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From: ferguson@x102c (ferguson ct 71078)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: re: teacher competence
Message-ID: <1470@trantor.harris-atd.com>
Date: 27 Jan 89 15:20:28 GMT
References: <1461@trantor.harris-atd.com> <5908@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
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in-reply-to: bls@cs.purdue.edu (brian l. stuart)

>maybe its time we discussed ways of determining who is doing a good
>job of teaching and who is not.  clearly, most existing systems are
>not working.  this may seem like hearesy to some, but how about using
>the students' evaluation of teachers are part of the process.  after
>all, it is the students who are the "consumers" of the teaching "product."
>my undergraduate alma mater (the rose-hulman institute of technology)
>used the student evaluation of professors as one of the primary parts
>of teacher evaluation.  i have seen professors whose contracts were
>not renewed largely as a result of the recognition on the part of the
>students that they were not up to the rose standard.
>
>what do the rest of you think about this?  do you have any ideas about
>how we can better evaluate teachers in all levels of education?
>
>brian l. stuart
>department of computer sciences
>purdue university

some suggestions for improving teacher appraisals:

  o  appraisal by students -- this option could yield questionable
     results since some students will dislike their teachers and score
     them badly.  the appraisal could be an opportunity for some
     malcontents to "even the score" with the teacher.  high school
     students can be very immature.  a student appraisal process
     probably wouldn't work at all for grade-school students.

  o  appraisal by other teachers -- i suspect many teachers know which
     of their peers are doing the job and which are just along for the
     ride.

  o  appraisal by student improvement -- teacher appraisal would be
     determined by the cumulative percent improvement of their
     students on some standardized achievement test.  the measurement
     of interest is the percent improvement over the previous year as
     opposed to achievement of a minimum score.  the objective is to
     measure how much the students learned vs. how much they
     know.

  o  increased classroom monitoring -- a basic problem with the
     existing appraisal system is that the principal only attends
     class one day a year and that day is known by the teacher in
     advance.  impromptu visits by the principal on an irregular basis
     might give a more accurate picture of teacher performance.  the
     high-tech, big-brother variation of this approach is to install
     video cameras in the classrooms to allow unintrusive observation.

comments?

chuck ferguson             harris government information systems division
(407) 984-6010             ms: w1/7732  po box 98000  melbourne, fl 32902
internet:                  ferguson@cobra@trantor.harris-atd.com
Chuck Ferguson             Harris Government Information Systems Division
(407) 984-6010             MS: W1/7732  PO Box 98000  Melbourne, FL 32902
Internet:                  ferguson@cobra@trantor.harris-atd.com