This study proposed to determine how 5th grade students' political orientations result from such social characteristics as their sex, age, socio-economic status and race, and secondly, how student political orientations are influenced by the organization of their school. Emphasis was upon examining the organizational climate in an effort to see if this climate reinforces a belief that these children are merely passive subjects, or if they are active participants in the American political system. One thousand twenty seven fifth-grade students from low socio-economic status elementary schools in urban districts filled out a civic education questionnaire which measured their orientation toward aspects of the American political system, political knowledge, and political behavior. Two hundred sixty-five teachers completed the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ). Control was introduced for the influence of student and teacher, sex, the race of interviewers and students, socio-economic status, and age of student. Findings indicate that the elementary school organizational climate has less relationship to student political behavior and orientations than the school's racial composition. The climate factors Leadership Initiation and Source of Social Cohesion were shown to relate to a teacher role model, and Sense of Organizational Attachment and Administrative Structure to a school role model. (SJM)