Methods and reasons for evaluating teaching are discussed, and an experimental study of the effectiveness of students' ratings of teachers is described. The two main reasons for evaluating teaching as given in this paper are (1) to help make decisions about whom to promote, and (2) to improve instruction. In the experimental study, five diverse…

Identified are four groups of faculty development practices based on their use among 756 colleges and universities: traditional practices; instructional assistance practices; those that emphasized the assessment of faculty; and those involving many faculty in improvement activities. Practices judged effective, and the organization and funding are…

Faculty members' support for teaching performance as a means of faculty evaluation is analyzed. Change in faculty attitudes toward the importance of teaching is demonstrated with time-series data from a national sample of college and university faculty members. Two alternative explanations of faculty support for evaluation are tested. (Author/LBH)

This empirical study is an examination of what staff are doing in their classes, the difficulties they encounter, and the way in which they judge their effectiveness. (Author/LBH)

This study examined the impact of a comprehensive periodic post-tenure review policy within a public research institution which was mandated to establish procedures for complying with a policy requiring periodic evaluation of tenured faculty. The post-tenure review policy was implemented in fall 1987. Two full cycles of periodic 5-year reviews…

Article explores the developing idea for a teaching doctorate" and the preparation of college teachers. (IR)

College faculty evaluated their own teaching and were evaluated by their students in each of two courses. There was considerable student-faculty agreement in the ratings obtained. Separate factor analyses indicated that similar dimensions underlay both student and faculty evaluations. Validity coefficients were statistically significant for all…

Recommends that faculty members, especially those without formal teacher education, should be well prepared and abide by the class format. Student input should be solicited and their experience and expertise used. The course should be evaluated continually. (JAC)

In this essay recounting a midcareer faculty review, Vilma Hernandez is the fictitious name of a faculty member originally hired for affirmative action reasons who fails because of her inability to solicit support and the university's failure to offer it. Concludes that the university allowed her to fail. (JMF)

Examines the problems inherent in hiring part-time faculty at low wages to cover significant numbers of courses at community colleges. Suggests the system is wrought with unfairness and problems for all involved. (TB)

Addresses three questions: (1) What is high quality geography teaching in higher education; (2) how can high quality teaching be identified and evaluated; and (3) to what extent are faculty and departments held accountable for teaching quality? Explores how the answers to these questions vary between the United Kingdom and the United States. (CMK)

Used focus groups to examine persistent gaps between what should exist regarding faculty work and reward in schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDE) and what does exist. SCDE faculty indicated that mixed messages about expectations for work, needs for faculty development, idiosyncratic evaluation criteria, lack of clarity of mission,…

Contributes to a special issue on how the reconsideration of what scholarship is affects the way in which scholarship is assessed. Discusses what the scholarship of teaching is, what qualities exist in this form of scholarship, what its requirements are, how one accomplishes it, and how the scholarship of teaching can be assessed. (SR)

Explored the measurement issues in a two-stage evaluation for an outstanding faculty award. Thirty college teachers were rated by 293 students using a newly developed inventory. Items fit a Rasch model fairly well, and the separation reliability for the teachers was high. A cut score was established, and a short version was developed. (SLD)