Children from low-income, ghetto, and minority groups tend to display a low level of performance in school and evaluated themselves as worse than most students on their school performance. This study examines the impact of self-concept on academic achievement. It was hypothesized that: (1) reinforcement of behaviors important to academic success increases achievement; (2) as academic achievement improves, academic self-concept becomes more positive; and, (3) social rewards (verbal and written praise) are more effective than economic or token rewards (small amounts of money) in improving academic achievement. Forty-two black students with scores below the average of their class on achievement and self-concept measures were selected for this study from grades four, five and six in one school. Teachers rated the students' intellectual development on a four-point scale both before and after treatment. The students were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups for 12 weeks. Group one received intensive tutoring and counseling combined with token reinforcement. Group two received intensive tutoring and counseling combined with social reinforcement. Group three received no counseling or reinforcement. The subjects were pretested on academic and self-concept measures, received their respective treatments, and were retested. The tutoring-counseling was carried out by the experimenter in one-hour sessions twice a week for each group. (Author/JM)