African American cognitive Styles have not received much attention in research. An intended ethnographic study will examine the preferred cognitive styles employed by African American students in the classroom. The literature on African American cognition indicates that they are likely to utilize field dependent cognitive styles. The setting will be a large urban high school in an Illinois community. The selected population will include students in different speech classes. A large portion of the data will be gathered through participant observation. In-depth interviews will also be conducted. Three cognitive style assessments will be administered. (Contains 37 references and a table listing characteristic differences in field dependence/independence. The three cognitive style assessments to be used are attached.) (RS)