Most of the recent research identifying organizational characteristics that seem to make schools unusually effective has been conducted at the elementary level and may not be applicable to secondary schools. Research currently underway suggests that the basic organizational structures of elementary and secondary schools dictate two different approaches to improving effectiveness. The secondary level is distinguished from the elementary level by structural looseness, departmentalization, and increased size. These factors undermine agreement on educational goals and block efforts of high school principals and administrators to influence classroom management. Secondary school principals are limited in their influence over programs and exercise symbolic leadership. Furthermore, it must be recognized that schools serve students of a wide range of socioeconomic and intellectual levels, and that high schools, in particular, must prepare these students for the outside world. Therefore, in defining secondary school effectiveness, it is necessary to consider more than the criterion of "basic skills." (Author/GC)