- Students are positioned in a structure of curricular positions, rather than in formal tracks.
- There are variations in the status characteristics (race, gender) and attitudes of the students in different curricular positions.
- A substantial proportion of the variance in senior year academic achievement is betweens positions.
- Curricular positioning influences senior year academic achievement net of previous academic achievement, status characteristics and school sector (public vs. private).
- Results suggest that private schooling offers no distinctive advantage to students, except in those cases where students would not receive as rigorous a program of study if they were to enter a public school.
- The positive effects of private schools are explained by the curricular positions of their students, and there is a public school advantage with respect to science achievements for students in equivalent curricular positions.