Examines tracking's effects on end-of-year 10th-grade mathematics achievement for a sample of over 3,900 public school students, using 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study data. Although there is clearly a case for detracking on equity grounds, students currently in uppertrack classes may suffer major losses in achievement test scores. (26…

Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 are used to link students with particular teachers and classes to estimate the impact of observable and unobservable schooling characteristics on student outcomes. A variety of models show some schooling resources, particularly teacher qualifications, to be significant in influencing…

Estimates a model allowing researchers to determine how much achievement on a 10th-grade standardized test can be explained by observable schooling resources and unobservable school, teacher, and class effects. Although few observable variables are significant test-score determinants, unobservable effects seem important in explaining student…