Student success has been understood primarily in the context of conventional classroom settings. Yet, despite the prevalence of pre-college programs in the lives of disadvantaged students, few studies explore how notions of success are conceptualized within these spaces. This study explores what counts as student success in a pre-college program from the perspective of those facilitating the program. Using archival program data consisting of 524 student performance evaluations, this study asks, In a program designed to remedy or level the playing field for historically disadvantaged students, what behaviors, attitudes, and outcomes count as success? The findings of this study suggest that what counts as student success and who is considered an ideal student is constructed by instructor’s perceptions and assessments of both student’s cognitive abilities and non-cognitive qualities. This study also shows that mainstream and stereotypical judgments about effort, character, and success more broadly persist even in spaces intended to supplement and, in many ways, serve as an alternative to traditional academic settings.

This study presents a critical discourse-inspired analysis of written rules in Swedish primary schools, with the purpose to identify an image of an ”ideal student”. Swedish schools form local rules and regulations, where each pricipal is responsible for content and form. Therefore, an attempt is here made to find and discuss varations in the rules from different schools. The empirical findings are analysed with help of a theoretical framework based on Michel Foucault’s power theory, Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis and Zygmynt Bauman’s views of ethics, morality and identity. The findings portray an ideal student who is kind, friendly and helpful to others. Some additional described ”good” behaviors, such as appropiate language and honesty, are here suggested to have cultural and traditional connotations. Variations in descriptions of preferred traits and practices are found in rules from different schools. With inspiration from Foucault and Bauman it is here argued that this can challenge the formation of school norms and student’s values.   Based on these findings and reflections, I suggest that school rules should represent essential educational and practical requirements and be communicated and formatted with clear purpose and possibilities for understanding and implementation.