“Conventional schooling” is characterized by underlying values of competition and credentialism implicit in an unconscious, cultural framework for U.S. institutional schooling. Schools that define themselves in opposition to this cultural heritage consider themselves innovative schools and tend to use collaborative learning environment. The authors examined how students who had attended an innovative collaborative elementary school interpreted their former innovative and current conventional schools. They also examined how these students used these interpretations to form coping strategies for success in the new environment.