The lighting of a school building should be considered an active element of the total educational environment. In addition to ensuring efficient performance of visual tasks, a good lighting system contributes significantly to the aesthetic and psychological character of the learning space. Recent literature on school illumination recommends a combination of natural and artificial lighting. Several documents cited in this review give evidence that reliance on artificial light sources alone may have adverse biological repercussions. Other documents describe lighting problems peculiar to open plan schools. The trend in luminous design provides for maximum lighting flexibility through use of both fluorescent and incandescent lamps. Thirteen of the documents cited are available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service. (Author)