Pedro A. Noguera
Jossey-Bass
306 pages. $24.95.
While researchers disagree about the reasons for the struggles of young African-American males, here an urban sociologist and education professor offers sound suggestions for how to get some answers. Noguera criticizes educators’ “normalization of failure,” and notes that as boys, African-American males are more likely than other children to be punished, stigmatized and placed in special education.
What about those who do manage to succeed? Noguera looks at California schools that produce many high-achieving black males, and at what those schools have in common. The wisdom of youth appears in the chapter, “How Listening to Students Can Help Schools to Improve.” If these thought-provoking solutions were enacted, the future of many young African-American males would brighten. (800) 956-7739, http://www.josseybass.com.
