This speech deals with the contribution of sociology to the understanding of effectiveness in teaching, and the non-individual factors arising from the formal and informal social structure of the classroom. A review of related literature indicates the prospects for understanding the relationship between what the school does, as represented by the teacher and the curriculum, and what happens to the student. Five contributions of sociologists to classroom learning suggest 1) Structural factors in the organization of teaching vary so greatly that the possibility of creating a systematic understanding of the conditions of teaching effectiveness based on teacher talk and student learning appears limited. 2) Participation rates of students suggest that a tutorial model of teacher-student interaction will prove inadequate. 3) Studies of the effects of classroom status systems conditionalize any statements concerning teacher effectiveness. 4) The teacher's role as a bureaucratic authority figure varies with each class. 5) The school and teacher's use of authority may affect learning through the organization's effect on the student's sense of control of his environment. Results of the study indicate the need to develop and test propositions stating the conditions under which we expect observed relationships between teaching and learning to hold. A 34-item bibliography is included. (MJM)