4 How Listening to Students Can Help Schools to Improve pervasive low achievement on most standardi in science and math (Manpower Research D able achievement gap that corresponds dis to the race and class background of stud ‘These indicators are not new, and in blue ribbon st everal reports and ies have pointed to such trends to support calls for servention and sweeping (Cohen, 2001), growing chorus of ly, the organization and struct igh schools remained largely unchanged and trapped in traditions that had long outlived their purpose. Several critical studies pointed out that many schools were characterized by pervasive anti-intellectualism;boredom,and alien- ation-among students (Steinberg,-1996); organizational fragmen- ‘ation combined with-a:lackof mission and focus-(Siskin, 1993); and-a/curricultum that offered a smorgasbord of courses but little" ofthe-intellectual depth’and rigorneeded-to develop substantive knowledge"and higher-order thinking skills, Furthermore, the large,a ‘Tae Taounte wrrs Biack Bors comprehensive high school, serving a thousand or more students, has been accused of breeding mediocrity and intellectual laziness, disorder and delinquency, and an inability to provide a personalized learning environment for students (Newman, 1992). According to these critics, the modern high school was inspired by a factory ‘model of education, in which hierarchical management structures, ‘a burdensome and inchoate bureaucratic division of labor, and a control system governed by bells and arcane rules and procedures prevented the typical high school from serving as the enlightened center of learning that was needed (Wasley et al., 2000). In the past few years, the problems facing high schools have ‘gradually risen to the top of the education policy agenda. Driven by rts from the U.S. Department of Education (Lugg, 2005) is issued by various private foundations and think tanks, a new willingness to address the problems confronting high schools hhas emerged. With this new-found sense of urgency has come a ‘wave of reform with a focus on the organization, size, and structure of schools. With substantial commitments to this effort, the drive to create smaller high schools is sweeping the country. There is some research to justify the push to create smaller schools and learning communities (Cotton, 1996; Page, 2002), yet there is also good reason to be skeptical about the recent rush to embrace this reform. Smaller schools have been found to offer greater safety, a stronger sense of community, and improved relationships between adults and students (Clinchy, 2000). Yet the clearest evi- dence that making schools smaller may not be enough to make them better can be seen from the fact that there are already many small schools in existence, and not all of these are examples of academic excellence (Stiefel, Bere, latarola, & Fruchter, 2000). Moreover, the much maligned large, comprehensive high school has advan- tages that most smaller schools will never be able to replicate, such, as an ability to offer more elective courses, particularly in foreign language and Advanced Placement; greater resources to serve the needs of populations with special needs such as special education How Listening to Students Can Help Schools co Improve and English as a Second Language students; and a wider offering of extracurricular activites, including sports, music, and theater. To the advocates of small schools, arguments such as these are easily ignored. Proponents of small schools assert that gains in safety and student learning will more than compensate for any losses that might occur as a result of this change. Despite the fact that the theory of change guiding this reform is his! (that small schools and better student-teacher relations to higher student achievement), the effort to make high schools smaller has taken off and is leading to substantial changes in high schools throughout the United States. In an effort to contribute to the ongoing discourse over what should be done to improve the nation’s high schools, this chapter examines how schools are confronting the challenges that beset them not by seeking answers from a well-regarded think tank or policy cen- ter but from students themselves. Drawing on research carried out at ten high schools (both small and large) in Boston through a project known as Pathwaysto Student Success, the ideas and suggestions stu- dents have for how schools can be improved are presented and ana~ lyzed. Although no groundbreaking or previously unheard solutions are offered, the reader may be surprised to learn that students do put forward practical, commonsense insights into why certain practices are ineffective and why others should be considered. The goal of pre- senting these ideas here is to show that solutions to some of the prob- lems confronting our nation’s high schools may not be as out of reach as they have seemed, particularly if we have the wisdom and courage to listen to those who bear the brunt of our schools’ failures. Findings: Learning from Student Experiences ‘The major themes that emerged from the 132 students across ten high schools are presented here briefly as a basis for the sugges- tions at the end of this chapter on how listening to students can be incorporated into school decision making. The themes that 8“ Tue Trove wire B ina different way (and other adults),(2)-the impact plineand order and (4) student n * Teachers should h command of the mate Inthe the subjects they = that they pr leaming it Relationships Between Students and Teachers, oar henene and Other Adults Perhaps the most significant, yet hardly he should firm-and norallow that emerged between students attending small a away-with preventing other students fr the issue of anonymity. Whei reformers and practitioners in clear, seemingly si er 34 percent stat ‘ ‘ d tur to if they ne a personal ork wo be dane to hela) improve schoo at the small sch e nt and mprehensive Assessment me that the ex b few students . ichers could a student sh educator classes they teach * Teachers'should be patient and ask students if they understand do should be used to determine if they66 ack Bors enough had been done throughout their re that they could pass the exam. When made no teference to the test. Yet many wledged that certain aspects of the test were ben- icial, For exampl state examination makes several students expressed the view that the }ools more accountabl them to make sure that their students are k because Discipline and Safety Concerns related common in pu , 2004). This ; but we found notice- the case for many of the students ces in the perceptions of students at sm: Js. Students in the sch Is were far more likely to report that they felt safe (94 percent), as compared to students at the s (46 percent). They were also more likely to respond atively to the question, “If I feel threatened by someone at school, there is an adult I can turn to for support” (92 percent, compared to 38 percent). school Advocates of sm: are likely to seize on these find- ings to support their claim that sm: schools are safer and offer better educational experience to students. Safety and order are essential conditions in any learning environment, and it appears that the small schools in the Pat icceeded in cre- ays study ating a more personalized environment that contributed to stu- dents’ percepti that their schools were safe. Yet although the schools perceived as safe, stu dents at some of the schools did experience ne problems in the classroom that were no ntered in the he study were general unlike those enc ge sch T radents Can Help Schools to Imp How Lister One ns students were asked to address is what Fol- s safe and order! they th lowing is list of some of their recommendations: ho cut class attend Saturday school, * Make students *# Require students who disrupt a class to do extra aca demic work ‘* Haveadministrators observe teachers in classes w frequent disruptions so that they can help them to anaging students, ‘-why they fought before they ymake the nis nornec rk together to do something to are punished. If suspensi students who fought ove the school: ity to volun: ents and adults from the c © Ask f teer te as ha ‘© Require students who are rude and disrespectful to teachers to write apologies and do community servi z to clean the school, Luding he * Create a panel of students to serve as.a jt dents who break school rules. Provide th hear discipline cases them on the kinds of punishments that canbe training on how assigned These ideas might not seem parti rly innovative or out of the ordinary, but the fact that they come from is important, Students recognize the need for safety and order i of the students interviewed wanted to see disrup- ner. However, itis rare for a school, and man tive students dealtHow Listening to Students Can Be Incorp hho hadences. / ntialbc andattitudes have influence on the qualiey v7