Making a Difference in Challenging, High-Poverty Schools: Successful principals in the USA, England, and Australia Rose M. Ylimaki a *, Stephen L. Jacobson a , and Lawrie Drysdale b a University at Buffalo, SUNY, USA and b University of Melbourne, Australia (Received 18 August 2006; accepted 5 June 2007) This article draws on findings from a larger international study and the literature to examine successful principals of challenging high-poverty schools in the USA, England, and Australia. Specifically, this article reports case-study findings for 13 challenging schools, 4 each in the USA and Australia and 5 in England. Findings from this study indicate that successful principals used similar leadership practices and traits to make a difference and improve student performance in very challenging schools. These findings extend previous research conducted in single-nation contexts. The presentation of findings also considers differences in the role of the principal, the school context, and larger national policies. The article concludes with implications for leadership training and future research. Introduction Research indicates that high levels of poverty can interfere with a school’s ability to successfully improve student achievement (e.g., Rumberger & Palardy, 2005). Some of the correlates of poverty that research has associated with poor academic achievement include: poor nutrition, inadequate health services, and high rates of illiteracy and criminal behavior, which in turn can result in high rates of student *Corresponding author. University at Buffalo, SUNY, 471 Christopher Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. Email: rylimaki@buffalo.edu School Effectiveness and School Improvement Vol. 18, No. 4, December 2007, pp. 361 – 381 ISSN 0924-3453 (print)/ISSN 1744-5124 (online)/07/040361–21 Ó 2007 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/09243450701712486