Sherwood education is imperfect. We have both incredibly fulfilled students and those who are struggling; some who cannot stay awake in class and others who listen intently yet still face difficulty interpreting various teaching styles. At the heart of an education system filled with both dramatic success stories and tragic failures lies perhaps the most essential component of a classroom: the teacher.

The Warrior believes teacher performance should be accounted for, with measurable steps to reward excellent educators and amend ineffective ones. Evaluative actions such as teacher assessment surveys for students to complete each semester, supplemented with increased observations of teachers by administrators and careful examination of students’ academic performance, can help improve the Sherwood classroom experience and lead to better education of students.

As individuals who observe teachers every day and have a personal interest in helping them improve their instruction, students can offer perspectives on educators unavailable through the sporadic observations by administrators that teachers can prepare for specifically and that our county currently relies on to assess its employees. Student evaluations of teachers, in the form of a survey such as this example and with questions that include those featured above, should be used to help teachers discover the ways in which they effectively educate and the areas that they need to improve upon.

Surveys should be given to students frequently, with the results analyzed by the teacher himself and by an administrator or peer-teaching colleague. Teachers with significantly poor feedback who do not improve should be required to attend training with other teachers to learn how to more effectively educate in areas in which students reported their weaknesses. Survey results should be used both to contribute towards administrative decisions about teachers, such as classes and curriculum, and to help individual teachers most appropriately cater to students’ unique methods of learning.

While the Warrior survey is a potential template, we envision the survey actually used to be specific to individual classes and departments. Student apathy towards the survey should be combated with advertisements by the SGA informing students of the importance of evaluation procedures and by assurances from teachers that the results of these surveys will be regarded seriously. We have also intentionally designed our survey with a colloquial tone to increase student focus and make the evaluation relatable to all students.

Teachers who receive positive results should be rewarded with fun measures such as selective teacher breakfasts or complimentary lunches, with teachers who receive excellent remarks earning prestigious teaching awards and being recognized on the county level.

Teachers who struggle should receive not punitive action but instead support to help them improve. In conjunction with administrative evaluations and examination of student performance, survey results should be used to determine teachers who could benefit from being placed on peer assistance and review (PAR), a system currently in place in MCPS to help struggling teachers yet used exceedingly rarely in Sherwood and other schools across the county. Student surveys should be integrated into the county’s current method of evaluating teachers to identify teachers who need improvement and help determine students’ academic needs.

Mostly, student surveys of teachers are essential to correct a system that too often forgets to acknowledge the most underrepresented component of almost any education system: the students. We need to play a role in the quality of our education, and we are capable enough to effectively participate in reforming teaching quality. Students see their teachers every day at their best and at their worst; they remember a teacher that was always available at lunch and a teacher that simply relies on movies to fill time during class. With student input, teachers can inform themselves of areas in which they need improvement and enhance their instruction to most effectively educate. Teaching quality reform is possible. Student input, taken seriously by teachers and administration, is one vital component of enhancing the classroom experience.