During the 1971-72 academic school year, a study was conducted which described and compared the attitudes of white high school seniors toward black Americans in three suburban high schools. These schools varied in terms of the possible interaction between black and white students as reflected in each school's racial composition, grouping procedures, and curricular options. The study compares the attitudes of high school seniors in an all white high school with those of seniors in two racially mixed high schools. It was hoped that the study would provide some insights about the effect of intergroup contact on attitudes. However, the study also examines the implications of findings which maintain that contact alone may not break down the stereotypes between the two groups if the contact occurs in situations where status distinctions are maintained. The study thus makes a distinction between an integrated setting which seeks to facilitate the positive interaction of a racially mixed student body, and a desegregated setting which is not characterized by practices aimed at fostering interaction. The attitudinal data strongly support the possibility that the efforts of the integrated district to provide a highly positive environment for black and white students had a positive effect on their attitudinal responses. (Author/JM)