The Trouble With Black Boys: Chapter 4

I found chapter 4 to be very interesting from the beginning, because it was titled "How Listening to Students Can Help Schools Improve", and I was very curious to see how Noguera felt that students could play a role in improving the quality of our public schools.  The stats that Noguera cited on p. 61 did not surprise me at all - high dropout rates in urban areas, concerns about violence and safety, low achievement on standardized tests, and the achievement gap that corresponds to race and class.  Understandably, people should be concerned about these things in our schools, which should be safe places where students are educated academically and socially.  I am very curious to see if Noguera will address reformers and the charter school movement in later chapters. 

The interesting thing that Noguera started off addressing in this chapter is the concept of large schools in comparison to small.  I teach in a high school of about 2,800 students which does not breed "mediocrity and intellectual laziness, disorder and delinquency, and an inability to provide a personalized learning environment for students" as is cited on p. 62 based on Newman.  I was glad, however, to see that Noguera also challenged the assertion that reforming our schools to be smaller would ensure that students would learn more and be more successful, citing the fact that not all small schools are successfully serving their students.  

I also found the students' suggestions for improving high schools to be very interesting: (1) relationships between students and teachers (and other adults), (2) the impact of high-stakes testing, (3) discipline and order, and (4) student motivation and goals for the future (64).  I love to know that students value the relationships with their teachers, when so often they give the impression that they don't care or don't value their teachers.  I was also very interested to see the feelings that students have toward discipline and order; I would have assumed that students like to have permissive teachers, so it's nice also to understand that they value discipline and limits in the classroom. The comment that especially caught my eye was, "Teachers should be firm and not allow students to get away with preventing other students from learning" (65).  

In discussing the value of student input in school improvement, I also appreciated Noguera's comments about how to make the input from these students valuable.  Noguera suggests that conversations not be limited to students that are "handpicked by adults because they occupy a leadership role within the school" - he states that it is important to include other students who may not be role models but are likely better connected to their peers.  What I find most interesting about this is that it is the exact opposite of what my high school does.  Two years ago we had proposed moving to a block schedule, and they took input ONLY from the students who happen to be on student council.  Of course, those are students who are very involved across the school, take rigorous courses, and never face disciplinary issues.  It's unfortunate that the school that I teach at, while it does so many wonderful things for at-risk students and the general population, also likes to only hear the answers they want.