I want to highlight an essay in the Washington Post that discusses one of the less popular subjects in education policy – the responsibility of the student. While policy makers and talking heads would never say that students bear no responsibility in their own education, their focus often is on improving teacher quality and more intelligent resource allocation within districts. Students are treated as the lifeless lump of iron, requiring adequate environmental support and the firm forging hand of the teacher to be shaped into their true potential. The danger with this narrative is it encourages students, and maybe more importantly, parents to shrug off their responsibility in the education process.

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