The purpose of this study is to examine the “culture of success” that exists in selected high-poverty elementary schools throughout the Lower Mississippi Delta Region.  In particular, this article represents the first phase of examining the culture of success in high-poverty, high-performing schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  This study will focus solely on high-poverty, high-performing schools in Mississippi.

            This study examines school culture, instructional strategies, and parent involvement as major components in the process of closing the achievement gap in high-poverty school settings.  The building principal plays a very important role in the design, implementation, and assessment of each component related to closing the achievement gap.  As a result, these components are examined through the experiences of “practitioner-experts” – successful school principals in the Lower Mississippi Delta.

These principals used repeated efforts to combine the academic mission with the school culture.  They managed data-driven instructional systems to diagnose areas of need and design effective remedies.  Finally, they empowered parents by meeting their needs.  These are important elements for turning schools around as well as maintaining levels of high achievement (Chenoweth, 2007).  These principals have proudly defied the odds against their students, and their accomplishments provide bright hope for schools in the Lower Mississippi Delta, and in all schools.