This study examines the differences in subject approaches found between two secondary services in education: Education Index and ERIC's Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). A sample of 30 journal articles was taken from each tool in the areas of educational psychology, school administration, and special education; after an investigation of the characteristics of the displays of thesaural descriptors in CIJE and the subject headings in Education Index, an analysis was made of the topics under which each article was indexed in both tools. The data analysis includes a quantitative description of the sample, the structure of the three areas in education as found in both the thesaurus and subject heading list, terminological characteristics, and a general summation of findings. The thesaurus and its role in the retrieval of materials utilizing educational terminology is discussed along with problems encountered in trying to index educational terms. An appendix includes data from the sample and several thesaural displays. (Author/FM)