WHAT NEGRO STUDENTS BRING, AS WELL AS WHAT THEY DO NOT BRING, TO THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE SHOULD BE OF CONCERN TO TEACHERS. INTONATION AND A NONSTANDARD VOCABULARY ARE TWO DEVICES WHICH ENABLE NEGROES TO MAKE SUBTLE LANGUAGE DISTINCTIONS WHICH TESTS DO NOT MEASURE OR SAMPLE. FURTHER LANGUAGE SUBTLETIES EXIST IN THE CONNOTATIONS OF MANY COMMON WORDS. THUS, NEGRO STUDENTS ARE CAPABLE OF MUCH GREATER SUBTLETY OF EXPRESSION THAN THEIR RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER OF VOCABULARY WORDS IMPLIES. HAVING LEARNED EARLY TO WATCH EVERY GESTURE, EXPRESSION, AND POSTURE OF CAUCASIANS, THE NEGRO ACQUIRES AN ABILITY ESSENTIAL IN DRAMA, BOTH IN DETERMINING MEANING AND IN ACTING. HAVING LEARNED, ALSO, TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN REALITY AND WHAT IS SAID ABOUT DEMOCRACY, THE NEGRO DEVELOPS A FINE SENSE OF IRONY AND A DEEP SKEPTICISM WHICH CAN BE UTILIZED AS INVALUABLE CRITICAL TOOLS. EXPECTING NEGRO STUDENTS TO HAVE HAD SOCIAL EXPERIENCES ESSENTIAL TO INTERPRETING GIVEN LITERARY WORKS, TEACHERS TEND TO ASSUME POVERTY OF INTELLIGENCE IF THESE EXPERIENCES ARE LACKING, INSTEAD OF SUBSTITUTING BOOKS WHICH REQUIRE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES. BECAUSE MOST NEGRO STUDENTS VIEW EDUCATION AS A MEANS OF ENTERING THE MAINSTREAM OF AMERICAN LIFE, THEY EAGERLY READ NOVELS AND PLAYS WHICH PRESENT THE AMERICAN SCENE FAIRLY AND CLEARLY. IN ADDITION, THERE IS AN INCREASINGLY AVAILABLE SUPPLY OF LITERATURE OF THE AFRICAN THEATER, IN WHICH NEGRO STUDENTS FIND SATISFACTION AND ABOUT WHICH ENGLISH TEACHERS HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO INFORM THEMSELVES AS PART OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IN INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO THE WORLD OF BOOKS. (THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "NEGRO AMERICAN LITERATURE FORUM," VOL. 1 (WINTER 1967), 15-17.) (RD)