To understand the phenomena of academic success or failure among black children in urban ghetto schools, one must look beyond the boundaries of the individual classrooms and examine the social and cultural milieu of the school itself. Both the milieu of the classroom and the milieu of the school appear to sustain one another in a pattern of reinforcement of the presently accepted values and modes of behavior. Thus, the factors which help to establish the atmosphere of the school affect that of the individual classroom as well. Thus, a cyclincal effect occurs whereby the milieu of the school influences the learning experiences of the children, which in turn help to define the behavior and responses of the teachers and principal who have major responsibility for the general social themes present in the school. It is contended that such conditions as the negative expectations for the children, the utilization of violence on the children, the exchange of information among the teachers which allows the development of stereotypes as to performance and behavior, and the norms governing the use of classroom discipline are destructive of a humane and supportive learning milieu. (Author/JM)