The relations between normative developmental transitions, contextual influences, and life-stage outcomes such as academic achievement for African American males are examined. The integration of affective and cognitive processes are reviewed for preschool-and elementary-aged boys, and an empirical examination of vulnerable and resilient outcomes of 219 urban adolescent males is used to illustrate how structural conditions provide opportunities for vulnerable and successful academic outcomes. The results indicate that negative stereotyping and tracking from early experiences in educational settings influence African American males'scholastic achievement. By adolescence, given normative developmental experiences of social mobility and increased cognitive reasoning, experiences in their community as well as school contexts influences African American males' reactive or proactive coping strategies that influence vulnerability and resilience in school. Suggestions for future research and intervention efforts are offered.This article seeks to organize what we know about the affect of affective-and cognitive-linked developmental transitions on achievement outcomes and academic-associated processes, particularly for African American males. As an organizational strategy for accomplishing this task, the synthesis has three goals that also 608

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