This doctoral research study examined the lived experiences of eight highly-effective teachers in New Jersey who have voluntarily chosen to remain working in their challenging school contexts, defined as schools scoring 60 or fewer points on the 2017-2018 NJ School Report Card summative rating. Data from semi-structured interviews was analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), resulting in three major findings regarding the retention decisions of participants: (1) Highly-effective teachers need to perceive that their extraordinary efforts and performance are understood and proportionally valued; (2) The existence of positive relationships and connections is important to the satisfaction and retention decisions of highly-effective teachers; and (3) Trust and empowerment, as expressed through leadership opportunities and classroom autonomy, are important to highly-effective teachers. These findings were considered in light of the existing body of research as well as the theoretical framework, Meyer and Allen's (1991) Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment (TCM). The findings of this study suggested that highly-effective teachers experienced a variety of positive and negative experiences working in their challenging schools and made sense of these experiences in relation to one another and to their prior experiences and ideal work conditions when deciding whether to continue working in their school context. The recommendations from this study may support school leaders in taking strategic action to retain highly-effective teachers, despite the presence of workplace challenges commonly associated with teacher attrition. [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.]