The relationships among identity, school engagement, and goal attainment for African American adolescents in urban public high schools were studied with 63 ninth graders. In bi-weekly workshops, information was obtained about student dreams and goals, self-concepts, and knowledge of what they needed to do to attain their goals. To explore engagement strategies, students were asked to respond to scenarios about students with school problems. Some preliminary conclusions have been drawn from this ongoing study. Race and ethnicity were not concepts that students generally situated inside themselves, but were considered issues that created problems or only mattered because other people made them matter. Students distinguished themselves from stereotypes, and clearly recognized that they had to traverse two worlds, a white world and the black society in which they lived. Students perceived race to be a problem of other people that then interfered with chances in their own lives. They believed that they were working hard, but often did not understand the paths they needed to take to reach their goals. (Contains 16 references.) (SLD)