The study, focusing on the high school classroom as an important socialization setting, provides data on the similarity and differences of classrooms in five different types of public schools. The classroom environment was broken down into three domains: authority function of the teacher, friendship function of the teacher, and student-student relationships. These areas of the classroom environment were assessed by the Classroom Environment Scale, a 90-item forced choice student-answered scale which purports to measure nine dimensions of the classroom. Data from this scale were gathered in five types of high schools in Connecticut: urban, suburban, rural, vocational, and alternative high schools. Over 6,000 students participated in the study. Statistical analysis of the data showed that alternative schools have strong peer and teacher relationships; vocational schools are low in the area of teacher support; urban and alternative schools are highly task oriented; vocational schools emphasize competition; and suburban schools are low in teacher authority and rule clarity. Because of the differences in environments, one can infer that students at the various schools undergo different socialization experiences and have different socialization outcomes. (Author/AV