Public school stakeholders continue to appeal for quality educational outcomes for African American male students. This continuous outcry has led researchers to study critical subgroups from a framework of excellence in order to justify the need to restructure urban schools and expand the coverage of cultural identities. This research seeks to determine if a culturally relevant extracurricular activity can influence African American males' academic motivation and identification with academics. The current investigation proposes to conduct this study using a posttest only design with nonequivalent groups approach. This investigation examines a public school step team's influence on academic identification and motivation among African American male students. Specifically, this study uses the Identification with Academics Scale (IAS) and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) in order to determine if a statistical difference existed between participants and non-participants in the step team program. This study was the first known examination of a step team program in relation to enhancing identification to academics or academic motivation. Results indicated that step team participants' identification to academics and intrinsic motivation scores were higher than non-participant peers, but not statistically significant. However, there was a statistically significant outcome in relation to step team participants' extrinsic motivation scores when compared to non-participant peers. Additionally, reported academic performance revealed a statistically significant interaction effect with step team membership and identification to academics score. [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.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]