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Book Review: Jackson, J. F. L., (Ed.). (2007). Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline: Informing Research, Policy, and Practice. State University of New York Press: Albany. 220 pp. ISBN 978-0-7914-6987-3

Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline opens with an interesting story about the journey of the editor, Jerlando Jackson, from the pecan groves of Ashburn, Georgia, to the Ivory Tower of Wisconsin–Madison, where he works as an associate professor. Jackson’s story establishes an interesting parallel to that of the many African American students’ stories described throughout the volume. The stories of the latter are told in this book just as vividly as his but done through the sophisticated use of empirical data. Moreover, as an African American man working as an associate professor at a research university several years after migrating from Albany, Georgia, to attend graduate school in the Midwest, I can certainly identify with several of his experiences. Then it is no surprise that Jackson’s story as a young African American man struggling to navigate the appropriate channels to get an education is a compelling one, as is this book. What might be surprising are the many challenges that he and so many African Americans still must endure to tell their important stories to the world. In the introduction Jackson (2007c) explains what the metaphor “pipeline” means and why he uses it. He shares that the educational pipeline metaphor is used to describe and depict the critical stages in the educational process for African Americans, both as students and as professionals. The metaphor permits key decision makers (researchers, policy makers, and educators) to examine where additional interventions are needed. To his credit, he does present the fact that there are supporters and critics of the metaphor. However, he still prefers the metaphor because it provides clear stages for interventions to improve the educational conditions of African Americans. Those stages of the pipeline are, according to Jackson, pre-K–12 schools and higher education, and two of the book sections address these two stages, with a third section related to social influences that impact the individual as he or she navigates the pipeline. Hence, Strengthening the African American Educational Pipeline, which has 10 chapters, is divided into three sections titled Pre-K–12 Schools, Higher Education, and Social Influences. The first two sections have three chapters and the third section has four, including a Educational Administration Quarterly Volume 45 Number 3 August 2009 495-514 © 2009 The University Council for Educational Administration http://eaq.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com