This report focuses on the self-perception and academic achievement of fifth grade black girls as compared to black boys and white girls. Comparisons are made along different dimensions of self-esteem (general, school, peer, and home), and on self-concept of ability, achievement orientation, general anxiety, locus of control, importance of social abilities, and performance on standardized reading and math achievement tests. Findings indicate that black girls occupy a psychological and academic middle ground compared to the other groups. For example, white girls had higher reading and math test scores than black girls, but black girls had higher test scores than black boys. Black girls also had higher achievement orientation scores and a trend toward higher school self-esteem than black boys. Black boys scored higher on the non-academic dimensions of importance of social abilities and peer self-esteem. In addition, black girls were shown to share some sex-related characteristics with white girls, such as higher anxiety and greater independence than their male counterparts. It is concluded that the presence of sex differences among black children is in need of further study. (Author/EB)