Evidence is clear that urban high poverty public schools are failing to meet the educational needs of its students, particularly students of color. The present study examines the effectiveness of two types of high poverty parochial schools for 354 African American middle school students. Results show that alternative middle schools, known as Nativity schools, are more successful than traditional schools in helping students improve in standardized test scores. Further analyses show that, regardless of school type, students perform better in school when their levels of intrinsic motivation for school work is higher. Intrinsic motivation is influenced by students' self-worth perceptions and perceptions of their class environments as engaging and their schools as enjoyable and fair places. Implications for urban schooling for African American children are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)