Minority students have continuously experienced obscurities in pursuing educational goals since the "Brown vs. Topeka, Kansas Board of Education" ruling in 1954. The federal government has implemented various educational mandates such as The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to address the achievement gap that exist between minorities and non-minorities and level the playing field. However, the gap continues to persist and African-American and Hispanic students continue to lag behind their Asian and Caucasian peers in academic achievement. There have been countless research efforts that focused on the causes of the achievement gap and strategies that could be implemented to alleviate the problem. Most of the research identify elements that are beyond the scope of the school such as deficient academic preparation, economic status and weak parental/family support. However, school factors such as teachers' perceptions and expectations of the student body are rarely considered when attempting to investigate and eradicate the achievement gap. The perceptions and expectations teachers have regarding minority students from economically challenging backgrounds could possibly have negative impacts on academic achievement. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore teachers' perceptions and the impacts on the academic achievement of minority students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. A purposeful sample of 12 elementary school teachers of grades K-5 were invited to participate in individual interviews using semi-structured questions that were used in a 2007 study that was conducted by Brown and Medway. The interview questions focused on teachers' experiences with teaching minority students, school culture, and parental interactions. The findings revealed that all students can learn regardless of their backgrounds; minority economically disadvantaged students encounter many challenges in their educational experiences; communicate success and high expectations daily; hands-on approaches to the curriculum makes learning meaningful and relevant; build on students current performance levels; build positive student-teacher relationships; deficiency in parental involvement; disparity in monetary funding, resources, and out-of-school experiences and exposure; and unprepared to work with diverse student populations. Due the continuing of the achievement gap, recommendations for future research were to increase the sample size to include classroom teachers of grades 6 to 12, and expand the study to include schools that serve a diverse student population from economically challenging backgrounds in more affluent suburban school districts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]