Why Are Students Failing? 10 Reasons With All-Important Solutions

Written by Mr Mustafa in Teachers' Lounge 

It’s not fun for teachers, parents, or students when they fail. Whether it’s a test or a whole class, failing impacts their lives, mentality, and overall well-being. Many are quick to blame failure on a student being lazy. While it’s not unheard of for a student of any age to be lazy, is this the actual cause of a student failing?

Students fail because of a fear of failure, lack of motivation, issues with the material or faculty, illness, or life stressors. Solutions include identifying the problem, additional training, appropriate accommodations, and goal setting. 

While it’s simple in theory, working with students to prevent a failing grade is harder. This list of problems and immediate solutions is a must-know for all educators. So, let’s get right into it! 

1. Lack of Motivation 

The most common reason your students fail is due to a lack of motivation.

Motivation is integral to learning, whether you’re teaching college-level students or preschoolers. Interest, curiosity, and attention stem from the motivation and interest to learn. Without it, your students quickly find themselves failing.

The lack of motivation is often a symptom of a more significant issue. An extremely motivated student might be discouraged by peers, mental illness, or stress. Identifying the reason for this discouragement falls on the educator’s shoulders. 

For a student that was never motivated, the reasons might be similar. However, the reasons will differ based on the student. As long as you don’t dismiss it as laziness, you have a good chance of fixing the issue. 

Students are sensitive to dismissal. They can tell when their problems are recognized as valid and respond better to active problem-solving. 

Solution

As mentioned earlier, a lack of motivation is often a byproduct of a different reason. So, any solutions for the problems discussed below should also aid you.

But, the first step to any solution is identifying the reason. Figuring out why your student lacks motivation can only be done through conversation and observation. Ask their guardians and other teachers if they have any relevant information to aid your search. 

Once you identify a reason, it is easier to take the appropriate reaction. You can enact solutions such as:

  • Vary your classroom experiences. If you find your students lack motivation try and supplement your core syllabus with engaging experiences.
  • Create a reward system. If your students have something to work towards, they will be motivated to work towards the potential reward. 
  • Give your students more control. Allowing your students more control over what happens in the classroom, such as choosing assignments and which problems to solve. 
  • Use positive reinforcement. Students react far better to praise than threats of punishment. 

2. Fear of Failure 

The fear of failure is known to us all. Whether in our professional lives or personal, a distinct fear of failure drives most of us. We even had it as students! 

But, fear doesn’t work the same way for every student. For some, the fear becomes a roadblock. It keeps them from achieving their potential or even attempting to excel. Despite their fear of failure, they are convinced that they cannot succeed, so they don’t even try to pass. 

It’s a common reason for failure among students of all age groups. The key to solving the fear is to understand its origin. 

There are three main consequences that students might suffer from: 

  • Personal: Shame at one’s ability or perceived incompetence and feelings of guilt and worthlessness.
  • Interpersonal: Fear of disappointing parents and teachers, losing support and trust, ridicule from peers.  
  • Career: Fear of reduced chances on the job market, decreased income, and social status.

Solution

Like every solution, fixing a fear of failure starts with identifying the cause. After determining what’s wrong, you’ll need to have a frank conversation with your student. The conversation has to address all the pain points: 

  • Realistic goal setting 
  • Realistic markers of improvement 
  • Realistic and effective preparation 
  • A practical path to success.

It’s also advisable to point out prior success and improvement you’ve seen. If you can identify the reason for the success (for example, better prep and planning on the student’s end), it would improve the student’s morale. They will know what worked for them! 

3. New Interests or Too Many Interests 

It’s always a great idea to have different activities and hobbies. Apart from studying, students with a healthy number of extracurricular activities and interests are well-rounded. Participating in clubs, sports, music, dance, and more help reinforce real-life lessons and upskill. 

Balance is an integral part of school life. While extracurriculars are vital, it’s necessary to balance them against academics. Many students tend to hyper-fixate on specific interests or take up too many simultaneously. 

Both issues can interfere with academics and cause poor performance. The inability to balance interests and academics may lead to poor performance on both ends. As a mentor, it comes down to you to help a student understand and find their way out of the mess. 

Solution 

When addressing a student who is hyper-fixated on interests or has too many, there are two main points to stress. 

Time Management 

Even in college, it’s challenging to manage time as a student. While many students pick it up quickly, some require guidance, especially if a mental illness such as ADHD is involved. 

In the case of a student having a new interest taking up all their time, a frank conversation is necessary.

Stress the importance of balance and help the student develop a schedule that focuses on their new interest while also leaving time for their responsibilities. 

For a student who has taken up more than they can chew, have them draw up a realistic schedule. While you can offer suggestions, it’s best to let them decide their priorities. 

Responsibilities and Interests 

Speaking of priorities, a frank conversation on balancing responsibilities versus interests needs to happen in both cases.

For the student with too much on their plate, it involves helping them cut out specific activities to make space in their schedule. Prioritization is an important skill to learn, and it’s best learned early. 

On the opposite end, it teaches students to manage their time and interests in a balanced, healthy manner. 

4. Insufficient Preparation 

What most term laziness is often insufficient preparation. Everything needs preparation, whether it’s an essay, test, or class.

Preparation isn’t just reading through class notes or just going through past papers. It involves mental preparedness, keeping up with the readings, and doing the homework. Last-minute cramming leads to failure. 

Insufficient preparation looks different in students. It can mean last-minute cramming for some students, and it can mean the wrong type of preparation for others. 

Due to differences in learning styles, the method of preparation for each student changes. Where diligent studying works for one student, the other might require sustained learning over a few months. 

For some, the preparation can also mean one-on-one classes. It depends entirely on the student and their abilities. 

Solution 

It comes down to trial and error. Even as an educator, it takes a steady process of elimination to find what works for your student. 

If you see them failing, try to figure out what kind of prep they’re doing and how it might be failing. It requires an honest conversation and encouragement from the teacher. 

When attempting to identify the issue, you should try one-on-one training and additional worksheets. Most cases benefit from the attention. 

5. Life Stressors

Your students have a life apart from school or college. They have rich, complex lives that can come with stressors. When dealing with life stressors and school becomes too much for students to manage—many start to fail at school. 

Life stressors include several issues: 

  • Ill Parents 
  • Parental Pressure 
  • Financial Insecurity 
  • Relationship Challenges 
  • Rough Home Life. 

As a teacher, it is a part of your duty to acknowledge that students are affected by such issues and take action accordingly. While you can’t directly interfere, recognizing the problem goes a long way. 

The worst action you can take is dismissing a student’s problem as insignificant or undeserving of attention. 

Solution

Identifying a life stressor takes time. Either you can ask your student straight up or find out through parents and other contact points. Once you’ve identified the life stressor as the issue, you can take a few courses of action.

  • Speak to the student directly or ask the school counselor 
  • Speak to the parents/guardians 
  • Provide accommodations such as lenient grading or probation. 

When the problem is a life stressor, there is not much an educator can do. Apart from speaking with the concerned authority and exercising some leniency in class, there are no actions you can legally take. 

6. Mental Illness 

Mental illness plays a significant role in every student’s life. Prioritizing their mental health is not taught nor encouraged. So, conditions such as ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, Substance Abuse, and behavioral problems are ignored or dismissed as an excuse.

The statistics show a whopping 41.6% of college students deal with anxiety. Approximately 5.8 million (as of 2019) school-age children are coping with anxiety. The rates of ADHD are similarly high, standing at over 6 million students in 2019 alone. 

Mental illnesses need not always lead to failure, but there is a correlation. Often, stress and pressure lead to unnecessary mental health issues that lead to failure in the classroom. 

So, understanding the problem and addressing it straight on is essential to keeping your students from failing. 

Solution

Professionals are required to deal with mental illness among students. A school counselor can identify the problem when brought to their attention.

Parents or guardians may choose to involve professionals outside of the institution. Such individuals provide better context and techniques to help students.  

But, it’s important to remember that a teacher alone cannot help a student dealing with mental illness. It takes time, patience, and encouragement from all parties to make a difference. 

If you’re looking for things you can do for your student, it’s best to ask a professional like the school counselor. They might recommend accommodations, specific teaching styles, or other options. 

As an example, here’s a YouTube video on teaching students with ADHD:

7. Physical Illness 

Much like mental illness, a physical illness can cause failure. Physical illness ranges from fever to terminal illness. Injuries while playing, a bad fever, chronic conditions, and more lead to a lack of motivation, insufficient prep, and can cause failure.

If they’re dealing with hospital visits, medications, pain, and discomfort, it can take a toll on performance. 

Solution

There is nothing you can do as an educator apart from providing the accommodations they require with a physical illness. Accommodations can look like:

  • Probationary periods 
  • Extensions or free deadlines 
  • Test retakes.

8. Issues With Faculty 

Often the problem lies closer to home. As an educator, you try your hardest to work with students. No matter their personal issues or learning styles, you try to adjust to them.

Some students’ faculty issues can lead to a failing mark or failing a course. Some possible problems include: 

  • Different learning style 
  • Incompatibility 
  • Intimidation. 

No matter the issue, it needs to be rectified before the student can stop failing. 

Solution 

When a student is unable to succeed because of incompatibility or issues with faculty, there are two possible courses of action. 

Conversation 

Communicating with your students is the key to solving almost any issue. But, dealing with personal incompatibilities it’s the only course of action. Some of the following questions should come up.

  • Is the teaching style unhelpful?
  • Is there a personal issue at play?
  • Is there a way to solve the problem?
  • Does the student require something from the faculty to overcome the issue?

Switching Teachers

If the problem goes beyond an incompatible teaching style, the only course of action left is to switch the teacher. Taking the student out of that class and placing them with a different faculty member or a different course altogether helps.

No matter what path you choose regarding the student, it’s integral to remain neutral or passive about the situation. Even if there is a personal incompatibility at play, being hostile and discouraging the student gets nobody anywhere. 

9. Lack of Mental Preparedness 

Whether it’s overconfidence or overambition, some students take up classes that they aren’t prepared for mentally. When they finally start the course, they’re left floundering and failing. 

A lack of mental preparedness can happen when they don’t read the course material beforehand. It can also occur due to overconfidence.

Believing they are equipped to do a course is not the same as the ability to finish it. The difference causes failure.

Solution 

When a student isn’t prepared for the difficulty of the course, there are a few ways you can help them succeed.

  • Additional training and materials 
  • One-on-one classes after class. 
  • Identifying the student’s gaps in knowledge. 

Along with practical help, encouragement is necessary. Every student can succeed with some help, and having someone who supports them in their endeavor can give them the motivation to put in the extra effort. 

If they have issues understanding the course material, try different styles of worksheets, online sources, or peer tutoring. Occasionally, a fellow student can explain the concepts better. 

They can overcome the mental blocks and stop failing with some extra effort. But, it does take some time to see results! 

10. Insufficient Ability 

Similar to a lack of mental preparedness is insufficient ability. Unfortunately, some students lack the intellectual capability to handle a particular course, program, or class. A great example is AP Honors classes.

Despite being eligible for higher-level classes due to their marks, they might lack the capability to do well in such courses. Achieving a high grade isn’t impossible with the right kind of effort. But, with high-level classes, it takes a level of intellect to succeed at the action. 

Insufficient ability leads to feelings of guilt, shame, and worthlessness in a student. These feelings often directly lead to a failing grade. 

Solution

If you find a student lacks the ability to finish a course or class, there are a few things you can attempt. 

  • Extra prep material and one-on-one classes 
  • Shifting classes or courses.

The extra prep material you provide might help. When concepts are made more accessible through one-on-one teaching, some students might succeed regardless of intellectual ability. 

However, if it doesn’t work, you will have to consider switching the student to a different course or a lower-level class. When switching classes, ensure that the student feels relieved, not ashamed. It does not bode well to ruin a student’s self-confidence. 

Conclusion 

Your students fail for a variety of reasons. From life stressors, to a lack of time management skills. Whatever their failures, it remains on the teacher’s shoulders to identify the problem and rectify it. 

As a teacher, your hands are tied in several situations. Your reach cannot go beyond talking to parents, guardians, or the students themselves. But, the extra prep, one-on-one classes, and attention you provide will go a long way. Often, it becomes the difference between a failing grade and an A! 

When working with an underachieving student, what you tell them is just as important as the things you do. Check out the article 4 Things Teachers Can Say to a Failing Student to learn more.

Sources

Mr Mustafa

Thanks for reading the article - we hope that your teaching query has been answered with helpful information and insightful advice. Feel free to share this article with friends and let’s help the Teacher How community grow!

Recent Posts