Today's Jewish world needs more administrators who can evaluate those who do opt to teach. That evaluation should take place in an equitable manner. It should serve the needs of the entire system, and not just the needs of the administrator.

Promotions as well as demotions

As a first step, teacher evaluation should serve to promote as well as to demote.

That is not the case at present. Teacher evaluations serve to banish teachers from a school or from the entire system, but it is hard to find cases in which teachers are promoted because of student or peer evaluation.

Yes, advancement to senior university-level positions often does include a peer review. However, this is also fraught with a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" fraternal system.

Administrative evaluation

There is nothing wrong with teacher evaluation – if there is a concomitant administrative evaluation. That evaluation should have the identical effect on the administration as the standard evaluation has on the teachers. That would do a lot to help the system work in a more equitable manner.

This is rare, indeed. Principals evaluate teachers, but teachers do not evaluate principals.

Some readers may feel that this is quite fair. The principal is in a superior position, so it should indeed be his task to evaluate the teacher, who is in an inferior position.

If so, then why do students also evaluate teachers?