The Woodlawn High students were divided into three groups stationed at chalkboards, writing out questions. n What year was the microscope created? What do you view microorganisms on?

And finally: Describe the similarities of prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

"That is an excellent question," said James Martin, drawing the attention of the 25 students in his class. The teens - all black male freshmen - were giving one another "critical thinking" problems in various subjects as part of a semiweekly, in-class tutorial. "That's not just something you can look in the book and get a direct answer to. ... That's the type of question that we need to work toward."

Martin's class is a pilot project being conducted by Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, a national college-preparatory program for students who are capable of more challenging work but need additional resources to reach their potential. Woodlawn High in Baltimore County is among six schools across the country participating in the AVID Center's African-American Male Initiative, which aims to raise achievement among those students.

"Being together every day, moving toward the same goal, is definitely going to [have] an impact on going to college," said Maria Cobb, director of the initiative. And the rigor of AVID's curriculum, which teaches skills such as note-taking, organization and higher-level thinking, "will make them college-ready."

"African-American males are talented but too often lost in the middle," said Barbara Dezmon, assistant to the superintendent for equity and assurance, whose office introduced AVID to the district. "This extension of AVID will benefit them greatly."

Classes like Woodlawn's allow for incorporating gender instruction, Cobb said, focusing on the youths' learning styles. A "culturally relevant teaching strand," in development, would help acknowledge the various cultures of students - such as discussing the role blacks played during the Civil War. "They're not seeing themselves in the curriculum, and they do not see where it is relevant outside of school ... and therefore do not see it as an investment for their future."

As part of the initiative, funded by a grant from the Citi Foundation, the schools had to recruit 25 black male students into AVID, Cobb said. They also were required to recruit black male tutors and teachers.

The five other schools participating are in Arlington, Texas; Fresno, Calif.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and New York City. Woodlawn and Las Vegas' Mojave High School are the only ones piloting a gender-based classroom, Cobb said. The others have created mentorships - with periodic lunches, after-school meetings and field trips - to build relationships between students and a role-model adult, she added.The initiative "can have a huge effect," said Roxanna Harlow, a former McDaniel College professor specializing in the sociology of education, race and ethnic relations. Harlow recently launched Higher Learning, a Westminster-based nonprofit that seeks to foster critical thinking and life success among minority students in Carroll County.

"It's a very good strategy for these young men to build a sort of camaraderie around similar experiences while creating an expectation of educational achievement, making that a rational choice," said Harlow, adding that an all-male class helps eliminate distraction. "If your peers expect educational achievement ... then you're more likely to expect educational achievement of yourself."

But even more crucial, she said, is the black male teacher.

"A lot of these young men do not have a consistent male adult presence in their life, and they are starving for male guidance for what it means to be a man," Harlow said. "So the question is, are they going to see something positive before them every day or are they going to see other types of images that, in the long run, could have a negative impact on them?"

The ability to relate to his students has fostered an environment that enables "man-to-young-man talks" during class, Martin said. "Our relationship is more personal. ... Just it being all males, we're a more family-oriented class, because everything we talk about is as a whole. There's nothing that's really secretive."

The teens offer a mix of opinions on the lack of girls in their class. Some see it as a blessing; others less so. But one thing many agree on is the bonds they have formed.

"We're all like a brotherhood," said Eric Muldrow, 14, adding that Martin gives it to them straight, pushing them when their grades are low.

"We can participate more" and are more comfortable sharing, said Leon Timmons, 14. "We don't have to worry about girls fussing. It's more civilized."

Devin Swinton, 14, said he feels the class provides him with "more educational opportunities, because there's no distraction" from girls. That has been particularly helpful when they've done certain projects, such as one describing what they liked about themselves, he said.

And without Martin holding him accountable for his work, he added, "my grades would probably be slipping."

"The whole approach to the class is different," said Ari Jones, a senior and AVID tutor, who himself has gone through the center's program. "It's not run like your typical AVID class."

The group has taken time to talk about what it takes to be successful as African-American men, about public speaking, about how to treat women, Jones said.

They've also had very practical lessons: On a recent Monday, Jones was teaching the class how to properly knot a tie, part of an effort to provide real-world experience for them, Martin said.

Each teen followed Jones' step-by-step instructions, some more successfully than others - and several of them with a tie from a large collection of donated ones handed out by their teacher.

That session came after Martin went through a list of students whose progress reports indicated they were making a "D" or "E" in a class.

"What's up with American government and math?" Martin asked one teen, who shrugged in response.

"So, you'll be at a coach class this week," Martin said pointedly, referring to after-school sessions that students can go to for additional help.

He waited until he got a nod before turning to the next student.

Martin's relationship with the class, and the sense of brotherhood, is what Woodlawn Principal Brian Scriven said he'd had in mind when he first heard about the pilot. He immediately thought of Martin, he said, a former student who could now have the chance to "give back" and positively impact his students.

"For me, it's just all about relationships," Scriven said.

AVID has already begun studying how the initiative is playing out, having contracted Karen Watt, a professor at the University of Texas-Pan American, who does research for the center. Ideally, teachers will be with the students for four years, and AVID will track progress, Cobb said.

Watt said she's observed students responding to the mentor in their schools during her early visits, whether it's a teacher or another black adult who meets with them in a different setting.

The various class compositions among the pilot schools, as well as their varied locations in urban, suburban and rural areas, make for a good study, Watt said. "I think we can learn something from each school site."

For Scriven, the racial makeup of the class is secondary to the opportunities and exposure the class affords the young men as it forges a "mind-set of goal-setting."

"I think it's the relationships that are going to be formed in this class [that are] going to make it special," he said. "It's a network that's going to be formed internally with this class as they all aspire. Hopefully, that support for one another is going to be there long after this high school experience alone is done."