Current research on urban academic achievement demonstrates a relationship between low student engagement and motivation levels and poor academic performance. Educators struggle to increase academic achievement in students who lack enthusiasm, self-determination, and the autonomy to academically perform in the classroom. The purpose of this case study was to investigate how communal support, teacher rapport, and learning styles influence student underachievement in two urban middle schools in the northeast Ohio. The research questions investigated the influence of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence, communal support, and teacher rapport on academic performance. Six students were specifically selected to participate in the study. Data from observations, interviews, and journals were analyzed to determine the influence communal support, learning styles, and teacher rapport had on student underachievement. The triangulated data were individually coded using a matrix and then collectively coded on a template to identify commonalities and form interpretations surrounding student engagement and motivation. The study found that student achievement was enhanced by using student centered learning styles, increased communal support in schools, enhanced teacher rapport, and increased student understanding of resiliency and how it affects student learning. The researcher recommended that educators need to adjust teaching styles to match learning styles, increase communal support in schools, and motivate students to actively engage in lessons to increase their desire to academically perform. This study has the potential to impact positive social change as it creates a greater understanding of the affirmative role the community, teacher rapport, and learning styles had on student engagement and motivation to improve academic performance.