As teens begin to find their way around the Internet, they will inevitably search their names and the names of others. So I was half-expecting it when my son started laughing after he Googled my name – and found the top result was a
As my son poked around, he asked, “Why are you a tough professor?” Yes, he had discovered my page. I teach journalism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and while I have only eight postings on my page, most are consistent with the description that my classes involve a lot of work. For the record, they do.
Students get to rate classes using the following standards: Easiness, Helpfulness, Clarity and Rater Interest. There is also a “Hotness” category, with a chili pepper as an icon. Apparently, James Madison University has .
The site allows students to rate their professors anonymously. Anonymity on the Internet, however, usually leads to issues of legitimacy. One of my eight “ratings” is clearly that of a disgruntled student who didn’t make the grade. But, the site allows for
My department is pretty small, so students tend to find out about professors and their classes through word of mouth more than anything else. But as my son begins to start thinking about colleges, I can see how this service might help him sift the many class options in his first few years and find favorable professors. There are even lists: Both Ի recently generated news stories based on which universities had the best-rated professors.
But the rating doesn’t stop at the college level. There is also a site that allows students across the nation to rate their teachers from the preschool level all the way through high school.
The discussion on the “Rate My Professors” page with my son led to a discussion on the digital footprint he’s creating for himself. This site is one of those places I have little control over, but I told him there are others he can and should control.
is where I have a good amount of “recommendations” from former students, as well as former colleagues at other jobs. Names are attached to the statements, providing more legitimacy.
How accurate are these sites? Should you make a decision on a school or a teacher based on these ratings? Online surveys are notoriously inaccurate. Anonymity means a certain lack of accountability, and there is always one way or the other.
I remember a survey on a potential name change for the Washington Redskins when I first started working at The Washington Post’s website in 1996. Results fluctuated vastly from hour to hour, indicating a certain lack of scientific foundation.
So, while such sites can be guidelines, there’s nothing like actually sitting down and talking to professors and teachers to get a sense of who they are.
The real question is, will there be a “Rate Your Dad” site soon?
![Newspaper advertisement offering reward for the return of an escaped man to his oppressors, Princess Anne, Maryland, April 1, 1861. Text reads: “0 Reward. Ranaway from the subscriber on Tuesday Morning, 26th Ultimo [last month], My negro boy calling himself Severn Black. The said negro is about 5 feet six inches in height, chesnut color, has a scar on his upperlip, downcast countenance when spoken to, blink-eyed, showing a great deal of white, long bushy hair, is about twenty years old, had on when he lefta [sic] blue fustian Jacket, pantaloons of a greyish color, blue striped shirt, a Black slouch hat and shoes nearly worn out. The above reward will be paid by me for the apprehension and delivery of the said negro in the county jail at Princess Anne, Somerset County, Maryland. April 1, 1861. Richard E. Snelling. Somerset Herald Print, Princess Anne, Md.’ The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 obliged citizens and lawmen of free zones to return escaped men to those whom they fled. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)](/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/GettyImages-53262583-16x9-1.jpg?w=620 "GettyImages-53262583-16x9-1")
