The mathematics performance data from 12,738 high school students were examined to determine the relationship between students' racial-ethnic and linguistic background, participation in higher level mathematics courses, and performance on a norm-referenced measure of achievement, explicitly accounting for important urban school context indicators. Using hierarchical linear models (HLM), researchers analyzed the effects associated with language minority students' mathematics achievement in urban schools. Findings suggest that urban high school students' participation in higher level mathematics courses may ameliorate pervasive patterns of racial-ethnic and linguistic minority disparities in achievement.