High school educators and students appear to have struck an implicit "bargain" that results in a deemphassis on academic learning. This book analyzes current proposals to enhance educational standards in light of the influence of this bargaining in classrooms. In so doing, it explores recent scholarship bearing on personal relations and organizational dynamics that determine what schools do. The book also examines how role relations among students, teachers, and administrators are shaped by and affect academic standards. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, "Students," includes six sections: "Student Disengagement and Academic Learning,""The Diploma,""Content: The High School Course of Study,""Student Employment and Extracurricular Activities,""Elementary and Higher Education," and "Attendance and Discipline." Part 2, "Teachers" consists of two sections, "Teachers: Autonomy and Quality" and "Teacher Reforms." Part 3 is entitled "Organizations." The book's conclusion is that proposed reforms have not only failed to address the bargain between educators and students but may have exacerbated its consequences. Unless a new bargain is struck, the implicit learning climate in high schools will not change. (CJH)