Grouping is another structural factor that has an impact on African American academic achievement. Educators who allow African American students to interact with others in the mutual construction of knowledge will help them to make better connections with the information. Support A review of the literature on African American achievement suggests that African American students excel when schools develop an organized system of support that includes the following four sources of support working coraboratively to effectively impact African American students academic achievement. Along with churches there are sororities, fraternities, and other civic organizations that are available to collaborate with the schools to provide mentoring, role models, and offer tutorial support, social and job training skills. Schools which form partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities establish additional people resources and mentors as well as current research driven educational techniques for helping African American students achieve.
Peers have a powerful influence on the achievement motivation of African American students.
An emerging body of literature reveals that peers who support the development of both ethnic and academic identities help promote academic excellence among African American students. Although there is diversity in learning styles among African Americans there is a strong relationship between African American cultural patterns of perceiving and the field-sensitive learning style. Designing instruction to meet the needs of African American field-sensitive learners can be approached systematically by first setting the stage for learning prior to performing the task of teaching. The preparation period might include behaviors aimed at establishing social relations with peers and with the teacher. Activity one includes helping the students to perceive relevance of the learning tasks to their lifestyles.