Building on Resilience

How do we fix the leaky educational pipeline into a conduit of success for Black males?

That the issue is critical is demonstrated by the statistics that only 10% of Black males in the United States are proficient in 8th grade reading, only 52% graduate from high school within four years, and only 35 percent graduate from college.

This book uniquely examines the trajectory of Black males through the educational pipeline from pre-school through college. In doing so it not only contributes significantly to the scholarship on the experiences of this population, but bridges the gap between theory and practice to provide frameworks and models that will improve these young men’s educational outcomes throughout their educational journeys.

A compelling feature of the book is that that it does not treat Black males as homogeneous, but recognizes the diversity that exists among Black males in various educational settings. It demonstrates the need to recognize students’ intersectionalities and individual characteristics as an essential preliminary to developing practices to improve outcomes at every educational stage.

Throughout, the contributing authors also focus on the strategies and experiences of Black males who achieve academic excellence, examining growth-producing and asset-based practices that can be sustained, and that build upon the recognition that these males have agency and possess qualities such as resilience that are essential to their learning and development.

The frameworks and models that conclude each chapter are equally commendable to K–12 educators and administrators; higher education faculty, student affairs practitioners, and administrators; and policymakers, for whom templates are provided for rectifying the continuing inequities of our educational system.

Fred A. Bonner II is professor and endowed chair of educational leadership and counseling in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University. He also serves as the founding executive director and chief scientist of the Minority Achievement Creativity and High Ability (MACH-III) Center. His research foci illuminate the experiences of academically gifted African American males across the P–20 pipeline, diverse faculty in academe, and diverse populations in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). He is coeditor of two books with Stylus Publishing, Building on Resilience: Models and Frameworks of Black Male Success Across the P–20 Pipeline (2014) and Diverse Millennials Students in College: Implications for Faculty and Student Affairs (2011). Bonner is currently developing a theoretical framework, mascusectionality, that will explore the engagements of Black men.

Tim King