In the past, attempts to explain the disparity in academic achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students have generally focused on the ability, aptitude and motivation of the youth themselves. Some theorists have even suggested that heritable differences in intelligence among students from different social origins may account for this disparity. These presumptions significantly limit the possibility that schooling can substantially reduce the existing academic inequalities that exist between students of different social origins. This paper rejects these simplistic solutions and investigates the effects of one learning style instructional resource--the Programmed Learning Sequence (PLS) on the social studies achievement and ability of a group of Bermudian seventh graders. It suggests that educational structures operating within the school may be at least partially responsible for the academic achievement of students. Further, it suggests that a school structure that employs tracking, the grouping of students by ability, may help to create a social construction of failure, especially for disadvantaged children. Finally, it suggests that one alternative to tracking, the programmed learning sequence [PLS], may provide an effective alternative. Accordingly, it is predicted that the fault lies less with the socio-cultural makeup of the student than with the educational structures and policies operating within the schools. (Contains 1 table.)