The purpose of this study was to determine which cooperative learning strategies teachers used and how these strategies were implemented in order to increase achievement of low-achieving African American students. A mixed method research design, with surveys and interviews, was used for this study. This small-scale study was conducted within an urban school district in Tennessee at four middle schools with five seventh grade Social Studies teachers who consented to participate. Survey questionnaires investigated teacher use of eight cooperative learning strategies identified as applicable at the middle and high school level. Two of the five teachers, also willingly participated in-depth, face-to-face interviews to gather additional information to elaborate on survey data. Descriptive statistics, frequency distributions and percentages were used to analyze and report on data gathered by the survey questionnaires. Interview data was transcribed, compiled, coded and content analyzed for themes that matched the content of each of the research questions. Study results indicated that teachers' overall actual use of cooperative learning strategies was quite frequent and these strategies ranged from presenting and explaining, to modeling and intervening, to teaching the skills needed for students to work together. The specific cooperative learning strategies used by teachers in this study to promote low achieving African American students to succeed were Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) and Learning Together. Study findings implied that to maximize effectiveness of cooperative learning strategies in the classroom, it was important that teachers know what role he/she must take for student success, and the steps for implementing a particular cooperative learning strategy. Based on study findings, recommendations were made for the professional development of teachers in the use of cooperative learning strategies.