Eight of the most common faculty concerns about student evaluations of instruction are discussed: inconsistent student judgments, the perception that only colleagues are qualified to evaluate peers' instruction, student-rating schemes as popularity contests, unreliable and invalid student-rating forms, etc. Research shows that faculty concerns are…

A discussion of student ratings of faculty looks at problems in measurement and interpretation, including such factors as the ability of raters to evaluate complex behaviors, the salience of personal characteristics in judging task performance, and emphasis on the students as consumer. (Author/MSE)

When institutional personnel assess faculty research performance, they should consider the extent to which the institution rewards research, ways to encourage faculty to be productive, criteria for evaluating research performance, and the specific steps useful in reviewing research performance within academic units. (Author/MSE)

The traditional model used by all institutions of higher education include the three broad areas of teaching, scholarship, and service as part of faculty evaluation. This paper examines the definition of scholarship in higher education, focusing on current definitions of scholarship, administrators' perceptions about scholarship, measures of…

There are many problems common to faculty evaluation, in particular its subjective and unsystematic form. There are solutions to some of those problems. The first task is to delineate exactly what responsibilities faculty will be expected to perform. Too often so many tasks are expected of faculty that no one can complete them all well.…

The literature from 1973-1983 on student ratings of faculty teaching effectiveness is reviewed. Among the consistent findings over the decade are the following: high student rating scale reliability, the limited influence of instructor and student demographic variables on student ratings of teacher effectiveness, and faculty perceptions that…

A discussion of the purposes and effectiveness of faculty evaluation is presented. Topics of discussion include the purposes of faculty evaluation, the importance of clarity of purpose, and whether or not faculty evaluation results in more productive faculty. Ten guidelines for faculty evaluation programs are listed as follows: make sure the…

The recent literature on issues of quality, retrenchment, and evaluation suggest the kinds of planning and institutional research needed to aid college and university decision processes to sustain and improve program quality. An extensive bibliography is provided. (MLW)

The role of faculty colleagues in the evaluation of college teaching is not defined adequately. A distinction needs to be made between summative evaluation conducted for administrative decisions such as pay increases, promotion, and tenure, and formative evaluations designed to improve teaching. (MLW)

Two divergent views are contrasted: the multidimensional and the unidimensional views of faculty evaluation. The views of H. W. Marsh, the most outspoken advocate of the multidimensional view of evaluation based on factor scores, is summarized and a response to his concerns is presented. (Author/MLW)

Issues pertaining to the validity of student ratings of teacher effectiveness, research on "educational seduction," and implications of the research for the evaluation and improvement of teaching are reviewed. Criteria that have been used to validate student ratings include student achievement, faculty ratings, self-ratings, research productivity,…

Recent changes in American faculty evaluation include increased use, a broader database, emergence of evaluation systems, improved instruments, and impact of court litigation on improvement of evaluation. Anticipated changes relate to improved systems, greater rigor, computer use, increased flexibility and individualization, and increased…

The efficacy of student ratings is examined through existing research, and it is concluded that although the ratings are generally reliable and valid indicators of teaching effectiveness and are not strongly influenced by extraneous factors, additional independent evaluation means are needed. (MSE)

Evaluation of instruction has become an important issue in higher education in the last two decades. Distinctions which help clarify the study of instructional assessment include: (1) formal versus informal evaluation; (2) summative versus formative evaluation; and (3) evaluation of a teacher versus evaluation of instruction. (JN)

Recent (1990-92) college and university task force reports on faculty rewards reveal changing expectations about faculty's role, changing standards and methods for evaluating faculty performance, and a rethinking of the aims and means of rewarding teachers. It is concluded that administrative and faculty leadership and innovative reforms are all…