Using a systems approach to determine the relationship between modernization and education, data were analyzed from questionnaire responses returned by the chief administrators of 1,124 public high schools. The schools were a selected sample of the schools attended by the 28,000 pupils included in the October 1965, educational supplement of the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census. The American public school was defined as (1) a purposive organization with an institutional role of preparing students for participation in the larger society and (2) an open social system displaying a high degree of interaction with its environment. Schools were distinguished by 12 sociocultural context categories defined by two regional, three metropolitan, and two social class categories. School specialization was measured by the proportion of full-time faculty members holding at least a masters degree. Output was measured by the number of students continuing education after high school. Findings supported the study's primary hypothesis that the input-output relationship of a school with its sociocultural context varies systematically from one context to another, leading to the general conclusion that the product of the American school depends greatly upon the particular values and ideology of its sociocultural context. (JK)