As students get older and begin to take on the responsibility of writing down assignments in planners, keeping track of their work, and following up on missing assignments with student accountability, it’s nice for parents to be able to take a step back.

However, students can’t always get there right away, and they need support that will get them there in time and not hinder their progress or their confidence in taking accountability for their learning.

Value of Effort

Parents and teachers can give students as much extrinsic motivation as they’d like, but without intrinsic motivation applied to student effort there won’t be much progress or accountability. Certainly, some students require more extrinsic motivation than others, but that shouldn’t be what the adults and children rely on to try to get the achievement results desired. Researchers who studied intrinsic and extrinsic motivators found, “an explicitly strong and significantly positive main effect is found between intrinsic motivation and creative/innovative performance. This implies that the higher the intrinsic motivation, the higher the creative and innovative outcome.”

Encouraging students to read freely, apply math concepts to the world around them, and write for multiple purposes might help to build this intrinsic motivation. As children begin to see that their effort has a direct connection to success in education, the accountability between themselves and their parents and teachers will become more natural.

Children need to feel that their efforts are encouraged and are not to be punished or looked down upon. If effort is not what it should be, there should be support to get to where it needs to be as well as an explanation of why that support is being offered. This can happen through first setting up an agreed upon expectation of effort that is acceptable.

Have a parent-student conference to discuss thoughts and feelings regarding this topic, so that when effort is lacking in the future these expectations are brought back as a reminder instead of a new set of rules given to a student by their parent. If these expectations are not being met, communicate with the student on why they feel their effort isn’t where it should be and what they need from the adults in their life in order to perform to the best of their ability.

Foundation of Education

Students need to learn and to understand that their education has meaning. Elementary and early middle school helps them to build their foundation and gather all the tools they need for their futures. Late middle school and high school builds on that foundation and applies the tools they have gathered.

College, trade and vocational schools help students hone skills with their previous education as a foundation. Then, when they are ready to move to careers, they have the confidence and security in their education to address any task or challenge they might face.

For teachers, understanding the role they play in student motivation and academic accountability is vital to student success. Anthony Reibel, a school leader in Illinois, explains, “Accountability is not about following rules and procedures rather it is staying committed to learning and growing. It is being responsible for developing one’s own self-efficacy and taking the initiative to follow through with the application of learned content and skills.” If students struggle with taking responsibility for their learning, they may be missing part of the big picture. Parents and teachers can model what being a responsible learner looks like, but they should also be the voice of what impact their education has on their future.

Honest Communication

When a child trusts the adults in their life, both parents and teachers, and feels comfortable in their learning environment, the ability to take responsibility and vocalize needs comes smoother than in environments where they feel uncertain of their surroundings.

It is fine and acceptable for children to make mistakes, and it is necessary that they know this and believe there is truth behind it. When teachers and parents communicate their own mistakes, such as solving a math problem incorrectly or responding to a tense situation wrongly, students see that mistakes are a natural part of life.

They start to see the benefit of open, honest communication and this leads to their comfort and confidence in being honest with their academic efforts. Taking responsibility becomes more natural and accountability starts to come from their own efforts rather than being pushed by the adults around them.

Another building block in the foundation of education and student accountability is balancing academics and extracurrricular activities.

The Maverick Observer is an online free-thinking publication interested in the happenings in our region. We launched in February 2020 to hold our politicians and businesses accountable. We hope to educate, inform, entertain, and infuse you with a sense of community.