How would you like to grade your teachers? We all have an opinion about how our teachers are doing in class. It would be beneficial, to our learning, if we could communicate the way we feel about our teachers performance because everyone has a different approach to learning. That is why, I believe that students should be able to grade their teachers. If students evaluated honestly and responsibly, it could be a beneficial process.

Students should be able to give their teachers helpful feedback, to create a better learning environment for them and their peers. Surveys could be a great way for students to evaluate their teachers and provide constructive criticism. This process could help our learning significantly.  We all need people to give us feedback, that is how we learn, grow and improve.  According to Bill Gates, in the video Teachers Need Real Feedback, “Unfortunately, there’s one group of people who get almost no systematic feedback to help them do their jobs better. And these people have one of the most important jobs in the world. I’m talking about teachers.” Principals and other adults check into the classroom every once in a while, but they are not given any feedback by the people who are always in the classroom - the students. Our feedback is the most important.

Some people could argue that students will not be responsible or realistic while grading their teachers. Or that they might give their teacher a bad grade because they don't like them. Kids might fool around, and take “grading their teachers” as an opportunity to give them a bad grade just because they think it’s funny.  These are valid points, and could very well happen. Therefore, it would be necessary to use this system of grading teachers with more mature grades and students.

According to the New York Times, “States around the country are trying to better assess how teachers are performing in classrooms. They are primarily using standardized test scores and observations by administrators. But shouldn’t students be included in the conservation too? After all, aren’t they the ones who spend the most time with their teachers?”  Students deserve a say in how their teachers are doing. Even if students are not able to be a part of how the teachers are being assessed, it would be very valuable if they could give feedback or advice to their teachers. Just letting our teachers know little things that could help with our learning would be very effective. Many schools have started using this grading system to try it out and see how it goes. Many results have been successful, and it has shown that the students are learning more efficiently and the teachers are able to do their jobs better. For example, a teacher at a school in Oakland, California decided to give her students a survey with some questions about how they thought she was performing in class. She got back a lot of helpful feedback, and learned she was not really connecting with some of her students. Afterwards, she was able to use the advice she was given to help her students.

As you can see, this concept would be extremely helpful to schools everywhere. Students should be able to grade their teachers, because they spend the most time with them, and deserve a say. Teachers can use this helpful feedback in a positive way to better the learning needs of their students.