How Does Curriculum Affect Learning?

schools matter. This statement is a truism to most. However, it must be followed by a statement of why schools matter, especially in light of the current debate surrounding the quality of American public education. Working from the seemingly simple belief that schools matter, assumptions will be made and policies will follow them on how to improve the quality of public schools. If there is no statement of why schools matter based on empirical data, the assumptions may be wrong and the policies may hinder rather than help improve the quality of public education. Some have argued that the key to quality education lies with policies concerning students and their characteristics. These policies lead to practices such as grouping students into tracks so the “right” students get the “right” opportunities. This type of practice is based on the belief that socioeconomic status, parents’ education, student aptitude, and other background factors are more important to students’ achievement than what happens in schools.1 In short, according to this belief schools matter only if the right students are in the right classes at the right time, and this is true no matter how effective those classes may be.