Sustaining improvement and building capacity for ongoing learning is a key challenge for schools, particularly high-performing schools facing increasing pressures from the No Child Left Behind Act. This paper presents a discussion on how goal setting with students increases the academic student achievement in Burleigh Elementary School. Teachers and students of the school are empowered and share responsibility for learning using a goal-setting and monitoring process deemed the SMART (Specific and Strategic, Measurable, Attainable, Results-based, and Timebound) Goals Process. When staff added goal-setting, they began to see significant changes in achievement, particularly in reading. The group became convinced that increasing students' responsibility using the goal-setting process they were already familiar with would empower students and raise achievement. They translated the district's SMART acronym into more kid-friendly language--Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Real, and Timeline. The author also discusses the factors teachers must consider in helping students set SMART goals. Positive outcomes of the process are also discussed. (Contains 2 resources.)