Do I have to give you my name or email address? I don't want any trouble from my teachers or the administration.
You are not required to log in or enter your name or email address if you are a student and are rating a middle school or high school teacher. If you are a parent, you must login to rate on the Parent part of the site. If you are rating an elementary teacher, either as a parent or former student, you must have an account (free) and login to rate.
Don't students use this site just to get even with their teachers? Aren't most of the ratings negative?
Absolutely not. You might be surprised to learn that about 60% of the ratings are positive.
How do I 'RateMyTeachers'?
We've tried to make this site as easy to use as possible. You can select your school by clicking on the map. For the US, you then have two ways of finding your school. You can enter the first 3 letters of your school's name or go to your state and find your school. For Canada, once you click on your province, you will get a list of all schools in that province. If your teacher is listed on your school's page, click on their name and rate them. If your teacher is not listed, you can add them and rate them.
How do the scores work? I don't think Easiness is a good thing - why is it part of the rating?
The Overall Quality rating is the average of a teacher's Helpfulness and Clarity ratings, and is what determines the type of "smiley face" that the teacher receives. A teacher's Easiness rating is NOT used when computing the Overall Quality rating, since an Easiness of 5 may actually mean the teacher is TOO easy. Please go to Rate Rules for more information on the ratings.
How much does this website cost me?
Nothing! The site is absolutely free.
How soon are my ratings posted?
Ratings are reviewed several times a day. Your ratings should be posted that day. They will always be reviewed within 2 days.
I gave a teacher a Cool vote but no sunglasses showed up. What gives?
It depends on how many overall Cool or Not Cool ratings a teacher has. If they have 2 Cool and 2 Not Cool, no sunglasses are shown. If they have 5 Cool and 2 Not Cool, the sunglasses will appear.
I know a business that I think would like to advertise on the site. Are you interested?
Of course!!! Contact us and we will discuss our rates for banner ads and sponsorship opportunities.
I think I would like to be my school's moderator. What do they do and how do I sign up?
The School Admins handle the ratings for their school on a daily basis. This means reviewing, accepting, deleting - everything about the ratings. They also accept new teachers and make corrections (such as names) for existing teachers. They become part of the RateMyTeachers staff and work with the site owners and operators. To become an Admin, you must be a student at that school and have a RMT account. You can create an account from the link on your school's page. After you have created your account, click on the 'Want to be this school's admin?' link on your school's page and send us an email with your account email and school. If you don't see this link on your school's page, it means there is already an admin for your school (Sorry!).
I think it is only fair that there be RateMyStudents and RateMyParents sites. After all, I have a lot of things to say about my students and their parents. When will you start those sites?
NEVER!! We will never have sites for rating students or parents. Teachers affect the lives of thousands of students; the reverse is not true. Anyone can start a web site. If you really think this is a good idea, then, by all means, go for it.
I'm having trouble logging into my member's page and/or adding ratings. What should I do?
RateMyTeachers uses cookies for its login process, so please make sure your browser has cookies enabled. If you are using Internet Explorer, click Tools, then Internet Options, then Privacy, and make sure the vertical slider is on Medium High or lower. You can find more detailed instructions on this page.
I've seen 'Want to login or Create an account?' on my school's page. What's that all about?
NO ONE has to have an account to use the site. Creating an account will allow you to track and edit your ratings. After your account is created, you can login to it. We get quite a few emails from people who made a mistake in rating their teacher and want us to change them. WE don't change someone's rating. We can delete the entire rating or delete the comment, but we won't change them. This option gives the user a way to make sure their ratings are correct. We have a lot of changes planned. Some of them will be for members only, so if you want to use the site to its fullest, be sure and create an account.
Some of my comments got deleted. My teacher really is a fat, ugly jerk. Why can't I say that? What comments are OK?
You are right. We are pretty picky about what gets posted and have some strict guidelines. You can find the guidelines on this page. Comments should be about their teaching, not their physical appearance. Every rating is reviewed before it is posted, and we reserve the right to delete comments OR an entire rating.
What do teachers think of this site?
Well, that depends on the teacher!! We get a lot of emails from teachers telling us they like the site, and we've even had some telling us how the site has helped them. We also get some pretty hateful emails telling us how inappropriate the site is, how they are going to shut us down, etc.
What if I see a rating that I think should be reviewed again? I know you said you review all ratings, but what if you miss one that is not OK?
You're right - every now and then a bad rating gets by us. You will see a red flag just before the teacher's name. When you click on that flag, the rating is sent back to us to review again. If it really should not have been accepted, we will handle it. If the rating really is OK, we just approve it again.
What if I see an error with a teacher, like if their name is spelled wrong or even if they aren't a real teacher?
After you click on a teacher, you will see 'Report error with this teacher listing' at the top of the page. Just click on that link and tell us what is wrong.
What is the purpose of this site?
The purpose of the site is to be a resource for students. Where else can you find out what others think of an instructor? Is he/she a good teacher, do they challenge you, are they fair? When you have the option of choosing a teacher, wouldn't you really like some information? It also gives you, the user, a place to voice your opinion. It gives you a place to make a difference in your education.
What is your privacy policy?
You can view our Privacy Policy here.
Who are you and why do you have this site?
We are just common, ordinary people who believe that students are the CUSTOMERS of teachers/schools/administrators - and we believe they absolutely have a right to voice their opinions.
Who can rate? Is it limited to students?
We prefer you only rate teachers of whom you have first-hand knowledge. It is not possible to verify that a rater had a particular teacher, so use caution in making decisions based on isolated ratings. Anyone can rate - students, the teacher, other teachers, parents, dogs, cats, etc.
Why do the menu buttons refuse to load and certain pages show up white?
Internet security programs such as Microsoft AntiSpyware and Norton Internet Security may have blocked RateMyTeachers because it feels it is unsafe to visit. If you have internet security software installed on your computer, make sure it is not blocking access to this site.
You guys didn't answer my question. How can I contact you?
Click on the Contact link at the bottom of the page. We read EVERY email and respond to almost all of them. (No, we don't respond to threats to shut us down!)