Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City

by Ben Chavis, Carey Blakely

The inspiring true story of "one of the country's finest educators" ( National Review ) and the school he changed forever.

Under the leadership of highly unorthodox principal Dr. Ben Chavis, Oakland's American Indian Public Charter School was hailed as an "education miracle" by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after it was transformed from a failing "nuisance" into one of the best public middle schools in the nation.

This is the story of that transformation and of a man who dared to be different. With his rigorous, no-nonsense approach, Dr. Chavis debunks the myth that poor, minority, inner-city schools have little chance at academic excellence. Focusing on back-tobasics ideals, he has created a structured educational model that, combined with the enthusiasm of his students and teachers, delivers astounding results.

In Crazy Like a Fox , Dr. Chavis recounts how he did it-in his own words and through the stories of the extraordinary young people he's helped.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, there are some very controversial things said in this book about race BUT I think the educational structure that he uses is right on target and has produced great results for the schools in Oakland using his program. Middle schools with self-contained classes (the teacher teaches all subjects and the kids don't change classes) and looping (the same teacher moves up with the same students, from 7th through 9th grade). These strategies are great for middle schoolers because they provide stability and a family-like environment that is truly needed because of their fragile egos, raging hormones and the fact that they are not developmentally ready for 6 teachers per day (as evidenced by nosediving grades across the country that start in middle school). I myself, could not imagine going around and making racial comments and jokes to students. But, I agree with almost everything else he has suggested- strict rules, strict discipline, making the students clean the school so they respect the property, detentions for not doing your homework, uniforms, praise and rewards for students who follow the rules, hard work, hard work, and some more hard work.

I also agree with Dr. Chavis that our inner city schools have just been left to run down. Academic standards have to be raised, money wasting and distractions need to be eliminated. Students need to be pushed and prodded to excel.

Dr. Chavis is completely correct that our children have to be globally competitive academically if they want to get anywhere in life. We live in a time of globalization. We have to start stepping up the academics in America's schools NOW if we are to provide the next generation with the tools they need to succeed in the global economy and job market.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unorthodox education practices at its best. This book looks at the practices employed by Dr. Ben Chavis, a Lumbee Indian from Robeson County, North Carolina, to save American Indian Public Charter School, in Oakland California. Reading his rise to success was just as interesting as researching about his demise. Very interesting story.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm kinda torn 50/50 on this book. I guess the first thing to address would be the writing and then I'll go after the ideas. The writing wasn't amazing but I'm not sure how much was ghost written by the chick and how much was actually Chavis.
I think the main thing that frustrated me when reading this was the arrogance. I mean, he's accomplished some great things and kudos to him for starting out in such a challenged home environment and going on to make something of himself and get a Ph.D. Also, he definitely deserves recognition for taking a challenged school and turning it around and giving back to the community. But God forbid that he do all this with a smidgen of humility. I am admittedly a TED Talks junkie and the people who are chosen for TED have also accomplished super awesome things!!! But I have yet to see a TED talk where someone just gets up there and talks about how wonderful they are. They almost always humanize themselves by talking about how difficult it was to accomplish these things and how much they failed before they succeeded. Even after they reach their goals, they aren't satisfied; they make new goals and talk about they want to keep pushing the envelope and effecting change. And the best TED Talks that stand out to me are always the ones about treating others with compassion and making a difference in the lives of individuals first and foremost and then adapting that to have a more widespread impact.
Many people who have achieved success to the extent that Chavis has have been invited for TED Talks. I have heard some amazing, revolutionary ideas in the field of education that have had a profound impact on how I teach. I don't know that Chavis is quite there yet. He has a specific charter school model that has proven to be quite effective (and considering the pitfalls of many charters, this is certainly an accomplishment). He has even moved towards replicating this model in other schools and in turn, they have become successes as well. However, I think the next step is to re-evaluate his model and try to make some improvements to it. This model certainly works in certain inner city areas, but could some changes be made to that model that would make it equally effective in other areas as well? Until you've reached perfection, often an unattainable goal, one should continuously be striving for improvement. And while this school model is amazing, it is not yet perfect and I definitely found some flaws within the system that should be addressed.

Given all that the book is about, this is just a minor annoyance, but I found Chavis to be overly preachy. Yes, I get that we live in a capitalist economy and that you're not into the liberal hippie agenda, but do you have to remind us of this every 2-3 pages? Spend some time thoroughly explaining about how this school model prepares kids to succeed in a free market economy (because that is important) and then MOVE ON. Some of the crazy liberals annoy me too, but so does constantly choking on your obviously Republican ideals. But that's not that big a deal, just something that annoyed me and seemed rather hypocritical. He talks a lot about how the liberals try to force their agenda and then spends the majority of the book trying to replicate that.

The MAIN problem I had with the book, that one that irks me to the core of my being, is his seeming disregard for the emotional well being of many of his students and what seems to be his complete avoidance of culturally responsive teaching. I'm not saying that drum circle should be a legit class in a school just because it serves a Native American population, but I think it is equally as ignorant to conduct a class where students' backgrounds are disregarded entirely, despite the fact that these backgrounds make up such a large extent of what defines the students' person. Don't get me wrong, all learning should be standards based and rely upon sound pedagogical research validating the material and theories being conveyed to these kids. But that is much easier to justify in the hard sciences/math than in liberal arts (English/Social Studies) where there is a lot more fluidity in what is considered important and there are a lot more ways to get to that information. (I'm also admittedly biased in this stance bc I teach Social Studies and liberal arts.)

I think we can all agree that important goals in an English classroom are for students to be able to write well with solid grammar, be able to read and analyze a text, and to evaluate the logic of others and create their own well reasoned arguments. But there is not a nationally accepted ONE SIZE FITS ALL method to achieve these goals. You could force kids to read The Scarlet Letter every year to learn how to analyze a text.... or you could find material that is more likely to connect with them and get them thinking, but that still serves the same purpose of teaching textual analysis. An added bonus of finding material that they can relate to is that they might actually enjoy what they're learning and (God forbid) put some passion into it. Think about back when you were in school, did you become interested in dull, dry material like Scarlet Letter and rush home to do your reading because you wanted to know what happened? (I kinda did but I'm a nerd and I like that book.) Or do you think you would have been more engaged reading something controversial or edgy like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or a book about drug addiction? In this case, there is more than one way to peel an egg, skin a cat (whatever other overused metaphor you can insert here).

A few years ago, my kids read the Kite Runner and it created the basis for a great cross-curriculum unit. On one level, they learned how to take apart language and dissect word choice. On another level, it tied in with a lot of Social Studies and World History standards and exposed them to a side of history that I would argue less than 50% of Americans know about. For real, stand on an average street corner somewhere and ask every 3rd person, 'In what decade did the USSR/Russia invade Afghanistan?' I guarantee you will receive a lot of blank stares, random guesses and some commentary about how those towelheads probably deserved it because America, fuck yeah! Go Patriotism!
I was irritated that Chavis didn't go into liberal arts standards in detail much. For me, that was a huge hole in this book that has a lot to do with my evaluation of how well this school does its job. I'm seriously considering applying there and putting in a few years because it seems like he is accomplishing the feats that many strive for, finding a way to reach the inner city student and prepare them for a successful future. I would attribute his success more to the entire environment he has created more than his specific methods and pedagogy, but I'll get to that.

Since I'm playing the 'liberal arts are important' violin, let me move on to social studies. How do his teachers teach history? Are they teaching multiple viewpoints of history that take into account the diverse array of people that contributed to the world we live in today? Or are they using the same overproduced, overpriced textbooks that teach a whitewashed view of history and only talk about the prevailing perspectives? Are they learning about people in history who looked like themselves and still accomplished great things? Given Chavis's persistent push towards standards based education and heavy book learning, I would assume that these kids are being told to memorize dates and presidents, not investigate multiple perspectives of major world events. This is a travesty.
Social Studies is the same as English is that there is one set of standards but a lot of different ways to get there. Students should be able to evaluate and dissect a primary source document, determine bias, use evidence and examples to create a well written essay, and have a generally well-rounded understanding of history and cause/effect relationships. It's hard to have a more specific set of Social Studies standards because of the varied topics covered under the umbrella of Social Studies. Government is going to be entirely different than History, which is separate from Psychology and Economics and so on and so on. But for the moment, let's stick with history. One of the benchmarks of history that historians have known about for years is that 'history is written by the victors.' I would venture that, according to the textbooks in most American schools, those victors happen to be WASP or WASP ancestors >90% of the time. So China was an amazing society that has some of the oldest recorded history in the world and invented paper and gunpowder around the turn of the last millenium... yeah, those are Asians, we don't care. That's not important for Americans to know. Let's do a brief overview of the first 2500 yrs of history and make sure the kids know mummies are cool so we can get to the stuff about white people and Europe. That's world history. And I would assume (until given evidence otherwise) that to be the kind of history education these kids are receiving rather than learning about things that have more of a direct impact on their lives and give them a reason to be proud of their ethnic background.

Okay, moving on to the next soap box. I could not stand his methods of berating and embarrassing children. Admittedly, there are some kids that I will tease a bit from time to time. But that is after I have gotten to know them and created a learning community where they feel safe and valued. Even then, I wouldn't even dream of teasing some of the more fragile students who have low self-esteem and are more insecure with themselves. The role of a teacher is to build students up, not tear them down. Your student-teacher relationship is different with every student. Some kids respond better to joking/teasing than others. The kids that I do occasionally tease understand that it is done in a good-natured manner out of love. They are usually the ones who interact with their peers in the same way. For whatever reason, some kids just respond to that more. At the same time, I've seen that kind of teasing go horribly wrong. My 9th grade Economics teacher got a kick out of harassing two Jewish girls in the class on a daily basis. There were several times these girls were moved to tears. This is not acceptable! I wonder if Chavis bothers to develop a relationship with these students before he implements his 'tough love' tactics or if he has driven students to tears as well. Some of his examples of student discipline were extreme (like shaving a kids' head) and there would have to be some overwhelmingly strong extenuating factors for me to consider those kind of actions.... nope, not even then.
I am all on board with kids staying after school to finish work or even campus beautification as a detention or disciplinary tactic, but there are some lines that just shouldn't be crossed.

Finally, I'm going to touch on some of the strengths in his model, because they were certainly there. Chavis was successful in taking some of the strategies that others have proposed and implementing a great combination of them in his charters. I would say that the most important one is creating a strong school/family/community relationship. I think this is something most teacher strive to do and it is a vital ingredient necessary in reaching students in inner city environments. The job of a teacher is sooo much easier and more effective when you have a support system at home backing you up. A main tool Chavis uses that leads to his success in this is the contract. Both students and their parents have to sign an agreement acknowledging that they will abide by certain rules and conditions established by the school. This involves the parent in the educational process and also puts a burden or responsibility on the student. You can assign as much homework as you want and even penalize a kid as much as you want for not turning it in, but unless there is a parent at home nagging the kid to actually do their homework, you're fighting an uphill battle. There are some exceptions, students with amazing dedication and self-discipline who keep themselves in check and do what is asked of them, but these students are in the minority. Having parent support is so important to the success of a child. One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a teacher is creating a good avenue of parent communication. If you can call a parent to praise a child and not just to complain about them, then you will receive that backing and support when the other end of the hammer comes down and its time for discipline. Chavis also does a great job of making the school a part of its surrounding community and using the kids to do things to better their neighborhoods.

Another strength displayed in Chavis's charters that is crucial to the success of inner city students in the structure and rigor. While some of us want to be 'cool', progressive teachers and give our students choices and let them determine what they want to learn about, different tactics are necessary in working with many inner city students. Because their lives are so full of stress and chaos, having structure and some things pre-determined for them actually helps them to feel safe and unburdened. They can rely on the normalcy of a routine instead of the unpredictability they encounter at home. Chavis' highly structured environment would seem to attest to this fact. Although, in my classroom, once I have established that structure, I find that some kids can handle more choice and autonomy in controlling their education. Don't ask them, 'what do you want to do today?' NEVER ask that. But give them a few choices and allow them opportunities to be directly involved in leading their own lessons and they will often rise to the occasion. By allowing students leadership roles and choice, they will become more involved and engaged.

I guess this concludes my rant. I've rambled on enough about my pedagogical choices and such and while this book gave me a lot to think about, I think I would learn more from educators focused on more sound pedagogical theories.


***Sidenote*** I've been looking into ways to contact Chavis to ask him some questions about his schools and even hiring practices and it looks like all of the AIM ED schools were shut down a few years ago amidst charges of embezzling against Dr. Chavis himself. I will continue looking into this. So much for that job....

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a provocative book but it made a lot of sense, and I think it would be hard to argue with the school's results. Some loving structure and discipline never hurt anyone, and while the author rants at times about the need for "free market capitalism" and rails against "left-wing, liberal ideologues," he also fiercely defends equal opportunity in its most true sense: real opportunity based on real, academic instruction and high expectations. I think free market capitalism is probably fine IF there truly is meritocracy, equal opportunity, etc. The author points out that many schools aim to support students' self-esteem or cultural maintenance but fail miserably at that, as well as at fostering academic achievement. It's cool how all of that falls into place with his strict but also very socially strong model. Nothing builds self-esteem like measurable success and real integration into a healthy community. It's less clear how much his AIM model leads to cultural, or more specifically, linguistic maintenance - there's little mention of bilingualism in the book. However, I don't think Chavis's views run counter to the values of bilingualism at all. He never suggests to students that they need to leave their home culture behind, but only to be respectable representatives of "their people" and act with dignity. And it's clear that Chavis's Lumbee background is a large part of his identity that he has not felt he had to shed, either. To the contrary, his values and actions are imbued with cultural practices and messages of his tribe and family, and his explanations of these connections show great awareness of that fact. If all principals and schools could educate students and keep them out of trouble to the extent that Chavis and the AIPCS does, our country would be a much better place. I'm thinking about how I could incorporate this book into a grad ed course... I'm sure it would lead to some lively debate and raise some very, very important questions that all educators need to answer for themselves.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comments from a veteran teacher

This is my twentieth year of teaching. I've taught in the inner city, way out in the country in a school surrounded by cornfields and currently teach in a school that is a crazy mix that ranges from urban ghetto to suburban McMansion neighborhoods.

There is nothing in Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal's Triumph in the Inner City that I can disagree with so far as the methods that Chavis espouses. He introduces an extreme quantity of discipline, accountability and rigor to an inner city environment that is seriously lacking in those three traits. He preaches respect for private property, pride in your school and rewards students with cash and prizes for doing well.

He blows up the concept of the mega-high school (I teach in one and it does NOT work well) and keeps his school small so that it has a family feel - everyone knows everyone.

But, this is not a traditional public school. It is a charter school - students choose to go there and because of that Chavis is free to institute his ultra-disciplined system. He is also free to jettison students who will not quickly adapt to his program, two things that regular public schools cannot do, nor will they likely every be able to do that due to the compulsory nature of public schools - because everyone has to go, courts have often ruled that the rules cannot be too extreme (this wipes out many dress code rules, etc.). The regular public schools cannot exclude students, even those that everyone knows will disrupt everything until they have had their "due process", a restriction Chavis does not have to deal with.

As a veteran teacher with a family I know that I could not teach in a Chavis-run school...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/...

[Michael Lunsford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening. It reminded me of my favorite college professor. He provided a strict but predictable structure you could count on, which is the subject of this book.

Repetative in a few spots, but helpful information on two distinct types of motivation: encouragement and embarrassment. Also covered were insights on hiring, textbook selection, and use (or, rather, the lack) of technology in the classroom.

Dr. Ben Chavis's book is a back to basics model of proven success for teaching. I would highly recommend this book to any educator or school administrator that's struggling to achieve results.

Be warned that some of the language can be quite shocking (which is the author's point, apparently). My count was five or six F-bombs.

[Lori]

I like the propositions: low income students of color are capable of high levels of academic achievement; school leaders much create an atmosphere of high expectations, high accountability, and no excuses; given structures and support, students facing great obstacles can beat the odds. The harsh approach I don't give much credence to.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read with some fascinating ideas about educating low-income students, but the writing wasn't brilliant and the vain attitude of the narrator/principal rubbed me the wrong way. (Let's just say I threw the book across the room several times!) But his methods seem to work, and you can't really argue with low-income kids getting a good education, can you?

[Seth Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This man's model of education works because it makes sense. No excuses, rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad, and making learning a priority. What novel ideas!

[Spacek Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The work Ben Chavis has done with inner city kids is amazing concerning achievement. There is a place for charter schools within public education. I was disappointed to read about some of the methodology used to motivate students.

[Danielle W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book - I recommend it to anybody interested in American Education. If this model continues to grow, it could create a positive, radical change to our schools & educational mentality.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! A book that talks about what works and not the theories and liberal ideologies that don't.

[Samantha Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book should be mandatory for every educator and especially every administrator. Excellent book.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

awesome....too bad he couldnt get away with doing this in public schools.