The relative impact of career academies on postsecondary educational attainment and knowledge and skills acquired in urban public high schools was examined through an analysis of single-district and national databases. The national data were obtained from the first and third follow-up surveys of the National Education Longitudinal Study. Compared with the students in the national sample, students in the single-district sample were less likely to be white (less than 10% versus 44.7%), more likely to receive free lunches (40% versus 28%), and more likely to have limited English proficiency (more than 25% versus 14%). Of the 10,102 students in the single-district sample, 1,257 attended career academies. The data analyses established that, although career academies have the potential for increasing aggregate educational attainment with an impact equal to that of the academic track, career academies may not be equally effective for all students. It was therefore recommended that an array of high school programs be offered to meet the needs of diverse student bodies. (The report contains 23 references. Appended are the following: description of variables; probit estimation of educational attainment; ordinary least square analysis of high school human capital production; and demographic differences identified through probit estimation of educational attainment.) (MN)