FOCUSING ON THE INTERNAL SOCIAL RELATIONS AMONG MEMBERS OF A SCHOOL STAFF, QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES FROM 246 TEACHERS IN 16 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS WERE ANALYZED IN A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO DETERMINE FACTORS MOST INFLUENTIAL IN INITIATING PRACTICES DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THE CLASSROOM LEARNING CLIMATE. ELEMENTS OF THE SCHOOL SOCIAL SYSTEM REVIEWED WERE THE INDIVIDUAL TEACHER, PEER RELATIONS AMONG TEACHERS, THE PRINCIPAL, AND THE RELATIONS BETWEEN PRINCIPAL AND TEACHERS. FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT OF THE TEACHERS SAID THEY WERE EMPLOYING INNOVATIVE PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH OR LEARNING. NINETY-TWO PERCENT REPORTED THEY HAD EMPLOYED OR WERE EMPLOYING AT LEAST ONE OF 12 LISTED INNOVATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM. PEER REPORTS INDICATED AN INNOVATIVE RATE OF 58 PERCENT ACROSS ALL SCHOOLS. VARIABLES WHICH APPEARED TO BE POSITIVELY AND SIGNIFICANTLY CORRELATED WITH EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION IN THE CLASSROOM INCLUDED TEACHER EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, EXPERIENCE, AND FELT AND DESIRED INFLUENCE. WITH RESPECT TO PEER RELATIONS, VARIABLES FOUND SIGNIFICANTLY AND POSITIVELY CORRELATED INCLUDED PERCEPTION OF THE STAFF AS A COHESIVE UNIT AND NOMINATION BY PEERS AS HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL AND ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT NEW APPROACHES TO TEACHING. DUE TO THE INADEQUACY OF MEASUREMENT CONCEPTS AND OPERATIONS AND THE RELATIVE HOMOGENEITY OF THE SCHOOLS CONCERNED, HYPOTHESES CONCERNING THE ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS WITH REGARD TO PEER AND PRINCIPAL RELATIONS WERE CONSISTENTLY UNCONFIRMED. THIS MATERIAL WAS SUBMITTED AS A DISSERTATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 1966, AND IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48103, FOR $3.00 MF, $6.20 XEROGRAPHY. (JK)