by Jennifer C. Berkshire

When it was time for Eastern Connecticut State student Jonathan Marsh* to evaluate his math teacher last fall, he had no problem identifying what was wrong with her. She gave too many quizzes, concluded Marsh, and a thick accent made her lectures difficult to understand. In the past, Marsh's comments would have reached a fairly limited audience, going first to the teacher herself, before making their way to the math department chair and on to other university administrators.

That was in the old days. This time, Marsh chose a new approach to grading his professor: he posted comments and a grade -- a "D" -- in the case of this particular teacher to a new on-line evaluation site, teacherreviews.com, one of a growing number of sites that allows students to do the grading.The best known sites have already attracted tens of thousands of students from hundreds of colleges and universities across the country. The students don't hesitate to rate the faculty who instruct them in subjects ranging from philosophy to physical education. But while students such as Jonathan Marsh are flocking to sites that let them praise or pan their profs, reviews by faculty on the receiving end of the high tech report cards have been decidedly mixed.

StudentEvaluations.com

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