Evaluating Teachers on Student's Grades

As a student my responsibilities were to: 1) go to class, 2) pay attention, and 3) get good grades.  The first of these responsibilities was quite easy to master and achieve.  The second and third responsibilities not so much.

As a student, teacher evaluations were not of concern.  Among classmates, unofficial teacher evaluations ranged from nice to mean, from easy to hard.  These teacher evaluations did not follow a specified metric for performance.  There was no 10 point scale, or letter grade, or rubric.  It was just what was determined among classmates.

Now I must state, looking back at my years in K-12 education, that I have never had a bad teacher.  There were those who were mean, and those who were nice.  There were those who kicked me out of class, and those who let me hang around.  Those who were good, and those who were great.  Those who over time became forgotten faded memories, and those who will always be remembered.

Each one of the teachers from Kindergarten to 12th grade did their best at teaching me what was expected to study and learn at each grade level.  I, as a student, did not always do my best, and this was reflected in my grades.

The idea of teacher evaluations has become a point of debate and disagreement among  educators, parents, administrators, and teachers.  To be more specific, the idea of teacher evaluations based on student grades has become an argumentative point in education assessment.

This image represents a fairly accurate reflection of my overall grade history from K to 12.  It is not in any way a fair representation of the professional performance each teacher gave at each grade level.   To base a professional academic evaluation on just one metric would be unprofessional.

Evaluating teachers on student's grades is an important argument to be made as part of academic assessment.  Teachers should be evaluated and must be evaluated for the benefit of their profession and their career growth.  Schools and Districts should carefully consider how to evaluate teachers for the benefit of the students as they learn and grow into future career professionals.


Manuel R. CortezRodas - Chief Educator/Founder

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