The purpose of this causal comparative study was to examine if there was a statistically significant difference in the academic achievement of African American 4th grade males who had strong parental involvement and those who had little to no parental involvement. The data for this causal comparative study was obtained through the benchmark and developmental assessment reading scores as well as the results of the Parent Success Indicator Survey. This survey was designed to measure how the parents viewed their involvement in their child's education. The research questions were (1) Is there a statistically significant difference between the academic success of the African American 4th grade male that has strong parental involvement and the African American 4th grade male that has little to no parental involvement according to their Development Reading Assessment (DRA) scores and (2) Is there a statistically significant difference between the academic success of the African American 4th grade male that has strong parental involvement and the African American 4th grade male that has little to no parental involvement according to their Benchmark (BM) scores. Two independent sample "t"-tests and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to assess the research questions. The findings revealed that there is a statistically significant difference in academic achievement between participants who have strong parental involvement and those who have little to no parental involvement. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]