Rating Teaching in the USA: probing the qualifications of student raters and novice teachers

ABSTRACT In the USA, student ratings of their instructors are routinely used by administrators in higher education in making decisions regarding instructors' salary adjustments, tenure and promotion. However, when the rating qualifications of amateur student raters and novice public school teachers who have received training that should have enabled them to become qualified raters are examined closely, there are good reasons for believing that both groups of raters are not qualified to give reliable ratings on most high‐inference questionnaire items.