Content area
Full text
Continuing inequities in the educational experiences and achievement outcomes for high school students of different racial/ethnic and social class backgrounds have been a primary concern for educational reform for several decades ([15] Haney, 2001). High schools have been difficult to improve academically, in part because of their relative structural complexity in moving diverse groups of students through sequences of subject-related course work over multiple semesters toward graduation. Learning within high schools is socially distributed according to students' social backgrounds, previous academic preparation, aspirations, and choice. The intersection of student differences and school constraints and organizational choices can structure students' access to more challenging sequences of course, work ([12], [22] Garet and DeLany, 1988; Lee and Bryk, 1989).
The recent release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) transcript study indicates although students have been taking more challenging courses over the past decade, their corresponding outcomes have declined in reading and are flat in mathematics ([27] Manzo, 2007). A preliminary explanation is that although more challenging course taking is increasing, there may be considerable variation in the content within particular courses as well as in the quality of the teaching that occurs. Although links between students' course taking and achievement are suggested in large-scale descriptive studies such as NAEP, less attention has been paid to the within- and between-school mechanisms responsible for differences in academic outcomes among students of varied racial/ethnic and social backgrounds ([10] Gamoran, 1989; b12 b22 b24 b45 Garet and DeLany, 1988; Lee and Bryk, 1989; Lee et al. , 1997; van Houtte, 2004). One area of inquiry concerns students' preparation during middle grades and subsequent access to more rigorous curricula and instruction during high school. Social class, race/ethnicity, and low previous achievement can all play a role in students' access to academic course work ([5], [24], [31] Cicourel and Mehan, 1983; Lee et al. , 1997; Oakes et al. , 1992). Students in lower academic positions do not progress through the curriculum as rapidly or with the same depth of understanding as students in more academically challenging programs ([9] Gamoran, 1987). Other research has focused attention on teachers' instructional practices and interactions with students across different tracks ([32], [45] Page, 1987; van Houtte, 2004). Whether measured by content knowledge, general...