"Education is the source of shared values essential to democracy, (...) [however], values are not enough for democracy to function well; expert skills are also needed" (Fuhrman & Lazerson, 2005, xxvi). With the turn of the 21st century, debates over the nation's public school system's ability to ensure No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act continue. The legislation focuses on high-stakes testing, a rise in test scores, accountability and a school and district's ability to demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by the federal act of 2001. For decades, America's public education system has been trying to reform education. This research study employs an inductive process whereby school practitioners' perceptions pertaining to the rise in Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) scores are examined and shared with the researcher. Similar to other dissertation studies, this study has limitations. First are the limitations of the interview process, as well as the lack of methodical investigation on influential factors that contribute to student outcomes. Secondly, the schools selected for this study fall within the same District Reference Group (DRG) G (Appendix A), and each has been designated a Title I school ( www.2.ed.gov). The study is also limited in that the disparity in achievement gap may be related to the demographics and the experiences of the student populations vary from one district reference group to another, as well as within the reference groups. Employing a qualitative research framework provided the researcher with a pathway to understanding "how people interpret their experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their experiences" (Merriam, 2009, p.5). Through semi-structured interviews the researcher was able to collect data and gain an understanding of attitudes and educational practices with respect to student outcomes. The perceived practices were shared by educational practitioners with the researcher and were coded, analyzed and placed into categorical themes to determine the similarities and differences of participants' responses within schools with similar profiles. The rationale for this research study was to convert regularly repeated behavior patterns into identifiable practices that can preface increased student performance on standards-based assessments. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]