This study was designed to test the hypothesis that a measure of students' influence relative to teachers' influence is needed in the classroom. The Hit-Steer system, designed by Thibaut, Coules, and Robinson to reveal the patterns of teacher and pupil influence as expressed classroom interaction, was used to observe teachers and students in a) 14 seventh-grade classrooms and eight alternative high school classrooms in a suburban community and b) 30 seventh-grade classrooms in eight inner-city schools. The Pupil Perceptions of Origin Influence (PPOI) questionnaire was used to measure pupils' perceptions of classroom influence. Results indicate that a) teachers made "hits" about twice as often as students; b) there was a close relationship among students' perceptions of how much influence they actually had on classroom activities; c) in the classrooms with high PPOI scores, teachers made fewer rejections, more conditional responses, and fewer attempts to direct students' behavior; d) students in the alternative school tended to respond to teachers'"hits" with refusals and their own "hits" relatively (but not statistically) more than their peers in other schools; and e) the patterns of teacher-student influence differed on factors of school location and the level of PPOI score. These two factors were closely related, and the effects of each could not be assessed independently. (Three tables and a nine-item bibliography are included.) (PD)