When a student falls behind in a class, the blame is almost always put on the student.

However, teachers contribute to this problem as well. While students should always be responsible for their assignments and efforts to achieve their goals, teachers should also be held accountable for their students’ grades.

One way a teacher can affect a student’s success in a class is the attendance of the teacher. According to “educationbythenumbers,” teachers have an average of 13.5 sick days. With this in mind, it is alarming to discover one in four United States teachers in 2016 were considered chronically absent — over 10 days of leave — to their classes. While some of these absences could be due to sick days, mental health days and maternity leave, according to “washingtonpost,” some are due to “school climate” or not feeling motivated to be at work. 

This is equivalent to a student deciding not to show up to school simply because they don’t feel like it.

“No matter what’s going on, if you don’t have a great teacher in the classroom, kids aren’t going to learn as much as they would otherwise,” said Nora Carr, the Guilford County School District chief of staff, in 2016.

Fact is, it is unacceptable for a teacher to put their students’ academic outcome at risk just because the teacher wasn’t feeling it several times throughout the school year.

Teachers’ ability to educate well is also a factor in a student’s grade. Certain classes are only taught through lectures and PowerPoints. Others are taught in a new way every week. Both teaching styles aren’t effective because teachers should try to accommodate all learning styles but also have some consistency. 

According to “educationpost,” a teacher’s objective should be to engage their students in new ways, know their subject matter, accept constructive feedback and improve their classes each year. While it is the responsibility of the student to ask questions when they don’t understand the lesson, a teacher’s goal should be to provide the best schooling for each of their students.

When a teacher is not held accountable, they can lose respect from their students. As a result, — on top of an at-risk grade — students may have lower attention spans and demonstrate little to no work ethic in those classes. Additionally, the likelihood of students switching out of the class or choosing not to take the more advanced class increases.

If a teacher’s goal is to inspire learning and growth in their students, attending their classes and providing quality teaching should be in their best interest. Without the accountability of our teachers today, the next generation will be off on the wrong foot.