A methodology developed as an alternative to conventional institutional classification structures, intended to reduce the limitations of those models, is described. Ways in which the methodology can be used for planning, administrative, and research purposes are discussed, as are the dangers in using "peer groups" for institutional…

According to organizational theory, the administrative structure of schools has an effect on the feasibility and ease of improving their operation. To determine whether schools are better characterized as rational bureaucracies or as loosely coupled systems or whether some schools belong to each model, four dimensions were operationalized (goal…