anchor: They may not know much of the world, but they certainly understand what the high school rewards, and it ain't learning about Jefferson or Malcolm X. Indeed, the grand prize for doing well academically at public high school is to get you as far away as possible from it, to the Ivy League and its ilk.
positive: The big prize for doing well in high school is entry to the Ivy League.
negative: Only young people with bad grades are accepted into Ivy League colleges.