Abstract:

Jan Yow, a North Carolina teacher, says that “voices that are typically not heard or even asked to speak are the focus of this book.” The author received submissions from over 800 students about their own thoughts on and experiences in education.

Citation: Scherff, L. (2005). Thirteen years of school: What students really think. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Full Text:

Lisa Scherff
2005 (232 pp./paperback)
R&L Education
ISBN: 1-57886-200-0
$35.95

Reviewed
by Jan Yow
Chapel Hill, NC

In Thirteen Years of School: What Students Really Think,
author Lisa Scherff highlights the often unheard voices of
students. After petitioning nationwide for students to share
about their schooling experiences, Scherff received over 800
submissions. She organizes the submissions into ten chapters.
The first five chapters use a dimensions of schooling framework
developed by Eisner in 1992 (e.g. structural, pedagogical);
the remaining five chapters categorize other dominant themes
found in remaining submissions not captured in Eisner's dimension
(e.g. stress, good experiences).

Most of the book is comprised of student voices. Each chapter begins
with a brief introduction by Scherff discussing her own experience
as a teacher as well as what research says about each topic.
Once each chapter is introduced, student responses that address
that chapter's topic are listed.

Although I felt that many of the students were saying the same thing
over and over, I understand Scherff's desire to include as
many student voices as possible to not only honor the time
that each student put into their submission, but also to emphasize
the commonalities among students across the nation. Because
of the perceived redundancy, the chapters do seem to drag
on at times. However, the book's organization makes it easy
to read in short intervals. With most student submissions
spanning only one-fourth of the page (a few last more than
a page), the book can be picked up sporadically if life only
allows for brief spans of "reading time."

Most submissions come from high school students with a few included
from elementary grades such as 4th and 6th. I was amazed at
times by the thoughtfulness and insight provided by these
young voices and thank Scherff for publicizing them. Student
creativity and articulation was also impressive. "Over a year,
students from across the country, in grades K-12, were given
the opportunity to submit stories, letters, editorials, and
art representing their viewpoints" (p. xi). Most student submissions
in the book are stories or editorials; a few poems and one
piece of artwork are included. As a whole, students seemed
to emphasize the importance of school while also offering
questions and discussions as to why education is as it is
and the many other aspects that take place in school other
than the academic—such as the extracurricular and the
social.

Thirteen Years of School honors the voices of the very people
the educational system should serve, the students. It offers
insight into their opinions of school. Students share what
they think is going well, but most of the submissions address
what they would like to see changed or improved. Voices
that are typically not heard or even asked to speak are
the main focus of this book. These voices are the ones that
our educational system should listen to carefully.

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