Are Student Evaluations of Teaching Valid? Evidence From an Analytical Business Core Course

Abstract In this study, the authors examined the relationship between student achievement (as measured by student grade earned in Intermediate Accounting I) and student evaluations (as measured by the mean class evaluation of the student's instructor in Introductory Accounting II). Controlling for ability with three variables–student grade in Introductory Accounting II, student grade point average, and student ACT score–the authors found a statistically significant negative relationship between student evaluations and student achievement. Thus, this research strengthens some faculty members' concern that widespread and significant application of student teacher evaluations in faculty performance evaluation may be partially responsible for the interrelated phenomena of grade inflation and content debasement.