This research project analyzed student success, as measured by achievement tests, within communities of high poverty. The purpose was to develop a grounded theory that offered insights as to how schools located within communities of high poverty could experience success on achievement tests. A second, and equally critical focus of this research was to better understand how teachers and principals interpreted success on achievement tests. What did success on achievement tests mean for students and their chances to live the American Dream? Specific questions this study intended to answer included: Do some schools experience success on achievement tests even when social class predictors of academic success forecast differently? What is occurring in these schools that contributes to their success on achievement tests? How do teachers and school administrators interpret student success on achievement tests in connection to student life chances?

The first question was answered by utilizing the Ohio Department of Education initiative: Schools of Promise. The intent of Schools of Promise is to recognize schools that are located in communities of high poverty that perform well on achievement tests.

The final two research questions were addressed by utilizing a case study methodology. Interviews, observations and document analysis of three schools provided insight into factors that contributed to student success on achievement tests. Teacher and principal insights provided a context to better understand how success on achievement tests is interpreted in respect to students’ life chances.

Succinctly stated, the data on which the grounded theory was developed support the stance that students thrive within caring school communities; high expectations influence student and teacher aspirations; extrinsic and intrinsic means of motivation facilitate higher levels of effort; organized and transformative modes of principal leadership are powerful tools in shaping the school atmosphere; ample amounts of human and material resources are vital structural components of schools; curriculum, pedagogy and assessment that are overtly focused on achievement testing tend to be present in schools in this study that evidenced high performance scores on achievement tests. The data on which the grounded theory was developed supports an inconsistent view on what success on achievement tests means for students’ life chances.