The widespread existence of highly successful elementary schools populated mainly by low-socioeconomic-status students of color substantially undermines popular assumptions about the pervasive school failure of these students. Indeed, the fact that these highly successful schools are academically competitive with-and even superior to-the better Anglo schools suggests that these highly successful schools may have developed a better model for schooling. That these schools have been developed by school-level educators rather than by university researchers is also critically important. What is provided here, then, is a description of the core beliefs and organizational culture of these highly successful schools.
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