Noguera is a sociologist and his research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts. He is the author, co-author and editor of 15 books. His most recent books are A Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Tough Questions and Complex Issues Confronting K-12 Education in the United States Today (Teachers College Press, 2021) which was the winner of the Association of American Publishers 2022 Prose Award, with Rick Hess, and City Schools and the American Dream: Still Pursuing the Dream (Teachers College Press, 2021) with Esa Syeed.

Over his 35 year career, Noguera has published dozens of research articles in leading academic journals, as well as numerous book chapters in edited volumes.  He has also published several research reports and editorials in major newspapers. He serves on the boards of numerous national and local organizations, including the Economic Policy Institute, the National Equity Project, City Year Los Angeles, and Donors Choose. Noguera’s editorials on educational issues have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News and Los Angeles Times, and other national news outlets. 

From 2009–2012 Noguera served as a trustee for the State University of New York as an appointee of the governor. He has served as an advisor to the governor of New Mexico on education policy and worked as an advisor to the state departments of education in Washington, Oregon, New York and Rhode Island, as well as several large urban school districts. In 2022 he was appointed to the Presidential Commission on Excellence and Equity for Hispanics. In 2014 he was elected to the National Academy of Education and Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and in 2020 Noguera was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Noguera has received eight honorary doctorates from American universities and received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty. In 2023 he was ranked 1st in the nation for influence and impact in the field of education, by Education Week. Read Less ^