Based on the view that an administrative organization is composed of interacting individuals and that work flows through an interaction process, this paper attempts to develop a methodology that allows for the study of work flow patterns. It also applies this methodology to a particular educational organization in order to understand its peculiar inner workings. The work flow model was developed to estimate the number of steps an administrative system took to handle different types of work. Data were collected from 52 managers in the central office of a large school district by randomly sampling their work activities over a 6-week period. Findings suggest that much of the work carried out in educational organizations is never completed (such as curriculum reform, discipline policy, or union relations). It was found that the primary carriers and producers of this type of work are upper-level managers. A large proportion of their work was generated by other upper-level managers and probably will also be passed to upper-level managers. This holds for both routine and nonroutine work. These findings are interpreted to mean that upper-level managers spend much time discussing irresolvable issues while lower-level managers are more likely to complete the tasks they undertake. (Author/JM)