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Ratemyteachers.ca illustrates the dark side of the Internet;
its use should be discouraged and access from school computers
should be blocked by Toronto District School Board servers.
While the concept of teacher rating is valid, it must be
a regulated process to ensure honesty and accuracy, neither
of which are ensured on this website. Any student anywhere
in the world can rate a Martingrove teacher. Therefore,
the numerical ratings are completely meaningless, as there
is no method whereby it can be verified that Martingrove
teachers are only being rated by Martingrove students. The
fact that the most ratings an MCI teacher has received thus
far is fourteen is only further proof of the statistical
invalidity inherent in the system.
The comment section of the website is also seriously flawed.
Despite the censorship of certain comments by the website's
administrators, the potential remains for students to post
potentially hurtful remarks.
Furthermore, the anonymous nature of the ratings removes
any hopes for accountability - students are given no reason
to rate their teachers honestly. By encouraging the use
of this website as a legitimate means of evaluation, its
proponents are treating the immature desires of secondary
school students on par with the professional reputation
of teachers.
If teachers desire feedback, they can ask their students
directly. If students wish to remain anonymous, it can undoubtedly
be arranged. In this case, the teacher receives the desired
feedback without pandering to the exhibitionist tendencies
of the less mature students whose online ratings would not
be of much value anyway.
Since the TDSB has no control over the behaviour of its
students off its property, its only choice of action is
to block ratemyteachers.ca from all its computers. Fortunately,
this is not an unprecedented action; the Winnipeg School
Division did so in September 2002. One can only hope that
the TDSB will have the sense to inhibit this public defamation
of its staff.
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