THE STUDY UNDER CONSIDERATION, BEGUN IN 1972 BY A GROUP OF ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND EDUCATORS WITH PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN BOTH EDUCATION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH, FOCUSES ON SCHOOLS AS SOCIAL SYSTEMS WHICH OPERATE ACCORDING TO AN OBSERVABLE CODE OF RULES SPECIFIC TO THE SCHOOL RATHER THAN GENERALLY ANALOGOUS TO THOSE OF OTHER INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS. IN THE FIRST PAHSE OF THE STUDY (1972-1973) THREE TEAMS OF ETHNOGRAPHERS STUDIED THREE HIGH SCHOOLS SIMULTANEOUSLY, USING IDENTICAL FIELD METHODS. THE THREE SCHOOLS COVERED A RURAL/SUBURBAN/INNER-CITY CONTINUUM IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY. CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL MILIEUS WERE STUDIED FROM AN INTERACTIVE PERSPECTIVE RATHER THAN AS SEPARATE UNITS OF OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS. THROUGHOUT THE STUDY, TWO KINDS OF EVENTS WERE OBSERVED, RECORDED, AND ANALYZED: RECURRENT EVENTS WHICH REGULARIZE DAILY LIFE IN THE SCHOOLS; AND UNPREDICTABLE OCCURRENCES WHICH DISRUPT REGULARITY. FROM ANALYSES OF FIELD NOTES, A MODEL OF THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL WAS CONSTRUCTED, WITH THE MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL ORGANIZED INTO THE FOLLOWING FOUR STRUCTURAL DOMAINS: THE TEACHING-LEARNING STRUCTURE; THE AUTHORITY-POWER STRUCTURE; THE PEER GROUP STRUCTURE; AND CROSS-GROUP STRUCTURES. THREE MAJOR PROCESSES OF SOCIAL ACTION WERE IDENTIFIED, BY WHICH THE FOUR STRUCTURAL DOMAINS ARE OPERATIONALIZED IN THE DAILY LIFE OF A SCHOOL; (1) SORTING, IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS CLASSIFY THEMSELVES AND EACH OTHER ACCORDING TO A SET OF CULTURALLY DEFINED LABELS; (2) TERRITORIALITY, WHICH REFERS TO THE FORMAL AND INFORMAL ASSIGNMENT OF SPACE WITHIN THE SCHOOL; AND (3) THE PROCESS OF RULEMAKING AND RULE-BREAKING. THESE ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL ARE VIEWED AS CRUCIAL INFLUENCES UPON THE BEHAVIOR OF STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS. WAYS IN WHICH THESE FACTORS IN THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION MODEL CAN BE MANAGED TO FACILITATE POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT ARE DISCUSSED. (RCB)