To fulfill the requirements of the hierarchically stratified workplace, schools socialize students in terms of the socioeconomic status of their parents. Forty-five students in two first grade public schools--one in an upper-middle class neighborhood, the other in a lower-middle class neighborhood--were observed. Both classrooms and teachers were representative of their schools and typical of the social class background. Researchers recorded classroom behavior which focused on discipline and values taught (including internal and external control schemes), role of the student in the classroom, and presentation of cognitive materials. Results focus on the internal (self-directed) and external (authority-directed) source of responsibility, since these control schemes also reflect stratification in the workplace. Although children at both schools were socialized to external behavioral standards, only students in the upper-middle class school were personally responsible for maintaining the quality of their academic work. The internalized sense of responsibility parallels the internal controls demanded of their professional parents on the job. Lower-middle class students were taught to rely heavily on external controls provided by the teacher to perform academic tasks. (KC)