Undergraduate students participated in a study to measure the effect of variables influencing teacher rating. Overall, students rated their instructors more positively when they believed evaluation was sponsored by the faculty rather than a student group. (Author/DEP)

Controversies exist in the research literature on student evaluation of instruction in higher education. In three studies, one of these controversies is explored, namely the relationship among student personality characteristics, teacher ratings, and student achievement. Findings suggest four conclusions relevant to summative evaluations of…

Limitations of the confirmatory factor analysis conducted by H. W. Marsh to demonstrate the multidimensionality of a rating form to assess student evaluation of teaching effectiveness are discussed. A secondary analysis suggests that dimensionality is not stable across solutions and a global factor can be retrieved. (SLD)

The relationship between student/teacher attitude similarity and teacher evaluations was studied in a group of 222 students who completed a 24-item attitude scale, once for themselves and once for their instructors, and a 28-item teacher rating form (TRF). A significant, moderate-sized correlation between assumed similarity and TRF scores for…

Primary research on student ratings of instruction is reviewed, and questions about the validity of such ratings as measures of teacher effectiveness are explored using nomological coding of 43 validity studies to examine causes of variability in coefficients of validity. Deficiencies of prior analyses and research needs are identified. (SLD)