This research summary focuses on learning preferences of early adolescents and their relationships with academic achievement and gender. The classroom structures under study were cooperative (working with peers in accomplishing academic material), competitive (competing with peers in academic endeavors), and individualistic (having no involvement with peers in pursuing academic goals or objectives) learning situations. The sample consisted of 715 African American students from six schools within one metropolitan county in the southeastern United States. The students were surveyed with the Learning Preference Scale--Students (LPSS), Form C, with the results analyzed for reliability. Gender and grade point average, the independent variables, showed a significant correlation, yet gender was not correlated significantly with any of the three dependent variables, cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning preferences. Limitations of the study are discussed and a call for further research on this topic is made. (EH)