This qualitative case study explored factors that have influenced literacy success of Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) students in the low-income, poverty stricken Delta Region of Arkansas. The study examined progress made since implementation of the KIPP Program and the influence the program had made upon student achievement in literacy at the KIPP College Preparatory and KIPP Delta Collegiate High Schools, according to administrators' and teachers' perceptions. The study explored factors influencing improvement of previously at-risk students and adopted the theoretical framework of Gene Bottoms' High Schools That Work (HSTW) Initiative that stated high expectations plus rigor, relevance, and relationships increased student achievement (2005). The factors that emerged from the study were high expectations, rigor, relevance, relationship, and accountability. These factors were identified as helping students master skills and state standards in literacy at the KIPP Delta Public Schools. It is imperative that public school leaders narrow the academic gap that exists between white students, black students, and students from poverty in the public schools (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 2009). Only 8.3% of students from low-income backgrounds have earned college degrees by their mid-20s (McDonald, Ross, Abney, & Zoblotsky, 2008). The numbers are more dismal from students from the Delta Region. However, students at KIPP Schools are taking the same state-wide assessments and are scoring at proficient or advanced levels (McDonald, Ross, Abney, & Zoblotsky, 2008). If KIPP Schools are successful in educating students who were failing in traditional public schools, the question remained: What factors have influenced the increased academic improvements in literacy of previously at-risk students in the Delta Region, according to adult perceptions?