D.C. public school students are getting a louder voice in evaluating their teachers, thanks to the latest reform from Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
Rhee said this week that her “high school Cabinet” -- a group of students she meets with regularly -- expressed concerns that poor teachers could step up their act when official evaluators came to their classrooms, then return to their mediocre norm once the coast was clear.
The student Cabinet spent part of the last school year drafting questions for teacher evaluation forms to be completed by students. While the surveys will not be counted as part of a teacher’s official evaluation next year, they will be given a test run, and could count in the future.
It’s tempting to say students could use the new voice for payback against teachers they dislike, or that the evaluations turn the classroom dynamic upside down. But that is not fair to students, nor to good teachers.
College students have assessed their instructors for years, and lots of teachers already informally ask their students for feedback. Like any constructive criticism, it can help a teacher to improve. But even more importantly, it creates an environment of trust and respect in the classroom.
By taking students’ assessments of teachers seriously, teachers show that they see their students as responsible individuals worth being heard. And when students know that they are respected, they will respond in kind -- by taking the review process seriously.
Rhee spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway tells the Washington Examiner, “We value student perspectives on the quality of instruction in their classroom, and there is an emerging body of research that suggests it may correlate with actual outcomes.”
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A similar review program will begin in Boston this fall. Emily Cohen, of the National Council on Teacher Quality, who worked with the Boston students, said, “They wanted to have a way to let their teachers know what was working. They have the most to gain from a good teacher -- and the most to lose from a bad one.”
