Teaching Ricardo: Three things black and brown boys need to excel

“I am in fifth grade and I cannot read and can barely write," my student Ricardo said tearfully. "I’ve never passed a reading test, and I am not going to pass this year either. There is nothing you can do for me.”

I told him that I believed in him and refused to give up. If he worked hard, I would do everything in my power to make sure he was able to read, write and pass the state test by the end of the school year.

“Are you serious, Ms. Walker?” he asked hesitantly, as if he had heard this promise many times before.

Most likely, he had. Ricardo is an immigrant from Mexico, and like many black and brown young men, his academic journey so far had been an almost consistent failure. As he passed through the educational system, he'd fallen through one crack after another.

I knew that I couldn't just teach Ricardo. I had to teach him through a social-justice lens.

Black and brown young men are not expected to succeed, and in most cases, are not set up for success. According to a recent policy report by seven research institutions, by fourth grade, only 14 percent of black males and 18 percent of Hispanic males are performing at proficient or above grade level in reading. By eighth  grade, this number shrinks to 12 percent of black males and 17 percent of Hispanic males.

Given those odds, how can a teacher equip them to excel in school? This is what I've learned.

1) Choose the right books, the right lessons.

We can start by choosing texts and lessons that relate to their lives and cultures. For instance, for Ricardo, I might recommend The Jumping Tree by Rene Saldana , an age-appropriate novel that not only has a Hispanic male main character, but also addresses family and identity crisis, immigration status,  and discrimination.

A book like that can make a difference not only in his academics, but in his life.

2) Believe in them.

No child  will succeed without someone to believe in him or her.

Like Ricardo, many of my boys entered eighth grade reading significantly below grade level. They continually said things like, “Ms. Walker, they already expect us to fail, so why not?”

I let them know that's not what I expect. I give positive affirmations to my students daily. Simple words like “You will do an amazing job today” can change a child’s narrative.

I let them know that they are in this classroom, on this day, to make a difference in the world tomorrow, and that nothing should stop them. In my classroom may be sitting the next congressman, engineer, scientist, business owner, author, or even the next president. I expect great things.

3) Tell them their voices matter.

Today kids learn "My life matters." But what is life without a voice? The students in my class learn that they should have something to stand for and someone to stand with.

In purposeful, engaging, student-led discussions, they express themselves. Then I try to build a bridge that connects their conversation to academics.  

Ricardo is in high school now. He has passed each core subject on the eighth-grade state STAAR exam. He has shown significant growth in reading, science, history and math, and is an avid reader of the Percy Jackson series, the fantasy novels I bought for my classroom library. He tutors other English-as-a-second-language students whose academic journeys have, like his, been rocky.

Through every hug he gives me when he visits my classroom, I get to experience that little piece of hope I gave him.

Recently, he said, “Ms. Walker, you gave me something I didn’t know I had. Thank you.”

That thank you — and the hope of more like it — is what keeps me coming back to my classroom.

There's a sweet balance to our relationship now. He's grateful that I made him a better student. And I'm grateful to him for making me a better teacher.

Shontoria Walker is an eighth-grade English Language Arts teacher and grade-level chair at KIPP Polaris Academy for Boys in Houston, and a member of the Teach Plus Texas Teacher Advisory Board.

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