Reviews of professor John King Jr.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
So I dropped this class before it even started cuz the syllabus looked insane. Over 100 readings assigned...a lot of them not short. Essay due every week.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Good luck. I thought I was an awesome writer. Guess not. TA will help you if you reach out but don't wait like I did. You will basically learn all the standard ways of thinking about Ed policy- testing, teachers, more testing, it's the schools' fault- but the class doesn't really analyze the deep inequalities creating the situation. So many papers

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
I basically failed Kings class because I couldn't keep up with the work. But thats mostly my fault. I knew it was going to be really hard. I wish I could have just audited the course.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Dr. King is one of the best professors that I've had the pleasure of taking a class with! He breaks down federal education policy in a way that undergraduates can understand. He makes the 2.5-hour lecture interesting and he's really easy to talk to. I would 100% recommend taking this class!

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Every week you will have a four page essay due. Good luck with that. Then your will basically have a 10 page midterm and 10 page final. The final has an additional oral component. And this is on top of about 200 pages of reasons for every week. And he will call you and expect you to know if. Good luck!

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
15 Essays. Definitely hardest class I took at Maryland. Graduate level amount of reading. King cold calls a lot. If you suffer from performance anxiety, stay away! At least two students had panic attacks.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Dr. King's class is very challenging. He gives a lot and asks for a lot. He is definitely one of the most knowledgeable people in the country when it comes to federal education policy. He is also a really caring and wonderful teacher. He gives point by point feedback on every essay- a lot more feedback than any other professor has given me at UMD.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
The amount of work assigned was simply exorbitant. I did get a lot better at writing, though. I even used what I wrote in his class to get an internship. But the class was crazy amounts of work. And he makes you do the readings. Like, he'll do pop quizzes if he calls on you and you don't know the answer.