The purpose of the study is to investigate what organizational cultural differences exist between high and low-performing elementary schools within a community. The study also aims in making differences visible between the schools' working methods around pupils with special needs. The outcome of this study may provide a better understanding of how different educational establishment, professions and schools work in ways that affect pupils' possibilities.

The study has been conducted as a quantitative survey with teaching staff from five elementary schools from one community in Värmland. The survey aimed at examining the school's cultural working conditions in relation to teachers' views on support efforts and the work with students with special needs. The study then made a comparison between high and low-performing schools with these aspects.

The result of the study shows that statistically there are significant differences in how high and low-performing schools establish and their working methods with action programs. The study could also show differences in which factors teachers experience have the greatest impact when pupils fail to reach the knowledge requirements. However, there was no statistically valid difference regarding the cultural aspects of the schools. The study can only demonstrate trends in cultural differences between low and high-performing schools