The present American higher education setting includes the use of Student Evaluations of Instruction (SEIs). This practice has a history that spans a number of decades and is now firmly established as part of the American system of higher education. However, there is a continuing dispute over the use of the information gathered from SEIs, the legitimacy of the interpretations of the results, the assumptions behind the use of the instruments, and the assumptions foundational to the instruments themselves. This paper considers each of these topics and methods suggested by scholars to alter or augment SEIs.