This is an intensive observational study of teacher behavior in six kindergartens in three schools. The schools were picked to be typical examples of a white middle class suburban school, an integrated lower class urban school, and a black lower class urban school. In all three schools teachers used the greatest proportion of class time (from 33 to 61%) for procedural activities (e.g., lining up), and the next largest proportion of time (from 18 to 37%) for cognitive activities (e.g. color naming). In all schools teacher reprimand exceeded praise and negative evaluations exceeded positive ones. Insofar as the schools observed are typical, the findings do not support hypotheses that achievement differentials for low-income children in the early years of school can be explained by less-than-average exposure to instruction or that teachers in urban schools are more critical of children than teachers of suburban students. (Author/MP)