Holding Students Accountable for Their Achievement

In every performance where students will be evaluated, it is the students’ right to be informed of the basis on which they will be evaluated. One way the teacher can do this is by explicitly informing the students of the criteria on which they’ll be evaluated or of the exact skills that are required on a specific test. Thus before a test, it is always helpful to remind the students of the skills already studied in class before a test. Further, the teacher can conduct a trial test covering the required skills. This serves in acquainting students with test type and question format and proves especially useful at the beginning of the year when students are still unaware of teacher’s expectations. The result of which is often, lower first term marks.
Informing students of the evaluation criteria could prove useful also in classroom presentations. Often during presentations, students are unaware of important presentation skills. As a result, many students neglect eye contact, using visuals, proper posture, stating presentation objectives, all of which contribute to a successful presentation. To avoid this, students can be explicitly told of the skills that would improve their presentations ahead of presentation due date so students have the opportunity to practice before coming to class.
Another instance where it is helpful to inform students of what is required of them is before a writing task. For example, before students write an argumentative essay, students can be told that their essays need to include a thesis statement, three arguments to support their thesis statement and at least two counterarguments with their refutations. Also the students can be told to correct any run on sentences and sentence fragments before handing in their final written product.
Doing this, making students aware of the teacher’s expectations, is of great importance since it holds the students responsible for their performance. Thus, it is no longer only the teacher who is responsible for the students’ attainment of what is taught in class but students are functionally involved in improving their skills, abilities and performance.