Of 40 course directors leading the same dental school course for 4 years, 9 sought professional development assistance after receiving student course evaluations. When compared with a matched group of faculty not seeking consultation, this group received significantly higher student ratings in the next three years. (MSE)

The role of faculty colleagues in the evaluation of college teaching is not defined adequately. A distinction needs to be made between summative evaluation conducted for administrative decisions such as pay increases, promotion, and tenure, and formative evaluations designed to improve teaching. (MLW)

A meta-analytic methodology is applied to integrate findings from 22 comparisons of the effectiveness of student- rating feedback at the college level. Feedback had a modest but significant effect on improving instruction. The effects of student-rating feedback were accentuated when augmentation or consultation accompanied the ratings. (Author/MLW)

Evaluation research has established that college student ratings of faculty are reliable, valid, and widely used. However, resistance continues. Minimizing this resistance is crucial, and designating an influential change advocate within the institution can influence acceptance of a new system. Research on institutional contexts for evaluation…

A meta analysis was conducted of studies of college students' evaluations of their teachers. Forty-seven studies were included, representing 74 multisection courses, in which four selection criteria were met. An actual, rather than an experimental class was used; the unit of analysis was the class rather than the individual student; a common…