Who is Responsible for Student Learning?

I believe that responsibility of student learning is dependent upon age. I think the student, teacher, and parents are always most responsible but other factors such as friends and extracurriculars are also factors. The other activities should take a back seat to learning and should not be allowed if a student has bad grades. At the elementary level I think parents are most responsible, followed by teachers, then students, and finally other factors. It is the parents' responsibility to establish proper study habits at home and explain to their child the value of education. The teacher is responsible for explaining this material to a new group of learners and they have to assess each student individually to make sure they are learning their basic elementary principles. Then the student is ultimately responsible for wanting to learn and putting forth serious effort. Other factors such as extracurriculars also play a part. Sports coaches should also emphasize the importance of education and encourage kids to get good grades. Therefore my breakdown for elementary is 40% parents, 30% teachers, 20% students, and 10% other.

At the middle school level I feel there is a shift of responsibility from the parents to the students to make the parent, student, and teacher all equally responsible at this stage. The parents are still responsible for making sure their child is doing the work outside of school that's necessary but some of that responsibility transfers to the student as they are getting older. It is time for the student to start wanting to learn and take it upon themself to do so. The teachers are still responsible for properly explaining material and assessing students accurately to make sure learning is occurring. Other factors still contribute at this age such as peer pressure and involvement in extra curriculars. My breakdown for this age is 30% for the student, teacher, and parents each and 10% for other.

At the high school level I feel that the students are most responsible followed by teachers and parents and finally other. I feel the students are most responsible because ultimately at this stage it is up to them to get all their homework done. Parents are less aware of what is being assigned in every class and parent teacher communication is diminished at this age. Also since students are taking so many different classes with different teachers the teacher can only be responsible for the student learning their material. Other factors play an increasing role since a lot of students are active in high school. It is up to the coaches and group leaders to check grade reports and not allow for student participation unless the student has the appropriate grades. It is also the parents responsibility to instill a set of priorities with grades being number 1 then everything else. Therefore my breakdown at the high school level is 40% students, 20% teacher, 20% parents, and 20% other.