The focus of this inquiry is on the commitment students have to academic achievement. The model on which this analysis is based assumes that student effort in school is the product of several factors relating to parental influences, classroom structure, teacher behavior and peer norms and characteristics. In assessing the possibility of a linkage between school desegregation and achievement a set of student attitudes which reflect commitment to learning are measured and analyzed. The methodology through which the data here are developed and organized was developed as part of a larger study of how children acquire attitudes and values that might have political consequences. The methodology has six components: a procedure for categorical observation of teacher-student interaction, a sociogram-type map of the classroom and student teacher relationships, a checklist type assessment by observers of various aspects of classroom structure or climate, an extensive student questionnaire, a teacher questionnaire, and content analysis of relevant learning materials. This paper relies most heavily on the questionnaire data. Seventy-nine North Carolina fifth grade classrooms participated in the study. (Author/JM)