There is a sort of silliness to the concept of asking teachers to be tough while at the same time expecting the people they’re tough on to give them good evaluations. One could make a comparison to prisons, but ideally education doesn’t resemble a prison too much. Maybe a veterinarian is a better comparison. My cat is all the better for seeing the vet, but I’d never ask the cat to be the one to evaluate him.

Still, even that’s not fair. Students are aware of good and bad qualities in teachers. Whether that awareness always accurately translates to paper is another issue. It’s a flawed system, but I’m not entirely sure of a better one. What do you think?