This thesis explores if there is a mismatch between the Commonwealth Government's measures of educational performance for Aboriginal students and that of Aboriginal communities. There has been limited research on performance indicators and Aboriginal students. This study aims to start to fill that gap. This thesis looks at Aboriginal parents and non-Aboriginal parents' measures of success and compares them with the Commonwealth Government's measures of educational achievement for Aboriginal students as part of the reporting process for the Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Program. As an Aboriginal person working in the field of education, the author was concerned that at a state level, Aboriginal students do not appear to be meeting the performance measures that have been set by the Commonwealth Government and the author questioned whether the performance indicators were appropriate from an Aboriginal perspective. The study employed a qualitative approach using phenomenological ethnographic methodologies. The data was collected through separate focus group interviews, which were undertaken with Aboriginal parents and non-Aboriginal parents from four locations. These locations included a Priority Schools Funding Program school in both an urban and rural location and a non Priority Schools Funding Program school in an urban and rural location in New South Wales (NSW). The study found that the majority of performance indicators set by the Commonwealth Government for Aboriginal students do match the Aboriginal communities and non-Aboriginal communities' measures of success. However, the Commonwealth Government does not consider a number of indicators used by parents. The study also found that the Commonwealth Government should apply additional pressure to some states, particularly NSW and the NSW Department of Education and Training to provide data on all indicators set, if it is to get a more accurate picture of the educational achievement of Aboriginal students.