We examined the practices, beliefs, and attitudes of secondary teachers in order to identify factors that led to success for non-dominant-group students. We found a unique paradigm among educators whose students of color and/or poverty showed no achievement gap. Rather than coming from a deficit perspective or one expecting assimilation, those teachers displayed an outlook and approach that positioned non-dominant group students as different rather than deficient. In fact, coming from this perspective, the educators recognized that while non-dominant students may be lacking in some typical student behaviors and skills, they bring other skills with them which can be harnessed and transferred into academic success. We call this unique paradigm the Normed-Opportunity Paradigm. The practices that the educators in this paradigm used to help non-dominant students to succeed included: sharing student culture; allowing students to lead; discerning hidden talents; and refraining from moral judgments.