Student Accountability

There has been much talk about teacher accountability which is definitely important in the nurturing of our children but on the same token, how about student accountability? With both of these entities (teachers and students) working in unison like the parts of an engine, our nations education goals and dreams will be realized. Students must likewise be held accountable!! As a teacher, on a daily basis, I see no responsibility on the part of my students and even the ones that I see traveling from class to class. Many of these students come to school late, no supplies such as paper and pencil, improperly dressed, and many of them sleep in class or busily listening to their ipods or texting messages to their friends. As a result, much of the instruction given by the teacher is missed in these classes. In addition, when teachers direct these students to put away their cell phones or ipods, many of these students immediately develop an attitude and all the teacher is trying to refocus them and get them back on task or the matter at hand and that is receiving the basic instruction that they need to pass their Standards of Learning exams. (SOL).

If our nation is to continue to remain a superpower, some type of student accountability must be expected on the part of our students. Students are required to come to class and ready to learn and as mentioned earlier stay focus in classes. Students as well as their teachers must share this sense of responsibility, however this is not happening. Too much emphasis is placed upon the teacher which I feel is truly unfair. How about the students? Yes, as mentioned in my previous blog, teacher accountability is of utmost importance but how are we to ensure that our students also are delegated some degree of responsibility. How can a teacher be held fully accountable for a student once they leave school at the end of the school day?

Students are in school approximately 6 1/2 hours a day. The other 17 1/2 hours of that day, many of these students are basically out of their realm of control unless they stay back after school for activities such as band practice, sport events, or after school tutoring to name a few after school events. The large majority of the students not staying back after school are in many cases wandering the streets or doing whatever they desire and many times parents do not have any knowledge regarding their where abouts. Unfortunately, a percentage of these students are staying out all hours of the night, partying, no parental supervision, and sadly in many cases, they are raising themselves. What's going on? They must be held accountable for their education and that is the bottom line. It is totally unrealistic to make scapegoats out of many excellent teachers when some level of accountability should be expected from our students. I have seen many fine teachers literally walk out of their classrooms simply because of many students attitudes and refusals to make any effort to complete classroom work. Believe me, teachers are truly in the "trenches" and this is the reality of the situation.

Lastly, in my next blog, I will talk about parental responsibility which is the missing link in the accountability issue. We are all in this together. Isn't this true? Any comments or replies will be greatly appreciated.