The Florida Successful Schools Project, a collaborative effort of the State Department of Education, school district Chapter 1 programs, and the Technical Assistance Centers in Atlanta, is designed to help the Florida schools that face the greatest challenges in helping students achieve in a safe and orderly environment. This report covers the first year of the project, which focused on three research perspectives: (1) a data base analysis of information about the schools; (2) staff and parent surveys based on effective school correlates; and (3) on-site observations and interviews. It found that schools with high concentrations of students from low-income families face tremendous challenges in meeting state educational goals for student performance, learning environment, and school safety. Nevertheless, some high poverty schools do better than state averages. These schools are characterized by higher student achievement, fewer minority students, more support staff, and lower suspension rates. The effective school correlates that provide the greatest contrasts between high and low achieving schools are safe and orderly learning environment, instructional leadership, and high expectations for students. Nineteen graphs and one figure present information about Florida schools. A separate document contains supporting technical papers. (Contains 22 references.) (SLD)