This article describes an investigation of three Year I secondary school drama classrooms in one Ontario, Canada, school district. The study adopted a mixed-method approach, using questionnaires and audiotaped interviews to illuminate aspects of the contexts and cultures, processes and products of Year I drama. Although course offerings across schools fulfilled similar mandatory provincial objectives, specific content differed from school to school, as did classroom structures and procedures. Nonetheless, comparable findings emerged across sites, suggesting that core teacher characteristics and classroom task-types, rather than specific course content, lay at the heart of students' ultimate achievement.