● From this morning's Inside Higher Ed: Faculty Pay ‘by Applause Meter’It’s not like professors to think that they are so well compensated that it’s not worth hoping for a $10,000 bonus. But out of more than 2,000 faculty members at Texas A&M University’s main campus, only about 300 have agreed to vie for a bonus being offered for their teaching — and all they would need to do is have a survey distributed to their students.
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The reason for passing on a chance at $10,000 is that many professors are frustrated by the way the money is being distributed: based solely on student evaluations. Numerous studies have questioned the reliability of student evaluations in measuring actual learning; several of these have noted the tendency of many students to reward professors who give them higher grades. Further complicating the debate is a sense some have that the university is endorsing a consumerist approach to higher education. The chancellor of the A&M system, Michael D. McKinney, told the Bryan-College Station Eagle: “This is customer satisfaction.... It has to do with students having the opportunity to recognize good teachers and reward them with some money.”
That comment didn’t go over well with many professors who believe that their job responsibilities include — at least sometimes — tough grading, or challenging student ideas or generally putting learning before student happiness.
“That customer idea really, really bothers me,” said Clint Magill, a genetics professor who is speaker of the Faculty Senate at College Station….
● The “Education Alliance”-backed “reform” trustees of the Capo Unified School District continue to make a hash of things:
Capistrano trustee: Stop making political turmoil worse
A Capistrano Unified trustee on Monday lashed out at the hundreds of district parents, teachers and union leaders who have vocally opposed the school board's decision to put Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter on paid leave, accusing them of spreading wild rumors and trying to "inflame" tensions in the politically fractured school district.
In a prepared, 10-minute speech at a school board meeting Monday night, trustee Larry Christensen said he and his six colleagues were trying desperately to keep the beleaguered district from derailing ….
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Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter, who has been at the helm of the district for the past 16 months, was placed on paid administrative leave last week by a 6-1 school board vote. Carter's supporters have repeatedly demanded to know why the school board took disciplinary action against the respected, well-liked district chief, but trustees have offered no explanation, saying they are bound by employee privacy laws not to say anything.
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Carter was not present at Monday's meeting, and no one has been appointed to act as superintendent in his absence. Carter's seat on the dais remained empty throughout the meeting.
Trustee Jack Brick said Monday he had not intended to vote in favor of Carter's leave of absence. He "made a mistake" and cast his vote incorrectly during last week's closed-session meeting, he said….
3 comments:
If they're customers, don't teachers have the right to refuse service?
Thank goodness for thoughtful people who question the use of student evals. I teach at a good institution (a private one), and no place puts more emphasis on student evals than we do. Yet the possible truth that screams out to be considered is that happy students aren't necessarily the ones who have learned the most, or who have been the best-taught. If I were to please all of my students, I would be certain that I hadn't been doing my job--unless they happened to be a group of extraordinarily bright, uniformly hard-working, fair-minded people (and what are the chances that *all* students in a class will be like
this?). Our most prestigious teaching award each year is based on student evaluations (perused by a student committee!)--really a travesty, I've long thought. On the other hand, we have lovely, PEER-chosen teaching awards that mean, to my mind, far more.
This is such an odd dilemma in my mind: Teachers versus students. Neither trusts the other entirely. No doubt both sides have their reasons as I've seen teachers being 'bullied' by students to get the grades they want (a phenomena I still don't understand but I've see on occasion twice now). And I've also seen professors trying to satisfy the crowds by curving in such a manner that everyone suffers 'for the greater good.' I.e. there is a professor who dispenses grades based on some sort of slot system, lowest grade is a C in the class.
Is the solution to rewarding professors to have their colleagues do it? Does that even make sense? Can a teacher 'grade' another teacher? How is that done? Who has the wittiest banter at the water cooler? Coolest office posters? I know I've never witnessed another professor learning from a colleague, so one couldn't base it on "teaching skills" alone.
Note: Being a student does not mean I automatically am in favor of student evaluations. "Peer Chosen teaching awards" sound, prima facie, a little ridiculous though.
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