Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceived school factors, teacher relationships, culturally responsive education practices, and extracurricular activities that contributed to the academic achievement of African American students who graduated from high school, and to identify the perceived role of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation both at home and at school, and cultural identity in contributing to this success. In addition, the study examined the impact of negative peer pressure and structural characteristics of the school. Methodology. This study was designed as a mixed method transformative design. The study was conducted in 2 phases. Phase 1 of the quantitative method consisted of administering an electronic survey to 100 African American Community College students to generate frequency statistics. Phase 2 of the qualitative method consisted of the researcher conducting ten one-on-one interviews to correlate the identified factors from the quantitative data attributed to academic success. Findings. The study found that over 75% of the quantitative and qualitative responses established that African American students, who were extrinsically motivated, had positive teacher relationships, were thoroughly involved with extracurricular activities and received continuous support from their parents and guardians were successful in achieving academic goals. Cultural identity and peer relationships had less of an impact on the overall results of the study than was predicted by the researcher. Conclusions. The study concluded that African American students must be mentored, and provided with viable success in order to help alleviate the dropout rate and educational disparities that closes the achievement gap between black and white students. It is critical for all African Americans and especially parents and guardians, to unite as a "global village" to make it their goal to ensure each student has the best possible nurturing and support for success in their educational goals. Recommendations. A future study should include a replication of this study with a comparative analysis of African American high school, non-high school graduates, and other minority groups. A second recommendation would be to conduct a qualitative study with a gender comparison to identify the similarities and differences incumbent to African American students in academic success.