League Backs Student Plan

A student-initiated proposal calling for students to evaluate teachers has the support of the League of Women Voters of Ann Arbor.

“In general we believe that student evaluation of teachers offers great potential benefit for both students and teachers by helping each to better understand their mutual responsibilities in the learning process,” the League said in a statement to the Student Advocate School Board, the Ann Arbor Education Association, the Board of Education and others.

The League statement also said: “We would expect that criteria for evaluation and a subsequent evaluation process would develop as students work with teachers, perhaps with added input from other school personnel and interested parents.”

The SASB recommended an evaluation plan calling for mandatory student evaluation of all teachers in April. The student proposal received a positive response from the Board of Education.

The League expressed concern about the mandatory nature of the students’ proposal because the criteria for evaluation and the process have not been developed yet.

Any move to initiate mandatory teacher evaluation by students would have to be negotiated into the AAEA contract.