The home and the public school classroom have been key environments in the African American community and have been instrumental in developing identity and encouraging academic progress. Despite this, the dropout rates of African American males in secondary grades have increased, while academic achievement scores of African American males in the primary grades have not. The racial and gender composition of elementary school teachers does not match that of the students. This may contribute to the disproportionate achievement scores between African American and European American students. This quantitative study examined the possible significant relationship between African American male teachers and the academic achievement of African American male students in Guilford County, North Carolina Public Schools using the Frequency Exact Test (Fischer's Exact Probability Test). The study compared six fifth-grade classrooms; three with African American male teachers and three with non-African American teachers (European American male and female) and African American female teachers, both of which had an average of four to nine African American male students in an average class of 20 to 30 students. The results could be used to assist in further evaluations of reasons for academic discrepancies. Potential solutions are discussed to decrease the achievement gap between African American youth and European American youth. [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.]