Originally written to accompany a request for funds to set up a research project concerning the relationship between educational theory and organization theory, this brief report is based on the assumption that organization theory has a valuable contribution to make to the development of education as a science. First outlined are trends in educational theory in the 1960s and 1970s in Sweden. Then the case for applying organization theory to education is made, and a model is suggested of how educational processes depend on societal, institutional, and individual underlying factors. Next, two dissertations are summarized in which an organizational approach has been applied to schools. The first concerns the school as an organiztion and concludes that organization theory can clarify the complexity of school organization. The second uses an organizational approach to analyze staff development in the employment sector and recurrent education. Finally, activities planned for the initial phase of the proposed project are listed, including monitoring international developments in this area, establishing international links with researchers in this field, and compiling a document on the relation between education and organization theory to serve as a basis for further research. (JM)