During my first year as an administrator there was one thing that helped me keep my sanity more than any thing else I tried.

I had the opportunity to teach about 100 students American Government. It’s another thing that I’m passionate about. I think that most of the time this class is taught as a straight-up-and-down course on things like the three branches of government and the furthering studies of the way of the old-rich-white-dead male. I take a bit different tact.

Anyhow here’s how things turned out this year:

As a Bell Curve Like Line Graph

As a Bar Type Bar Graph

A Word About Failure Rates

My failure rate (yes, my, me, mine) was at 14, nearly 15, percent this year. There’s nothing remarkable about this. I should have fought harder for each of these students. No excuses. Their failure is truly my failure.

A Word About Attrition

Although a few of these students left to find other schools, such as those that allow students to complete their first year or two of college while finishing their last year or two of college, most of these students dropped-out. I also have the realization that the students who failed in this class are at a huge risk of dropping-out.

Although I realize that there is a systematic issue for the students who failed and dropped out I realize my role as part of that system and how little I truly did to change that structure for those students.

Technorati Tags: if i can’t save them all then i don’t want to play, reflections