This study was guided by a reduced version of the Self-System Process Model developed by Connell7 (Figure 1). The motivational model explains linkages among individual’s experience of the social context, their self-system processes, their patterns of action, and actual outcomes of performance. Research testing linkages in the model used complex statistical strategies such as path analyses to support hypothesized relationships between teacher support and engagement, and between engagement and achievement. 29, 40 This study tested linkages in the model, and examined two additional research questions: 1) What threshold levels on teacher support and engagement are critical to later academic success? 2) How much difference does achieving the threshold levels contribute to the likelihood of school success or difficulty? In addition, the study examined initial data from a broader sample of students in elementary, middle, and high school in an urban school district implementing the First Things First school-reform framework. 43 First Things First seeks to achieve three goals: 1) improve relationships between students and adults; 2) improve teaching and learning; and 3) reallocate resources to achieve goals one and two. First Things First provides an opportunity to study interventions geared explicitly toward improving levels of teacher support and the effects on student engagement and performance.