Hmmm, I wonder if a ratemydoctor or ratemylawyer site would improve healthcare. I don’t think so.

For too long, education has been viewed as a public good that is bestowed upon the ignorant masses for their own well-being, in spite of themselves. Education is not a gift - it is paid for both with tax dollars and with hidden costs (what is the cost of a lost education?). To determine the true cost of your education, ask yourself “what am I giving up to be here?” What else could I be doing with my time besides this? And since I value my education over the alternative, what do I want to gain from it.”

Once those goals are defined, and you are determined to achieve them, it is your right to hold your educators responsible to a standard of excellence that is necessary for you to reach that goal. Any teacher who cares about their students will agree with this sentiment.

And in your response to my agreement with the website there is a huge difference, in my job I’m subject to performance review on an annual basis, along with my salary being linked to performance. A teacher’s salary is simply based on time spent teaching. It has no relation to performance.

The teachers and their unions have stood in the way of league tables and other performance metrics so I can’t see why they are shocked when the service in demand is created by the market.

It is precisely those insulting and ignorant comments that make the ratemyteachers site so popular - and dare I say it, so effective. Students are in a unique position to accurately evaluate the effectivness of a teacher in a classroom environment. Not all students get it right, but we can still learn a lot from listening to what they have to say.

Most teachers are honest, hard-working and dedicated individuals who deserve support and praise. It is not difficult to recognise those teachers on the ratemyteachers site by the respectful and appreciative comments placed there by their students. It is also not difficult to recognise those teachers who would be much better off in a profession more suited to their interests and abilities.

Whatever official system is in place at the moment to rate teachers is worthless, as many teachers who are incompetent or unsuitable are allowed to continue with their ill-chosen profession. The damage that they do to the next generation of school leavers is difficult to measure, but it is not difficult to see how ineffective, bullying or spiteful teachers do little to help children reach their potential.

While I am not overly excited about the ratemyteachers site, and I recognise that it is open to abuse, it is still the closest thing to an honest appraisal that exists. Ideally, the education system would counter it with a genuine feedback system, but that will never happen while people are opposed to the concept of young adults expressing their opinions.

Some are, some aren’t. Some care, some just need the paycheck to pay their mortgage. Children/teenagers are more aware of and responsive to those who genuinely care about them than some people would like us to believe.

The ratemyteachers site allows students to voluntarily rate teachers without threat or interference. Simple. Do the people who run the site make advertising money from their efforts? I would assume so. And why not! I know that they don’t charge students for the service.

All teachers that I have known make money from teaching students. Based on that fact (and using the “money” argument in a previous comment), should we also doubt “the sincerity” of these teachers? Some of the better performing schools are fee-paying schools. Again, to take the argument above, should we be concerned that “students are again being exploited into believing that a money making organisation has their education as an interest”? That question may sound odd, but the argument in Aileen’s comment made a clear linkage between making money from students participation and the sincerity of intent.

I started out being somewhat indifferent to the site, but as I hear more arguments from people who are against it, I am beginning to see that the site has some merit. My initial caution about the possibility of poor advice from a self-serving website is giving way to a belief that the ratemyteachers site just presents something that some teachers are scared of:- the opinions of students.

I have noted a few things from the discussions about the ratemyteachers site over the past weeks.

1. Many of the people who criticise ‘ratemyteachers’ are teachers, yet few will admit to having actually visited the site. Perhaps, something to do with not wanting students to know that their opinions have been heard?
2. Teachers who have received good ratings tend to feel that the site is fine. Teachers who have received lesser ratings are concerned about it for all kinds of reasons.
3. The arguments against the site are becoming more and more outlandish. The basic argument against students rating teachers is being replaced with suggestions that the site is somehow using nefarious means to exploit students and steal their [thoughts/identities/money/souls] (Choose one of the above to suit your particular paranoia).

Take this scenario: A student is a neighbour of a teacher at his/her
school but is not taught by that teacher. The student doesn’t like the person as a neighbour so they can make up a story about being hit by them in class and remain anonymous by doing so. This scenario is possible and while this is the case, the website is disgraceful. If students feel strongly, good or bad, about teachers then they should have the courage of their convictions to reveal their identity. If they don’t want to do that, then they shouldn’t make comments. You’re missing my point.

The internet is littered with sites that present testament against companies and individuals on various grounds. While those servers are located in the United States, they are covered by their laws relating to free speech. When comment is deemed to have crossed their interpretation of legitimate free speech - for example threats of violence or self-harm - other US laws are used to intervene. There is nothing to stop someone from publicly rating your work performance, or mine, or anyone elses in this manner.

I suggest that the “point” that you are making is selective, so as to imply that a public and anonymous critique of a teacher’s performance by a student is wrong; simply because the ratings are done by students and those rated are teachers.

Many would disagree with you and argue that students and parents are entitled to know which teachers/schools are going to provide the best education for their children. If you knew that your child’s Math teacher was universally rated as “useless”, wouldn’t you at least consider options to increase your child’s chances of passing their Math exams? If you learn that a certain teacher is rated as “a bully” by most of his students, would you not consider taking action to ensure that your child was safe and didn’t feel intimidated within his classroom environment? I think you would. But within the existing educational system, the “staffroom angel”/”classroom devil” teacher continues on undetected… well, at least until the ratemyteachers site came along. It is not perfect, but it is better than what has gone before.

Regarding your assertion that students should reveal their identity, I find it difficult to believe that you could not come up with at least two or three good reasons why a student would be foolish to do so. Give young people some credit.