This book examines the effects of neighborhood location, the educational context of the school, and such family characteristics as race and socioeconomic status upon the social adjustment of children who are part of a program deliberately designed to achieve greater racial integration. The study reported here was done in a northern city that illustrated in four of its schools--two elementary and two junior high schools--many of the integration problems facing the entire nation. Trained observers were placed directly in the classrooms. Some observers stayed in the one school for the entire year, recording the reactions of students, teachers, parents, and principals. Their findings are often quoted verbatim in several chapters of this book. The final two chapters recapitulate the findings and discuss more specifically the methods used. A number of questions are addressed: what factors facilitate or hinder integration? Could specific episodes of acceptance and rejection be observed and recorded? What was the general climate of these schools? What was the relative contribution of administrators, teachers, and students to the integration process? How could we explore adequately the contect of social interaction in the classroom, playground, lunchroom, or gymnasium? To what extent was the school influenced by community groups? And of particular interest was the association, if any existed, between the integration or assimilation of students and their race and social class. (Author/JM)