Curriculum Tracking as Mediating the Social Distribution of High School Achievement

Abstract

The study reported here investigated the social distribution of mathematics achievement in a random sample of students and high schools drawn from the base year and first followup of High School and Beyond. It focused on the academic experiences of these students, particularly on the differences in curriculum tracking and the enrollment in academic courses in Catholic and public schools. We found that students are more likely to be assigned to than to choose the academic track in Catholic than in public schools and that placement in the academic track is more closely linked to aspirations for college graduation in Catholic schools. Not only do Catholic school students take more academic courses, but their course-enrollment patterns are less strongly dependent on their family background or prior achievement. Thus, we found that track placement and course of study are the major mediating factors that link students' background (social class, minority status, and academic background) with academic achievement.

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