Peer Review of Teaching

Peer review, when done well, has been seen to reinvigorate teaching, provide detailed appraisal, and enrich evidence on which decisions about compensation and promotion are made. In this concise, yet comprehensive book, Nancy Van Note Chism offers a framework for the use of peer review; lists the tasks involved in setting up a peer-review program; and provides guidelines, protocols, checklists, and reproducible rating forms for reviewing course materials, classroom performance and non-course teaching activities, such as overall departmental teaching efforts and teaching portfolios. She addresses institution-level issues: policies about peer review; responsibilities of administrators, reviewers, and reviewees; and the components of an effective peer-review system.

The book is offered in the hope that providing examples and forms will not reduce the important work of peer review to mere forms or rigid procedures, but will empower faculty to articulate standards, perform their reviews systematically, and realize that engaging in peer reviews can be an approachable, helpful task. Peer reviews are rooted in the foundational approach of teaching as communal work that opens dialogue, probes assumptions, encourages sharing, and creates a culture that supports and sustains good teaching.