The purpose of this report was to consider factors that might be important for understanding how schools as organizations respond to environmental stress. Literature from psychology, sociology, education, and political science is reviewed and an attempt is made to integrate a diverse body of findings, using concepts from general systems theory and from stress research. A framework is presented that identifies variables of interest, suggests possible dynamic processes, and considers situational factors that facilitate and inhibit behavior. Some suggestions for the conduct of research are offered in the hope that future efforts to study schools as organizations would include concepts from psychology and sociology. (Author/MLF)