Jill Biden earns passing marks

Jill and Joe Biden Thursday in Denver. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

by James Oliphant

There's a website named RateMyProfessors that must be the bane of all collegiate instructors everywhere.

Students are asked to rate their teachers on a scale of 1 to 5 in areas such as helpfulness, "easiness," clarity and, uh, hotness. That might give you some sense of how sophisticated an endeavor this is.

But since Jill Biden, wife of the newly minted Democratic vice presidential nominee, teaches English and composition at Delaware Technical and Community College in Wilmington, DE, we decided to take a look at her students' ratings.

Overall, from 16 responses, Biden earned an average of 3.6 for helpfulness, clarity and overall quality. And 4 students said she was, well, hot. (Joe, it's them, not us.)

Here are some of the comments, word for word:

shes a good teacher, a little hard on the research paper & class is very boring but how inresting is composition?

great teacher, straightforward and to the point. Very smart. Dresses nicely.

I've read some of the other ratings and find them surprising! I took Mrs. Biden two semesters ago While I was not her "pet," I found her to be extremely fair and a great teacher. I learned a lot from her and just want to say (in her defense) you must do the work to do well in her class... she gives no free rides!

This women does not care how her students do. First impressions are everything for her. If you don't get on her good side right away your screwed. I would advise not taking her class, but if you have to just pay attention and participate. Class wasn't too hard. Just a decent amount of work and very boring!!!

Dr. Biden, by now, does not even have to devote her time to teaching with her stature. She's an excellent instructor who goes out of her way to make you understand. With some of what I've seen her tolerate, she deserves a bad day now and then.

Was very helpfull, makes the student get out and do some research which helps in the loong run

Isn't helpful. Tells you to look it up and follow the book. Wants to go to beach alot so can't be reached by email or phone. Tells students to just quit if you don't like the class. Also told some students they were failing when they weren't.

She was great! She went out of her way to make sure everyone understood, and I felt quite comfortable asking her questions. She teaches you step by step how to write a paper. English is easy if you are not lazy and you do the work required. Writing is fun, if you have a brain.

Writing is indeed fun if you have a brain. Actually, that's a motto here on the Swamp. It's on our coffee mugs.

By the way, here is what Jill's husband said last year about his wife's teaching methods,
which he likens, over Jill's objection, to Catholic school.

I think we have to challenge more. It's not helping an African-American kid to put him in a first or second grade and not overload him with homework. What makes you think his brain size ain't as big as the other kid's? My wife has taught remedial English for 13 years to juniors and sophomores in high school. We have massive busing in our state. Every public high school class has a significant African-American population.

My wife demanded the same and treated everybody the same. And in fact would spend the time to convince them--black and white who were behind the curve--that you can do this. It's not like: Here's a standardized test, and you gotta pass it. That ain't it.

It is: You can do this. Now, I'm not going to slack off on you. You have homework you didnt do it? There's no excuse. You didn't do it, come and tell me you didn't understand it and I will help you through it. But don't come and tell me you can do it.