Introduction One purpose of peer review is summative review, a formal assessment of the contributions of a teacher/professor to the teaching program. Summative review may be a broad assessment, looking at some evidence of the person's teaching over a number of years/courses. On the other hand, such review may be an in-depth review, a detailed assessment of the person's work in a small number of classes. The evidence needed to carry out an assessment obviously differs depending upon whether breadth or depth is the focus. In general, the evidence used for summative review should come from a variety of sources. Information should be obtained from the person being reviewed. In addition, evaluations by the students in the course should be included. Evidence may be provided by the instructor's colleagues, either through peer review by colleagues on campus, or by selected persons elsewhere who review the written record, in a manner similar to the external review of scholarship. Numerical data may be included: the number of students in each course, trends in enrollment in the person's courses over time, distributions of course grades. Information from any one source is necessarily incomplete. The goal should be to have available information from several sources, and to integrate these into a comprehensive review. It is also important to look at evidence collected over a period of semesters or years. The practice of teaching evolves as the instructor learns more about the types of students who take the course and about classroom and evaluation techniques that do and don't work, and as the knowledge base of the course changes. Everyone should not be expected to be an outstanding teacher; rather, the goal should be that everyone's teaching improves over time. Thus, longitudinal data are very important, especially data about the same course over two or more semesters. In reviewing evidence, it is important to remember that each type of evidence has certain strengths and certain weaknesses. Evidence from the Instructor. The instructor should provide information about his/her teaching philosophy and approach to the specific course, or a more general reflective statement. Teaching practices make sense only in the context of the instructor's goals for the course. An excellent vehicle for gathering information from the instructor is the course portfolio. If less information is desired, copies of the syllabus, assignments and examinations will usually be the minimum. Evidence from Colleagues. Colleagues can provide assessments of the currency and intellectual quality of the material being taught. Colleagues on campus can provide this information based on a review of materials and observing teaching. Colleagues elsewhere can provide the information via external review of the written material described above. Evidence from Students. Students can provide information about the impact of the course on them. They can evaluate the organization and clarity of classroom presentations. They can assess the integration of the various activities in the course - lectures, readings, discussions, projects, assignments, exams - and how each of these contributed to their learning. They can provide a self-conscious assessment of how much they have learned, though they may not be aware of some of the outcomes of the course. Students are routinely asked to provide such assessments through student course evaluations. An alternative way to solicit information from students is by interviewing students about their learning experience or interviewing students about what they have learned. These interviews could be conducted by faculty colleagues within or outside a department, or by other professional staff such as instructional development staff or the UW-Madison LEAD Center. Possible types of evidence and sources of information you might find useful (in alphabetical order): Divisional Committee Requirements (requirements for tenure from the four divisions at UW-Madison) External Review of Course Content (a colleague from outside UW-Madison reviews course materials) Interviewing Students about Their Learning Experience (a colleague talks with students about what contributed to their learning) Interviewing Students about What They Have Learned (a colleague with content expertise talks with students about what they have learned) Observing Teaching (a colleague observes an instructor's teaching) Reciprocal Classroom Visits (colleagues visit each others' classes) Student Course Evaluations (students give feedback) Student Outcomes (showing students' work) Teaching Portfolios and Course Portfolios (documentation about teaching or a specific course)