The Validation of a Student Survey on Teacher Practice

Abstract

Though there is widespread evidence that teachers matter, a more challenging problem exists in attempting to measure teacher effectiveness. It can be argued that student feedback is an important consideration in any teacher evaluation system as students have the most contact with teachers and are the direct consumers of a teacher’s service. The current paper outlines the development and preliminary validation of a student survey on teacher practice. Using data from a large-scale pilot in Georgia, the analysis finds that teacher scores on a student survey have a positive and marginally significant relationship to value-added estimates of teacher effects on student achievement. Further, there is a strong link between teacher scores and measures of academic student engagement and student self-efficacy. Finally, the paper investigates policy related issues that are pertinent to implementing student surveys as a component of teacher evaluation.