Graduation Year
2025
Date of Defense
3-27-2025
Degree Name
Doctorate in Education (EdD) in Educational Leadership
Department
School of Education and Human Development
Document Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Julie Berrett-Abebe
Abstract
Students in high-performing schools are socialized to equate self-worth with external achievements by a complex achievement cycle that prioritizes external achievement. This exacerbates existing inequities for students and leads to detrimental psychological and emotional consequences for students in high-performing schools. This qualitative, constructivist, grounded theory study, grounded in sociocultural and critical theory, aimed to understand student definitions of success; the impact school environment, policies, and procedures have on those definitions; and empower students to recognize their potential for and role in generating change. Focus group interviews of high school seniors at a high-performing school were used to collect data to answer three research questions: (RQ1) How do students at a high-performing, suburban, affluent, mostly white high school describe success? (RQ2) In what ways do the school environment, policies, and practices affect student perceptions of success? (RQ3) What changes do students believe would help them find more authentic success? Data revealed that while students largely define success through intrinsic values, they perceived their school's definition as predominantly extrinsic. As captured in the resulting theory, Continuous Success, Value, and Motivation Formation and Reinforcement Theory, this discrepancy creates dissonance and misalignment, forcing students to repeatedly navigate decision points where they must choose between intrinsic and extrinsic perspectives. These choices, in turn, shape and reinforce their value systems and motivational orientations. This research highlights the critical need for educational environments to align with students' intrinsically aligned definition of success, promoting healthy development through a more authentic understanding of success shared by students and their school.