Professional educators never tire of talking about the ideal teacher. Few have bothered to consult the object of the object of their talk, i.e., the schoolchildren. But one has: Dr. Paul Witty of Northwestern University, originator and judge of the annual "Best Teacher" contest sponsored by the Quiz Kids radio show. For five years, he has been poring over letters from children about their teachers. Last week, after reading the 90,000th, he told teachers at Northwestern's summer school just what the youngsters think about them.
Witty and his assistants had had to do quite a bit of translating, to turn pupil-talk into...