By comparing high school students' total English scores on the California Achievement Test (CAT) and observing differences in performance based on grade level and gender, a recent study investigated whether significant differences exist between the achievement of students taught in an English phase-elective mini-course system and the achievement of students taught in a traditional English program. Scores were examined for 162 seniors taught for four years under the traditional English program (Group A), and 146 seniors taught for four years under the phase-elective mini-course system (Group B). (Enrollments for the two groups had fallen from the original figures of 276 for grade nine traditional students and 258 for grade nine phase-elective students.) Results indicated that students in Group B achieved significantly higher mean scores on the CAT than students in Group A in all areas except language mechanics. Scores were also examined for participants at each grade level. Findings concerning gender and grade level revealed significant differences between the two groups in three areas: language expression, reading comprehension, and total English scores. The following major results were found: (1) Group B females in grade 9 had significantly higher mean scores than Group A males and females in all three areas; (2) Group B females in grade 10 had significantly higher mean scores than Group A males in all three areas; (3) findings from grade 10 were repeated in the eleventh grade; and (4) females from both groups achieved significantly higher mean scores in language expression than Group B males. (JD)