This paper examines insights offered by communication research that may be valuable to researchers looking for evidence of gender bias affecting student ratings of their college professors' teaching effectiveness. The paper offers an overview of the teaching evaluation processes, and conceptualizations of the validity of their measures. It then discusses evidence that students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness may be subject to a number of biases, including gender bias. It then reviews research indicating that classroom communication processes are influenced both by professor and student gender. It is suggested that findings from two lines of communication research, instructional communication and gender and communication, may provide insights into the processes through which communication contributes to gender biases in student ratings. The paper concludes with specific and general suggestions for using these insights in future research. (Contains 71 references.) (Author)