A series of Web sites lets students and parents find out about their teachers as they begin a new school year.

The Web sites www.ratemyteacher.com and www.ratemyprofessor.com allow students and parents to post opinions and rate instructors.

"It is like having an older sister who has already taken all of the same classes as you and wants to share insider info," said Stephanie Broussard of New Iberia, a junior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

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The sites rate teachers and professors on four attributes: easiness, helpfulness, clarity and popularity. For each section, a user picks a number between one and five, one being the worst, five being the best. The number is then added up and divided by four to provide an overall quality score.

"If the ratings site is done by the person who has done ratings before it can be a good thing," said Allen Horton, a world geography and world history teacher at Westgate High School.

On www.ratemyteacher.com, parents and students are allowed to give comments on instructors. Opinions from students range from scathing to upbeat. One student at New Iberia Senior High posted a comment saying a past instructor was "sweet and understanding." Another NISH student posted that a past instructor was "out to make peoples' lives more difficult." Each rating is accompanied by the numerical rating as well as an icon representing the cumulative score.

"As a future educator, I would not mind honest feedback about my classes it could possibly improve my teaching strategies," said Rachael Brodie, a New Iberia native and senior education major at UL Lafayette.

Some students think it is helpful to know what the upcoming school year will bring.

"I would like to have the knowledge before hand," said Shane Hebert, a senior at Erath High School.

"I think something like this can help," said Zach Fourroux, also a student at Erath High. "If I filled one out, I'd be honest, just so it would help out other people."

Some teachers are skeptical and oppose the use of this type of Web site in high school.

"It was nice to read about what they said about me," said Jackie Biano, a teacher at New Iberia Senior High who received high ratings on www.ratemyteacher.com. "However, some of what was said about other teachers really bothered me. One responsibility of a teacher is to discipline. This gives students a chance to attack a teacher. I don't think students should have that kind of forum."

A teacher-ratings Web site can be more beneficial for college students than high school students, Brodie said.

"I think it is effective for college students because you do not know what a teacher is like and it can give you some feed back about there class," Brodie said. "On the other hand, in high school you do not have as many choices of teacher preferences, so it is not as effective."