ABSTRACT
The work of High Performance Learning Communities focuses on enabling students, their families and other interested adults to develop and utilize their knowledge, skills and strategies, and to access and utilize the necessary resources in support of high performance academic endeavors. High Performance Learning Communities are needed to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged individuals in the community: those who are often impoverished, African American males who come from low-income and disadvantaged families. When designing High Performance Learning Communities, attention must be given to the reduction of the dissonance between hegemonic and subaltern cultural identities as is reflected in the phenomenon described as "fear of acting white"; "fear of stereotype confirmation"; or "prejudice apprehension". The purpose of High Performance Learning Communities is to raise the level of excellence in the academic and personal development through the conversion of naturally occurring indigenous groups into high performance learning communities.
