The Impact of Formative and Summative Evaluation of Teaching in North American Universities

This paper reviews recent research evidence on formative (developmental) and summative (judgemental) evaluation of teaching in North American universities. The major conclusions of the review are as follows: (1) student ratings are the most common method of evaluating teaching in North American universities, and their popularity appears to be increasing; (2) student ratings have been found to provide reliable and valid information on limited aspects of teaching competence; (3) teaching evaluations make a difference in decisions on faculty salary, tenure and promotion; (4) evaluation of teaching has been shown to produce modest improvements in teaching effectiveness; (5) faculty satisfaction with teaching evaluation practices ranges from very high to very low, depending on institutional context; and (6) there is consensus that several specific improvements are needed in the current teaching evaluation system.