The driving force behind high-stakes-testing may be attributed to the issue of education reform. In the last decade, high-stakes testing has generated intense controversy among educators and parents. The use of high-stakes testing in making decisions about student promotion and graduation is both controversial and significant. The purpose of the proposed quantitative correlational analysis was to investigate the extent to which middle school student scores on the ELA and Mathematics exams correlate to a set of demographic variables and the extent to which student accountability influences that relationship for African American male middle school students when there are high stakes attached to the test results. The study investigated the correlation between race, gender, and grade level testing to the scores of middle school students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades on ELA tests and Mathematics exams. The study also investigate the effects of high stakes on the correlation of ELA test and Mathematic exam scores according to grade level among middle school African American male students caused by requiring 8th graders to pass ELA and Mathematics 8th grade exams in order to move on to high school. The study presents the results of a Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests used to determine normality in the data; the Spearman's rank correlation was used to analyze the three demographic variables; and an ANOVA was conducted to compare the mean scores of participants on achievement scores according to grade level, race and gender. The results were not statistically significant. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]