Who is to blame?

Who is to blame when children fail to learn? Perhaps blame is too harsh and pejorative an expression, carrying with it a sense of intention or at least reckless disregard by the responsible party. School learning is a primarily cognitive activity which requires adequate capacity and intention on the part of the learner and an environment enabling successful interactions to occur. Thus there are numerous possibilities to account for failure to learn. Determination of responsibility can be considered from at least two perspectives. One concerns who the various players believe has the responsibility for children¿s learning. Who do policy makers, parents, and teachers consider responsible?