It seems like students have always huddled by their lockers or gathered around lunch tables to talk about their teachers.

Who’s nice? Who’s helpful? Who gives the most homework?

Now, such childhood discussions are going high-tech.

RateMyTeachers.com, a Web site that allows middle and high school students to publicly evaluate their teachers and share their opinions online, is gaining popularity in Maine. “Teachers get feedback from administration and feedback from other teachers, but they don’t always ask for feedback from students,” said John White, a 16-year-old Hampden Academy junior who is a student administrator for the Web site.

RateMyTeachers was co-founded in 2001 by Michael Hussey, a Massabesic High School graduate and University of Maine alum. The site allows students to anonymously grade their teachers based on how easy, helpful and clear they are in class.

Overall quality is determined solely by a teacher’s helpfulness and clarity. High scores earn teachers a bright yellow smiley face on their school’s Web page. Low scores get them a deep blue frowning face.

And then there is the comment section.

Because the site was created to spur both honest and helpful evaluations, Hussey said, student administrators work to delete any libelous, malicious or vulgar comments about teachers before they ever appear in public. Teachers can also flag a comment for a second review by an adult if they find it offensive.

Remaining comments range from “She was way too flaky. Hard to follow,” for a teacher at Mount Ararat High School in Topsham to a quick “He’s cool,” for a teacher at Buckfield Junior-Senior High School.

Because students learn about the Web site from their friends and classmates, some Maine schools have no ratings while others have dozens. Many schools have seen their number of ratings grow in the past year.

Amy French, an 18-year-old senior at Massabesic High School in Waterboro and a student administrator for RateMyTeachers, said the site is popular with both students and teachers at her school.

For students, she said, “You can find out what kind of teacher you are going to deal with. Is it going to be a teacher that you can write ‘Mickey Mouse’ all over your homework to get a 100?”

For teachers, she believes the draw is honest feedback.

“Some of the complaints they have received may be read and noted, and if they aren’t part of the curriculum or are easily changeable (for example, class sizes are too large) then the teacher can change them,” she said.

But some educators aren’t so sure the site is useful.

Mount Ararat Principal Joseph Findlay said he had heard of RateMyTeachers but has never viewed it. He’s concerned that the site can’t ensure that each evaluation has been done by a different student – or even by a student at that school.

He’d rather rely on his school’s own annual student evaluation form.

“I don’t think the site is probably particularly helpful to teachers,” Findlay said.

Still, he might take a peek at RateMyTeachers.

“It’s an interesting concept,” he said.



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