A literature review is summarized on the effects of educational and environmental factors on student achievement. Environmental factors include background and community influences, such as social, economic, racial, educational and achievement levels; home environment; and qualities of students, such as academic readiness, motivation, and social behavior. Educational factors are comprised of such variables as teacher characteristics, the structure, of the teaching-learning situations, school facilities, and pupil personnel services. Fifty-five studies are synthesized and the factors which are positively and negatively related to student achievement are summarized. Some of the findings based on a review of American, Canadian, and British research of the relationship of school based factors to student achievement are: direct teaching is more effective than indirect methods, especially in the lower elementary grades and with low socioeconomic status students; indirect teaching may be more effective with older, higher socioeconomic status students and in subject areas like English; teachers' different expectations of students (based on sex and socioeconomic status) perpetuate social stratification and cultural sex differences; experimental instructional approaches show no consistent pattern of achievement gains over traditional materials; and mastery learning is conducive to student success and efficient learning. (MH)