This study was designed to investigate a model of development that hypothesizes that personal characteristics of African- and Hispanic/Latino-American students interact with the context in predicting academic achievement. The personal characteristics examined were perceived discrimination, general attribution style and racial identity. Attributions made in response to negative feedback given in an ambiguous situation and performance under stereotype-threat conditions also were assessed. There were no significant differences between African- and Hispanic/Latino-American students on these measures. More students reported discrimination against their racial/ethnic group than against themselves personally. Both individual and group discrimination were related to racial identity, and individual discrimination was related to general attribution style. Perceived discrimination towards one's racial/ethnic group was the only personal characteristic related to attributions made in response to negative feedback given under ambiguous conditions. After controlling for income and pre-test performance, students' racial identity immersion and internal attributions made under ambiguous conditions predicted students' performance on the post-test.