Abstract: One of the most fundamental educational policy issues confronting most nations of the world has to do with their struggle to achieve both excellence and equality. Using recent data we examine the role that curriculum, defined as the content coverage students experience while in school, plays not only in terms of its direct relationship to academic performance on the literacy test but also to its indirect role. The issue of whether schooling, as defined by the opportunities to learn the mathematics content specified in the curriculum, or the home/family background plays the prominent role here in Portugal and throughout the world will be presented.