This report describes the ethnographic phase of a 2-year study (consisting of ethnographic observation and a survey) on how perceptions of home and school climates and interaction between the two factors might affect school performance among students of different racial/ethnic groups, sex, and socioeconomic status. Ethnographic case studies of seventh graders from five ethnic groups in the Boston, Massachusetts, area are presented. Groups studies included Americans of Armenian, Irish, Jewish, Portuguese, and West Indian backgrounds. Each study describes the history and characteristics of the group, community, and neighborhood investigated; research methods used; and the children's perceptions of home and school structures and organization, relationships with others in school and at home, and personal development and learning environments in the home and in school. Areas of congruence and incongruence between perceptions of homes and schools within the areas of structure, relationships, and personal development are identified, and summaries and conclusions for each ethnic group are presented. (MJL)