic, exciting and committed to describe enthusiastic teachers.

We can tell when a teacher doesn’t want to be here.

Teachers who love their subject.

Ms. XYZ meets us at the door with a smile. She’s excited to see us and teach us. 

We want teachers who relate to us

This differed from relating the subject to the students’ lives and instead focused on the relationship between students and teachers.

Personable

Understand who we are

Ask about me

Teachers who take the time to get to know who I am

We want teachers who make sure we learn

Students used words like helpful, clear, and feedback.

Teachers need to be patient.

Show us, take the time to explain and if necessary re-explain.

Make sure we get it before moving on.

Let us know how we’re doing

Wants us to do well and is willing to make sure we do well

Work with us

We want teachers who are respectful

Students referred to respectful teachers as those who listen, care, communicate, positive, approachable and nice.

We want teachers who are knowledgeable of the subject matter.

Teachers who have the knowledge bring the subject alive.

Ms. XYZ can explain it so well because she is so knowledgeable.

Ms. XYZ knows [her subject] inside-out

Several of the students who answered this answered it negatively, referring to teachers who do NOT know their subject matter. This answer surprised me. I guess I was naïve. 8 students mentioned it, so it’s not an insignificant number. I pressed the students on this one a little—without wanting to know whom the teachers were.

You can tell when they don’t know because they can’t answer your questions and they just read from their textbook.

She always is correcting herself the next day.

Other answers mentioned by more than 4 students:

Stays focused

Admits their faults

Values our time

Organized

Good class management

We want teachers who don’t lecture.

Several students also answered with what the best teachers don’t do: lecture. As a matter of fact, avoid excessive lecturing would have been the 3^rd ranked answer. While the students recognized the role of direct instruction in learning, they differentiated between the good and the bad.

Teachers can lecture, but they can’t lecture for the entire class (our classes our 90 minutes) and expect us to learn.

We want to be taught. Don’t just worksheet and read off of a PowerPoint.

The worst is when a teacher just uses a pre-made PowerPoint.

Teacher X lectures a lot, but she involves us in the lecture. It’s lively and she uses lots of stories. She makes it real.

I hate the cookie-cutter lessons. Lecture, worksheet, read from the book, answer questions from the book. Repeat.

What would you add to the list?