Dear Dr. Spilchuk…

October, 2010

Thanks For What You Do

Dear Dr. Spilchuk,

Thanks for what you do. It plays an important role in the balancing of things in the international education scene. Despite criticisms, the information that International School Review provides is of value to me, and that is why I renewed my membership before I made a decision at a job fair this year. I was looking for any real red flags that might deter me from signing with the school I have, and re-reading the reviews of that school today, I can see that most of the ratings on most of the reviews are right (although I would like to see a rating on the balance of teacher time vs. prep time added to your scorecard). Hence, the value in having more reviews…to weed out the erroneous reviews that are based on perhaps the personality or personal issues of a teacher, rather than the accurate balance of experiences had by most.

I thought that the reviews of the job fair I attended were also very accurate. I wish I had added thoughts now. But I concur with much of what has been said about the experience (and fortunately despite the challenges of that job fair, I did manage to get a job, one that I’m happy with so far). Extremely valuable information.

I will make more of an effort to read more thoroughly the reviews, I think, in preparation for any changes I might make in the future, although I foresee none for awhile.

Thank you very much, and once again: perhaps consider adding the balance of prep time to a teacher’s work time to the scorecard.”

Best wishes,

Happy Camper

Hello Happy Camper,

A site where teachers talk to teachers about schools is the best information source to draw upon to make wise career decisions, I agree! I’ve been in the business for 30 years; I wish there had been an ISR before some of my very early assignments.

Not to worry about the publication! We will not publish without your permission, although truly, what you have to say is very helpful to readers on the site. Have you thought about an anonymous posting on the ISR site? I could do that by working with you to change any notifying details if you are interested.

Best and good luck!

Barbara