Student Ratings of Faculty: A Research Review

That students should serve as the experts in evaluating the effectiveness of their instruction is a relatively new and revolutionary idea in the field of higher education. No one has doubted that stu dents had opinions about the quality of instruc tion they received, but only within the past three decades have these ideas been systematically gath ered. Beginning in the early 1920's, the use of formal faculty evaluation by students has grown until today about 40 per cent of American col leges and universities have used them at one time or another.17 Numerous articles have been pub lished, arguing for or against the use of student ratings. The research in the area is scattered, however, and those contemplating the use of stu dent ratings may not realize that there are em pirical answers to some of the questions they raise. This article reviews these research findings.1 Validity