School readiness involves socio-emotional competencies and behaviors, including relationships with peers and teachers, which are generally predictors of later academic performance and the ability to adapt to school for preschool children. This study found that teachers who have the ability to create positive preschool classroom environments and instructional strategies to develop socio-emotional competency in African American boys in public preschool, specifically, those in low socioeconomic backgrounds are more motivated to meet job performance goals. To support African American boys in low-income areas conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge is required for teachers to understand the concepts of socio-emotional development and how to respond to children's behavior. The study reveals that teachers need considerable support to design classroom management and instructional strategies to promote growth. This study, using Clark and Estes' gap analysis method, evaluated the state of which early education center teachers achieve job performance goals to provide structured and unstructured opportunities for African American boys to cultivate socialization and emotional competence to improve their resilience, confidence and persistence with tasks. Triangulation of the data collected shows that teachers in the Pyramid Unified School District are lacking the knowledge and skills needed to support African American boys in public preschool.