The Surgeon General's information material on the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which was mailed to every household in the United States, was used to develop an AIDS Awareness Inventory. The inventory was designed for administration to 182 high school students enrolled in schools in three districts, which have adopted an AIDS component as part of their health curricula. Focus was on evaluating the effectiveness of AIDS education in the secondary schools in one metropolitan area of a midwestern state. Individual inventory items were tested for significance by the Chi-Square Goodness of Fit Test. Twenty of the 40 items were answered incorrectly by a significant number of the students. Although most students knew the general definition of AIDS, they did not know specifics (i.e., the name of the virus, number of victims, and projected number of cases). Most students knew that AIDS is transmitted by blood or semen, through sexual contact or blood transfusions. They knew that AIDS may be carried by apparently healthy individuals and that risk is increased by sexual promiscuity. Nevertheless, the students held misconceptions regarding transmission, specific effects of the disease, and social implications. Results indicate that: (1) in general, students are informed about AIDS; (2) anxiety levels are high; and (3) beliefs that AIDS can be transmitted in the schools must be countered. Schools can function as conduits for information and as sources of support. One data table and a bar graph are provided. (TJH)