The purpose of this study was to determine if the adoption of the Deming philosophy by teachers and use of the LtoJ[R] process resulted in greater academic achievement. Results of internal consistency analysis indicated that the instrument, the "Commitment to Quality Inventory for Educators," was a reliable measure of the Deming philosophy for teachers. Intermediate grades in schools that used the LtoJ[R] process experienced significant, yearly growth on math proficiency rates over the 2004-2008 time period. Arizona (Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle) and Iowa (Middle) had observably greater yearly improvement of reading proficiency than their states. Arizona (Elementary, Intermediate, and Middle) and Oklahoma (Intermediate) had observably greater improvement of math proficiency than their states. Additionally, proficiency gaps narrowed in math and reading, and both Low SES students and Non-Low SES students improved their proficiency rates over the course of four years. The results could not be definitively attributed to the formative use of the LtoJ[R] process because the instrument implied that most teachers were not using the Quality Tools required to use the LtoJ[R] process as formative assessment. This seemed to occur even though most teachers' scores on the inventory placed them in a level of agreement with the Deming philosophy ranging from strongly agree to slightly agree. On the other hand, the results could not be definitively ruled out as not having their causes rooted in the other components of the LtoJ[R] process. The instrument's results indicated a disconnect existed between teacher beliefs about the Deming philosophy and teacher actions promoting continuous improvement through the use of the complete LtoJ[R] process. This disconnect also existed among many of the principals of schools using the LtoJ[R] process. There are three main recommendations resulting from this study. (1) Stress the use of LtoJ[R] as a formative assessment (without devaluing the other parts of the process), (2) administrators need to be involved as lead learners, so teachers feel that LtoJ[R] is important to continuous improvement, and (3) comprehensive professional development needs to be provided to teachers so the LtoJ[R] process can be fully optimized as a formative assessment. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]