The New York Times website, NYTimes.com, has a whole section devoted to students called The Learning Network. Part of it asks students to read and respond to current articles in the paper.
In this assignment, you will read the student opinion question, which contains a summary and excerpt from the article, and respond to it here in the comments section.
Today’s student opinion question deals with the Chicago teacher strikes, which have now ended, and exactly how teachers should be evaluated.
Here are the specific directions:
- Go to the NY Times website article, “Should Students Be Allowed to Grade Their Teachers?”
- Read the entire article, excerpt, and questions.
- Come back to this page and scroll down to the comments box.
- Type only your first name and last initial in the “name” box. (Use standard capitalization.)
- In the large text box, write a description of the article you read and your response to it. (Your response should be articulate, relevant, and interesting. Use standard English spelling, punctuation, and grammar.)
- Click “Post Comment.” (Your comment will not be posted immediately. It must be moderated and approved by me.)
This assignment is worth 30 points.
I believe it can go either way, because some students are not mature enough to grade their teachers, but then again some are. I do agree to principals and district administrators evaluating, observing, looking at test scores.To make decisions about the teachers, and how hard they work, their salary, their job tenure and how well they do with helping children get their education. I don’t believe that some students can tell what good teaching looks like, but i do believe that higher classman can. It all depends on who the child is, who the teacher is, and where they are.
In the article, people are debating over whether or not students should grade their teachers. Some people believe it would improve test scores and graduation rates. Others think it would not help very much at all. In my opinion, students should not grade their teachers. As it said in one of the questions, some students may not be fair when they grade. Also, if a teacher is hired, they are most likely very capable of teaching their students well. The reason some students do not graduate or have low test scores is because they do not care about what they do. It is not necessarily because they have bad teachers. Overall, teachers should be the only people doing the grading.
I personally think that students should be allowed to grade teachers. One reason is because you will know how well the teachers teach and how well they cooperate. If students were allowed to grade teachers,they should grade fairly. If a teacher upsets them or gives them a bad grade they don’t need to give the teacher a bad grade for ‘revenge’. Students grading teachers would give the most accurate,honest review of how teachers act without an administrator in the room. A grading policy for teachers would be a good idea.
The evaluation of teachers is important but yet not so important. The reason I think so is because it determines thier salary and thier ability as an educator. Using children / students
to evaluate them could be the wrong choice. Children that like or dislike thier teachers might dishonestly grade them too high or low. I think administrators should stick to that job.
I think some students can because they will be mature about it and some can’t because they will let their feelings influence their evaluations. Teachers should be evaluated because some of them are not doing their jobs making sure kids get an education.
I think that students should be able to grade their teachers. When doing this, the fact that some students might evaluate based upon favoritism should definitely be taken into consideration when acting upon the given “grade,” but his would be a good opportunity to see what the students think of a specific teacher. It allowed them to give their personal opinion. If the students are not being positively effected by the teacher’s presence then the students are being deprived of a good and/or better education. I believe that this could be a positive change to today’s public education system.
Student may agree or disagree on whether to grade their teachers. I personally believe that students should be able to “grade” their teachers for different easons. A major problem students may be coming across is that there are both good and bad teachers. Having a bad teacher will lead to a poor job in school which can effect the students grades. Students and parents should have the right to talk to someone in a higher authority, such as the School Board or the principle, about that certain teacher. Students should care about their education and future, and not hold back just beacuse of a smal problem.
I belive that students should be able to grade their teachers. Grading teachers would help the principals evauate , because the students be with them all the time and know how they act.The students should not let the teachers know of what they grading them on , so it want cause no conflict. I thinking grading the teachers would probably help them teach better and get better at other things.Students need a say on their education too.
It is a good question to debate on. Me personally I think students should be able to grade their teachers. Students know when they are having fun and learning at the same time. Most students feel like there’s more to school than just textsbooks. They think they should be able to have fun during the learning process.
I think that students should be able to grade teachers. The reason why i think this is because this could elimnate the teachers who really dont care. Students grading their teacher could help some students go to college and get a good education
I do think that middle and high school students should be able to grade their teachers. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and students see things that other teachers sometimes don’t. Some teachers don’t teach the away that they should, or in ways that don’t make sense, or they might not treat everyone in the class equally, and some don’t care about the students that aren’t doing as well.
I think students should be able to evaluate their teachers because they need a good education and bad teachers can’t give it to them.
In my opinion, I think students should be able to evaluate their teachers because most teachers are lazy and irresponsible. Also, some teachers don’t really care about another student passing a certain test or grade. Then, other teachers have said they didn’t care about another child’s education.
I think that students should be able to grade their teachers. That way the principle and the parents would get a good idea of that teacher.Another good thing about that is that the teacher can figure out what the students think about them, and how of a teacher they are. The only bad thing is that the students could write a bad report on the if they don’t like them.
The evelution of teachers about students is a instersting subject. There are some muture students out there that will try to abuse it. If a teacher deciplines them because of there behavior they will more than likely get there friends together so that they can all give that teacher a bad grade. That could be a real problem because that could be a really great teacher, but they could be the most unliked at the same time. Other students might be able to handle this power by do it fairly, and not by which teachers they like the most. I for one think that there should be differnt catagories. One for teaching ablity and behavior. With those two I think there could be a fair judgment.
I think that students should be allowed to grade their teachers weekly on how well they teach and if it is easy for the students to understand and remember (not memorizing for a single test). It should be returned to the teacher so that he/she may look at it and drive harder toward being a better educater. I think that the grades should be anonymous so that a frustrated teacher does not take his/her frustration out on the student(s). The grades should not effect the payroll unless the teachers behavior and quality of teaching does not improve.
I think that students should be able to grade their teachers. There would might be a problem because some students may like some teachers more than others. Some students would maybe let their teachers know how they learn best. This would give the teacher an idea on how to teach their class. Teachers would have to be able to take criticism from students and not get mad. Maybe the students would pay attention more if the teachers knew how they learned best. If students do not change maybe it’s not the teacher maybe it’s just the students , but it wouldn’t hurt to try. This is my personal opinion on the matter
I think that students should be able to grade their teachers because there are a lot of teachers who do not do their job properly. I have seen with my own eyes thast if some students eed help the teacher will walk the oher way or do not try and teach to their best ability. In most cases just taking notes will not help a student learn, the teachers need to get up and teach or either choose a fun excercise that will get the class motivated. And i do know that some children shows off in class but that doesnt mean the teacher should just give up on them. Teachers need to be evaluated most definetly.
I think the students should be able to grade their teachers so the parents would see how good the teacher is and how he/she teaches. I think they should also determine the teachers salary because if their not goood teachers than the people that pay them are just wasting their money. Also I think that students know what good teaching is and what a good or bad teacher is too. I think students wouldn’t be fair in grading their teachers because if they like a teacher they’re going to give them a good grade and if they don’t, they’re going to give them a bad grade.
Should students be able to grade there teachers? Honestly, it could go either way, because some students actually care about their education, while other students don’t care at all. If students were able to grade their teachers, some students wouldn’t take it serious, causing the teachers to lose their job for no reason. We all know that there are good and bad teachers, but you have to watch what you say about them, simply because, if you were asked to grade your teacher and somebody else in your class were asked the same thing, Would the answers be the same? The principles should be the ones observing the teachers, i know it would be fun to grade your teacher, but would you grade them fairly? Would you give them a good/bad grade simply because you do or don’t like them? These questions should come into consideration when you are grading your teacher. Give them the grade they deserve whether it’s good or bad, So i think students who are actually willing to give their teachers an honest rate should be able to grade their teachers.
I think students should be able to evaluate their teachers, this would give the principal an idea of how the teacher teaches and if they are covering subjects thoroughly. Although, there’s the question of some students grading teachers they don’t like lower this could be an effective system.
The students might give teacher good evaluations based on how they treat them and some might not. But I don’t think this would be a good idea mainly for the reason of how the teachers do their jobs. There are some teachers that do their jobs ,there are some that just hand you work and expect you to know how to do it without even talking about the topic or giving you notes on it.
I think it will be a great idea for us students to grade our teachers because some of the problems that we state to the principal and school board they might not believe so this new grading system will give us so evidence. For me personally its a great idea because we should be able to grade them on their conduct and attitude like they do us. It’s a great idea and hopefully in the future it will be established and we will be able to do it.
I think so to Jai’Meika! Most teachers just don’t care how students learn. Though some students act like they don’t care others do . So that’s a good POINT !!!
I believe that students should be able to grade their teachers because that can hep the teachers know what the students think of them and find out what they need to teach more about. That is great idea and i think that public schools should consider the teacher grading system .
I Think The Students Should Be Able To Evaluate The Teachers. Some Of The Teachers In Middle And High School Be Teaching Different Stuff Every Day. Some Students Do Not Learn Fast And Some Do. Teachers Just Think That Students Have The Same Mind As Them But We Do Not. The Only Way That You Can See That , If You Let The Students Tell You.
I think there should be a group of a few students,(preferrably ones with high grades and decent behavior), selected from each grade to evaluate teachers. I definitely feel that teachers should be evaluated because some aren’t capable of using methods that work for every student. I’ve mostly had teachers that will work one on one with me to ensure I know the material. However, there have been several who won’t get up and teach at the board or when you ask them to help you understand a problem, they simply say, “No, I taught this yesterday.” That’s unfair to some students who don’t get it on the first day it’s being taught. Maybe if the students could evaluate teachers based on their methods of getting the material to stick rather than picking them for their easy going attitude, many students would be receiving higher marks.
I think students should be able to grade their teachers. They should be able to because, they know what type of skills a teacher must have, inorder for the teacher to help the students learn, an understand the subject that the teacher is teaching them. The principal should also evaluate the teachers, to see how they interact with the students, and also to see how the students react to the way the teacher teaches them. This would help the students in the long run, because if they have a teacher that is doing the right thing, they will learn the subjects and graduate.
I think us students should have the right to grade our teachers. Mostly because we’re around them the most, and they shouldn’t know its going they would act normal as they do when they aren’t expecting to be evaluated. They should do it so administration would know how they really act in class.
I don’t think studnets should be able to grade their techers. Although some students would honestly grade their techers on how well they do their jobs, others would grade their techers poorly simply because they don’t like how they do things or just don’t like the teacher period. Teachers should be evaluated by test scores and student scores, not what the student thinks, because the only thing that matters is if the student are learning what they need to.
This article involves a debate between a school and its teachers about students evaluating their teachers performances. I feel as long as certain factors are taken into consideration, it could be helpful for students to evaluate teachers. This practice could lead to better grades and a more pleasant experience for all students. If this does happen, the situations should be closely monitered. For instance, a student who has a record of disciplinary problems involving teachers probably shouldn’t have his or her opinion counted as highly, as opposed to a student with a good discipinary record and a good academic performance. As long as students’ evaluations are presented in a reasonable manner, it would be a good idea for students to evaluate their teachers.
I think students should be able to grade their teachers. Although some students may grade the teachers based on favoritism, that doesn’t mean the idea should be thrown out. By the criticisim and advice of the students, teachers could improve their ways of educating. I believe that students know a good teacher when they see one, a well prepared and experience teacher is a good one. I think most students will grade their teachers fairly.
I feel that we the students, should be able to grade our teachers. We should be able to grade our teachers because we have to learn from them. I think all teachers need to be evaluated by students,principals,and District Administrators because every teacher has different levels they may teach. Some may teach more advanced students. In my opinion I known what good teaching looks like,so therefore I can tell how effective a teacher is at teaching. Students can be fair in grading their teahers by keeping a progress of ehat the teach and how they teach. I would be fair to all teachers because it not always bad because they are mean or hard its because they expect a,ot from students preparing you for the next grade level.
Should students be able to grade their teachers? People could vote either way. Some students might give their teacher a good grade if thats their favorite subject and vise versa. I personally think that it is a good idea to be able to grade your teachers. It gives them feedback that they can use to their benefit. They can take the negative grades and comments and make them better. They can keep the good things the same. Some students care about their education so they should be abke to give the teachers feedback, so not only does it make the experience better for them but also the teacher.
I think that students should be able to grade their teachers depending on how well they behave during class hours. If the student does not care about school and is not respectful in class, then the teacher will discipline the child. This would probably put a bad impression of the teacher on the student even if it was a good teacher. If the student tries hard in school, actually cares, and can decifer their own opinion, then they should be able to grade their teachers. It depends because some people would be overly critical or too generous, and it would be unfair to the teacher whose job is at stake.
I do not think students should evaluate nor grade thier teachers on the way they educate their students. There are many ways a teacher could teach a class full of students. There is no specific way for a teacher to educate there students. Therefore, it is impossible for students to grade their teachers on how they teach,run, or educate the classroom
I believe that students should not be able to grade their teachers. Why? Because they are not fully up to the knowlege of a goood teacher from a bad teacher.. Many may just pass their favorite teacher because he/she is very nice or isn’t as strict as other teachers.. I believe that the administrators should be the ones grading.. After all , they are the ones who hired them and have a better understanding of the learning system….
-Marisha
I think students should evaluate their teachers beacause although we are young we still know right from wrong though some of us don’t act like it. Then again some kids don’t want to learn so when teachers yell at them they say the teachers don’t teach them right. Some teachers don’t and when some students complain principals and school boards only will believe them if they have a good file meaning no referrals. If you have referrals from one specific teacher and you evaluate them and give them a bad grade the school board will think it’s from revenge. So it’s two ways to argue about this subject, but I still thinks it’s best for students to evaluate their teachers!
I think the school’s adminerstrators should select certain students to grade their teachers because some students wouldnt take it seriously. Or another way is look at the students’ test scores and if they are low, maybe suggest on talking to the teacher to make it better.This is a very big situation that needs to be taken serious.Every student should want good grades and teachers. So therefore, students should be able state their opinion.
I think students should be allowed to grade teachers because not all teachers grade fairly and some teachers are not good teachers. I think it depends on how well the teacher interacts with the students and how much time they dedicate to teaching and helping them when they are having problems in that certain subject. Also in my opinion, it may also may be a bad idea because students may only grade on how well they like the teacher or how much the dislike the teacher.
This article introduces the idea of teachers being graded,which I believe is a very valid possibility. I do believe teachers should be graded because the students are. We,as students,are graded based upon our academic levels and how well we progress in a school year. Teachers get paid no matter what,regardless of how well they’re teaching. Some teachers just supply the infomation,not really concerning themselves with whether we know it,or not. I know this from experience and I feel that is very unethical. I think teachers should be graded by every student in their grade level,school-wide,and their salaries and job tenure should be based upon that.
I believe students shouldn’t be able to evaluate the teachers, because some students might be more critical, because the teacher has disciplined them in the past. While other students might be more critical on the teacher for other things such as religion, and other personal beliefs of the teacher. Some students might also not be critical enough of the teachers, becasue of the teacher’s religion, and other beliefs. Also, some students might not like the teacher, because of the subject they teach. So, no students should not be able to evaluate their teachers, because their personal beliefs might get into their judgement of how the teacher taugh them.
I believe students should be allowed to grade their teachers, we always get graded on our behaviors in class, so its only fair. We as students should be able to voice our opinions and make things known to the public eye and our principals. A student can always tell the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher. How? Effective teachers manage, while Ineffective teachers discipline.
Should students be allowed to grade their teachers? I think it would be beifitially for some to be allowed to grade because they would grade honestly on how the teacher is and what they are capable of teachinng on the other hand most would grade by weather they like the teacher or not. So I dont think it would be good for children to grade their teachers because most wouldnt do it honestly.
I Think That This Is A Great Article Because It Gives Students A Chance To Speak On Certain Topics. Students Should Be Able To Grade Their Teachers On Their Teaching And Peformance. Some Teachers Need To Hear What Students Think About Them . Education Is The Most Important Thing And It Counts Most. If Most Students Do The Right Thing And Grade A Teacher On Fairness This Would Be A Great Program.
I think teachers should get evaluateded and graded by their students . Just like the students they should get wrote up and should get lunch detention just like us. They also should get in trouble for doing something wrong just like us.
I think we should be able to grade teachers. Their grading us. So why cant we grade them? I also think some teachers are just here for money.
I believe that students should be able to evaluate their teachers. Students , as myself , would like to be put into a stable and comfortable learning enviorment. If we were able to evaluate our teachers , this could happen. In other cases , some students aren’t mature enough to decide on what is suitable for their learning.
I don’t believe that students should be able to grade their teachers. I disagree because of the way students classify their teachers, as good or bad. Most students believe that a good teacher is one who is basically a push-over and let’s you have your way. The teachers that allow students to do whatever they want in thier class are, most of the time, the teachers of the classes that don’t get any work done. Students will most likely evaluate their teachers based on how lenient they are, and the ones that are most strict and who push you are the bad teachers. This is not a good teacher, in most cases. This is why I disagree that students should not be able to grade their teachers.
I think that students should be able to grade and evaluate their teachers. If students got to grade their teachers it would give a clearer understanding of what the teacher teaches like. People do ot really know how well a teacher is doing because an administrator can not be in the classroom every lesson. To moderate the opinions given by students olny good kids that enjoy learning and are well behaved in the class should be able to evaluate the teachers work so that the teacher does not get fired because many students think she or he is too tough.
Yes, I agree that students should be allowed to grade their teachers. To check or overlook if whom ever their teacher is, is going through with their lesson plan.I should say that their would be no harm nor any inconvient problems for this matter.It will just be a experirence for us students,since they’re as in our teachers are always usually grading us.
I think that it is a good idea to have students grade their teachers, because the administrators will have a better idea of which teachers are “good” and which are “bad”. However, there are students who will grade their teachers off of favoritism. Therefore, if a teacher is “good”, but is hard or strict, he/she might recieve a poor grade. While a “bad” teacher might recieve a good grade for being easy. The grade recieved in the class could also change the student’s opinion of the teacher. The idea of students grading teachers should probably be further researched and tested before being put into use.
I think that students should be able to grade teachers, but only if they won’t be biased. The students should be able to, at this point, seriously and maturely critique their teachers. When teachers get their grade back, they, like their students, will be able to see what they need to work on. It would be a good thing for the teachers, if they will take it seriously.
I think as a student we should be able to grade the teacher. Because it’s like all year in school teachers grade us and so we should be able to grade them. We hard all year and some of the teachers don’t appreciate ithe time and effort we give. They should know how it feel to be grade on everything they do. Also no one is perfect so the grading will show them and help them to inprove on or in a catagory. But if this action get approved it will make things better.
I think it is a very good idea for students to evaluate their teachers. Not all teavhers are as effectivie as others and the only people that will know the difference is their students. Some students may have prejudices against strict teachers, but teachers may also have prejudices against students, so its only fair. Students should definitely be able to grade their teachers and their behavior, and their teaching skill. i think it is a great way to improve our teaching system.
Should students be able to “grade” their teacher? Personally I think that some students should be able to “grade” their teacher, because it would give the School Board members, and the principals a way to know if the teacher is helping the student or not. If a teacher is not teaching to the best of their abillities then I think the principal should know, so he/she can do something about it. Students who care about school and try their best should be able to “grade” their teacher so they have a fair chance in learning to the best of their abllities.
I feel that we ,the students at George Washington High School ,should be allowed to grade our teachers and shouldn’t be allowed to judge them. Reason being is because there are some teachers who judge us before geting to know us and there are some students who judge the teachers before we get to know them. I think thats morally wrong because we react to what teachers tell us by taking things being said and done the wrong way.Then the TEACHERS HOLD GRUDES against SOME students and take their anger out on everyone.Thats why most students stay quite during a class just so they can go gossip about this and that . If the teachers would take the time and get to know us better and instead of giving us busy work for no reason we wouldn’t think so negative about our teachers.Its a mis-understanding between the students and teachers . We are so blind , that we mis-judge eachother and hold grudges against one another. We should get along instead of trying to mis-treat eachother.
I personally think that students should be able to grade their teachers. Why? Simply because there are some students who are mature enough and have the knowledge to be able to grade their teachers. Some teachers may think that since they are teachers, they can be the only ones to grade us. Well, us students can prove them wrong. As a student of George Washington High School, I think that I have the knowledge and the ability to grade my teachers, based on how their first impression toward me is. Grading your teacher doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to write down a percentage. I only grade my teachers by how they are, appearance, and most importantly, their ability to teach me the needed information that I need for my future. Also, how well they teach.
Yes, I do think that students should be able to grade their teachers on their work and abilites to work with students but, I also believe that for the student to grade thier teachers they need to show a certain acadaemic level to prove that they are responsible anough to take the situation seriously. I think that principles and district aministators should respect the student anough to consider their evaluations about the teachers. The reason I say this is because student are in the class rooms doing hands on activities with the teachers and the principles and district administators are not that gives the students a better view of the teachers and ther abilities to teach the students.Yes I do think students know what good teaching looks like especillay ones in uppper grades that then had years of teaching and many different teachers ones that have struggled and ones that have not. I believe that some students will take advange and over grade the teachers but, thats while a certain handful of people should be pick to grade the teachers ones that are mature and trustworthy to take on this responsiblilty.
Yess, I think that students should be able to grade their teachers because all teachers have different teaching styles. It would help principals and administrators determine what teacher(s) levels are.
I personally think that teachers should be graded by their students. Because, we get graded on our performance . They should to. I think that we should have the power to speak our mind about teacher if what we have to say is not very bad. I think we should get to write them up and give them lunch detetion just like we get those things. Lastley, I think that should get suspended for not doing their jobs just like us.
I think students should be able to evaluate their teachers. I think they should be able to do that so they feel important. I also think that so they can tell the kind of teachers they think are good. Another reason is I think a student would work better with someone they like more than someone they don’t.This is why I think students should be able to evaluate their teachers.
I think students shouldn’t be able to evaluate teachers.I think this beacause most students would grade their teachers on how nice they treat students or the grades the students get.If they got evaluated off of that then they would get evaluated for all the wrong reasons. Therefore, teachers shouldn’t be evaluated at all.
I think that students should be able to evaluate there teachers under certain circumstances. If a student is mature, respectful, and shows that they really do care about school, than they should be able to grade their teacher. This would help improve there teaching skills, which would help the students also. If student do not care about school, or are not mature enough to make an accurate evaluation, than the student should not be allowed to grade the teacher.
I think students should be able to grade their teachers. I think students should be able to grade their teachers so they will know what to improve on like teachers grade us. Everyone should know what to to do better on. It also depends on the student if they will grade the teachers on the right things. If the students do not grade on the right thing things then they should not grade a teachers especially if they are not mature enough to handle something like this. If the student really cares about doing better in life and wants to improve in school then they should be able to grade a teacher
I think that students should be allowed to grade their teachers. That way stundents feel like they have a choice on what they want to do. Also teachers would treat their stundents better “not saing all teachers are bad, but some are”. Teachers would beable to improve on what they did wrong so that would be better for school districts. That why I think stundents should beable to grde their teachers.
i think students should be able to “grade” their teachers .Why? ill tell you why,because some teachers are terrible teachers im not just saying this because i dont like some teachers i really mean they are terrible,for example my 7th grade science teacher was the worst she never helped us with the assignments she gave us.all she did all day was sit at her desk and stayed on her cell phone texting or surfing the web one time she busted out laughing and the class asked her what she was laughing at she actually told us that she was on facebook and one of her friends had said something that she thought was hilarious. and i do believe students should be able to determine a teachers pay grade because its not fair to a good, hard-working teacher gets the same pay grade as a teacher such as my 7th grade science teacher.
The article was saying teacher’s on strike.I believe if the teacher’s was on strike the school department should not have school. If its no teacher’s their to do there jobs they don’t need money or the department can’t afford any money to give the teacher’s.The student’s don’t need to come becasue if they dont have any money and the school is coming apart then the student’s won’t have no supplies or knowlegde of the subject’s.This article is relevant to the Goodyear strike in Danville no employees working the buisness can’t afford keeping the business up.