Not too long ago, we rated only cars and appliances. (That’s why Consumers Reports was invented.) Then came ratings of doctors and hospitals; we needed those so we wouldn’t die.But in the era of reality TV and the Internet, everything now has a rating. All we eat and all we do ranks somewhere on the 1-to-10 continuum. Worse yet — our lives are on that continuum. Employers rate us. We rate employers. And now — groan! — students rate their teachers.
When RateMyTeachers.com was new, teachers didn’t worry. If only two or three of your students knew the site, statistics were insignificant.
But now the site has ratings of more than a million teachers in 52,000 schools. Fifteen of my many former students have rated me in three categories: easiness, helpfulness and clarity (as though teaching, all by itself, isn’t humbling enough!).
Teachers have differing reactions to their ratings. Some ignore the site entirely; they, quite rightly, claim teaching is not a popularity contest. Some stay up late, peek at the recent ratings, then skulk off to bed, depressed.
However embarrassing or mortifying it is to see your life reduced to three numbers, I admit to a buy-in. (It helps that my ratings are pretty decent.)
Don’t I check Jay Mathews’ High School Challenge Index each year, in hopes that Oakton High School has made the Top 100? (Last year, we came very close.)
Am I not proud that Princeton Review has rated George Mason University the most diverse student body of any university in the country?
Was I at least tempted to vote during the last season of “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance?”
We are all trained — by our teachers no less — to believe that every opinion counts. So why shouldn’t student opinions count as well?
“Well, because they’re kids,” is the skeptic’s answer. Comments, though short, are often riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. Should an Oakton teacher lose sleep over a student’s criticism that he “had ahrd tests”?
However, some of their ratings (scaled 1 to 5) are unusually mature and accurate. One 11th grade social studies teacher is legendary both for the quality of her teaching, and her level of difficulty. Her beloved students don’t automatically assign the highest rating to all three categories: Her “easiness” ratings are all 1s and 2s, but her “helpfulness” and “clarity” ratings are all 4s and 5s. Wouldn’t you want your child to be in that class?
The usefulness of the ratings depends on how nuanced your reading of the site is. Students sometimes comment in fits of pique, but they usually reveal their impetuosity by their tone. The thoughtful comments are worth noting among many other measures of quality.
So how do I really feel about being laid bare by RateMyTeachers.com and RateMyProfessors.com? As a lover of language, I am tempted to say: Rate me, berate me, but do it in impeccable prose. An elegant put-down is more desirable than a clumsy compliment.
Writing reveals the student. Sure, I like being popular, but I like students who write well even more; I can see they’ve learned something.
I’ll rate good writing a 10, every time.
Erica Jacobs teaches at Oakton High School and George Mason University. E-mail her at [email protected].
