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Formal or systematic evaluation by college students of their teachers has long been used to help students in their selection of courses, to provide feedback to faculty about their teaching, and to supply information for administrators and personnel committees in their deliberations on the promotion and tenure of individual faculty members. Moreover, with the increasing emphasis that many colleges and universities are currently putting on good teaching and on designating, honoring, and rewarding good teachers, the use of student ratings is, if anything, likely to increase. Yet, for all their use, student ratings of instructors and instruction are hardly universally accepted. It is no secret, for example, that some college teachers have little regard for them. For these faculty, student evaluations of teachers (or courses)-whether sponsored by the university administration, facultydevelopment institutes, individual academic departments, or studentrun organizations-are not reliable, valid, or useful, and may even be 1 This paper is based on an earlier one