This report describes a follow-up qualitative study, conducted in 2006 by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, of a small group of New York City high schools that were "beating the odds" in preparing low-performing 9th-grade students for timely high school graduation and college going. The 13 schools included two long-established technical-vocational schools, nine small high schools created between 1993 and 1998, and two created in the reconstitution of large, failing high schools. The study was inspired by students in the Urban Youth Collaborative, a citywide high school organizing group that works to improve college-going rates in their schools and communities. Institute staff designed interviews with administrators, counselors, and other relevant staff to understand how the 13 high schools identified in the earlier study were able to beat the odds, and to suggest ways that the success of these schools could be maintained and scaled up. The beat the odds (BTO) high schools used four key strategies to help disadvantaged students move successfully through high school graduation and on to college: (1) academic rigor; (2) networks of timely supports; (3) college expectations and access; and (4) effective use of data.