Response to Mark Lusk

This empirical study examined the association between social work students' ratings of teaching ability and several course, student, and instructor variables. Over 5,000 standardized evaluation forms rating instructors' specific skills and overall effectiveness were collected between 1991-93 at a school of social work in a large urban university. The results showed strong positive relationships between ratings of teaching effectiveness and ratings of skills reflecting course organization, rapport with students, and fair grading. This study supports the legitimacy of student ratings in assessing faculty, and the authors discuss implications for faculty development of the strong relationship between effective teaching and organizational skills.