We are students.  We come to school to learn.  And our grades are a reflection of how well we perform in school.  But aren’t they also a reflection of how well our teachers teach?  After all, teachers are the central part of our learning system.  They are paid to educate students on the school curriculum.  They have complete power over the classroom.  A teacher’s ability to motivate and teach their kids directly correlates with student success.  So, shouldn’t students be able to grade teachers on their ability to teach, like they grade us?

Yes, I know I sound crazy.   This is practically unheard of in middle school.  But schools are constantly searching for ways to assess their teachers, and determine if they are qualified to teach their students.  After all, our school district is spending part of their $137 million bond on “attracting and retaining high quality teachers.”  But, how can the district judge if a teacher is really “high quality”?  Only students have first-hand experience of being taught by a teacher.  So, we should be able to determine if a teacher makes the grade.  

But, how would we grade teachers?  Student test scores?  Popularity?  Communication style?  Although all of these should be included in the grading process, the greatest skill a teacher could have is his or her ability to connect with kids.  The ability to make us want to learn, want to succeed, and want to come to school is just as important as….  Not only that, a teacher who connects with students is able to teach about academics and life.  Those are the teachers who would earn an A+.  Good test scores, popularity, and communication are important.  Every teacher and student totally wants these.  But student and teacher connection  distinguishes the best teachers.

Finally, how would this test look?  On a scale of 1 to 10, every student would measure their teacher on many different aspects of teaching: communication, popularity, respect, classroom environment, etc.  But then, at the bottom of the test, in bold letters, the final question: “How well were you able to connect with your teacher?”  Through these tests, the school district would be able to determine how well a teacher performs in each teaching element.  They could use this to keep high-quality teachers, and help teachers improve any deficiencies.  Would your teacher make the grade?